MARGARET M. MAISEL was born Margaret Rose Meyer in Makati Rizal, Philippines on December 5, 1937. Throughout her undergraduate studies at St. Mary’s she maintained highest honors and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1965. In 1971, Maisel received her JD from St. Mary’s School of Law and currently specializes in workers’ compensation and social security disability.  

After World War II, Maisel traveled from Hong Kong to Honolulu on the S.S. President Cleveland with two family members. After making their way to San Antonio, Maisel excelled in academics and married Donald Frederick Maisel on December 28, 1956. While an undergraduate, Masiel was nominated for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Fellowship grant and a member of Phi Gamma Mu. Maisel graduated with distinctions for both her BA and JD. 

Maisel has practiced law for fifty-two years and is a staunch advocate for the rights of workers in Texas and served as the former chairman of the Texas Industrial Accident Board where she handled thousands of cases on behalf of injured workers. Currently, she focuses on disabled workers who are pursuing claims with the Social Security Disability system. 

St. Mary’s School of Law honored Maisel in 1990 with the Distinguished Graduate award and was recently profiled as “A Woman of Substance.”  Maisel’s academic achievements have not gone unnoticed by the School of Law. The Margaret Maisel Scholarship is available to second year students who have the highest academic ratings and is based solely on faculty nomination. 

By: Katherine Skrabanek, St. Mary’s University Law Fellows in Public History, 2023. 

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