Mary Cookingham lived her life with dignity, grace and quiet strength.

Cookingham, the first woman to receive tenure from the MSU Department of Economics, died of complications from multiple sclerosis Monday. She was 49.

“In all the people I’ve known, she was the strongest,” said East Lansing resident David Bailey, Cookingham’s husband.

Bailey, an MSU history professor, said although his wife’s disease took its toll on her body, it didn’t diminish her spirit.

“She treated it as something to be solved rather than something to be pitied,” he said. “Even though she only lived to be 49, it was a success. She managed to go through her entire career without making enemies.”

As the disease progressed, Cookingham was forced to make changes in her teaching style.

Those changes, Bailey said, ended up working out for the better.

“She would pick a student at random and get the student up to the overhead