Maria Lavell '80

Her first visit to the Marymount campus was all it took for Maria Lavell - she immediately fell in love. After receiving her acceptance to Marymount, the ’80 alumna applied for what she thought was a music scholarship but when she showed up to the audition it turned out to be a theater scholarship. She gave it a try, succeeded, and ended up spending her two years at Marymount performing with

what Maria describes as “some of the most amazing and talented people.

Maria graduated from Marymount in 1980 with a GPA so high that it earned her the Mabel Wilson Richardson Academic Scholarship for academic achievement. Maria went on to the University of Southern California where she received a degree in sociology and then went on to become a Los Angeles Police Officer. Maria then moved to Las Vegas where she worked as a police officer in Clark County, Nevada.

While working as a police sergeant during the day, Maria attended the William S. Boyd School of Law in the evening and graduated with her Juris Doctor in 2006. Immediately after passing the Nevada State Bar Exam, Maria was hired as a Deputy District Attorney with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. She recently celebrated her fifth year in office and was promoted to Chief Deputy District Attorney.

Throughout all her experiences and accomplishments, Maria still remembers the sense of community she felt while at Marymount. “I will never forget the amazing experiences I had, the fabulous faculty and the many friends I made. Oh, to be young again!” she says.