A Sister of Mercy, Sister Margaret A. Farley, Ph.D is an ethicist and the Gilbert L. Stark Professor of Christian Ethics at the Yale Divinity School. She was the first woman appointed to serve full-time on the YDS faculty and shared with Henri Nouwen the distinction of being the first Roman Catholic faculty member at the Divinity School. She now has the status of professor emerita.

She began her career at Yale Divinity School in 1971 and earned her Ph.D. there two years later. She appeared on the cover of the Yale Alumni Magazine in 1986 in connection with a feature article on teachers of note. She has written six books to date, including Just Love: A Framework for Christian Social Ethics published in 2006 by the Continuum International Publishing Group.

She received the John Courtney Murray Award from the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA). She has served as president of both the CTSA as well as the Society of Christian Ethics.

In 2008 she received the Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

She participated in the Sisters of Mercy study on tubal ligation. She has also followed, in particular, the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference pastoral letter on the role of women as well as a special international synod called by Pope John Paul II to reassess the results of Vatican II "in light of new needs".

NOTE: Bio updated on June 14, 2011.