Mary Hill completed her M.A. (1942) and Diploma in Social Work (1943) at UBC. After serving as a social worker, she went to Columbia University, earning her M.Sc. in Social Work in 1948. Hill was a part-time member of UBC's School of Social Work until 1969, when she joined the faculty full-time. She was very interested in studying the needs of the elderly and became one of the original members of the President's Gerontological Committee.
The history of the Committee on Gerontology can be traced back to 1973 when UBC President Walter Gage established an ad hoc committee to "assess the problems, make suggestions as to where funds for research might be obtained and to submit briefs to agencies which might be interested." The first meeting of the committee was held in January 1974. Discussions at this meeting centred on the difficulties inherent in obtaining research funds and reference material for studying the needs of older people. Those attending the meeting supported the idea of establishing a gerontology centre at UBC that could provide the necessary coordination for an interdisciplinary gerontological program. Educational offerings in Gerontology evolved out of the work of the President's Committee on Gerontology. Basic and applied age-related research is now conducted in many Schools, Faculties. and Departments. Although UBC does not offer a Graduate Degree in Gerontology per se, the Committee on Gerontology within Graduate Studies performs an advisory function enabling students to develop a program of studies with substantial gerontology content.