MaryAnn is a member of the Djaru Nation from the Kimberley region of Western Australia (WA). She was born in Broome, WA and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory (NT) from the age of nine years. She was the first person from the Aboriginal Community of Darwin to graduate as a trained nurse from Darwin Hospital in 1962. She was the first Indigenous Australian to gain a Doctorate from Harvard University in 1989, and the first Indigenous Australian to work in the Australian Higher Education Sector in 1975.

In 2008, on retirement from Charles Darwin University, she was made an Emeritus Professor for her outstanding contribution to Indigenous education. In 2017, University of South Australia, her alma mater, made her a Doctor of the University for her contribution to the academy. That same year, she was awarded an Order of Australia for her contribution to the academy as an academic, researcher, and mentor.