Marylhurst University is a private Catholic liberal arts university located in Marylhurst, Oregon, United States, nine miles (14 km) south of Portland on the Willamette River. It is among the oldest collegiate degree-granting institutions in Oregon, awarding its first degree in 1897. Marylhurst was founded and run for many years by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, a Roman Catholic teaching order. Marylhurst College was founded in 1893, by members of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, a Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation. The Sisters came to Oregon in 1859 from Montreal at the request of the people and clergy of the city to serve their educational needs. In 1893, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary founded Marylhurst as the first liberal arts college to serve the educational needs of Pacific Northwest women. The school was originally located in downtown Portland, Oregon, and called St. Mary's Academy and College. In 1908 the Sisters purchased 63 acres (250,000 m) between Lake Oswego and West Linn. The Sisters named the pastoral land Marylhurst, which means "Mary's Woods". The college was moved to the new property in 1930, and St.