Born 1953 to a deaf family in Worcester, Massachusetts, Marie Jean Philip originally attended the Clarke School for the Deaf but later transferred to the American School for the Deaf. She entered Gallaudet College in 1969. As a junior, she participated in an exchange program that sent her to Oberlin College for a year. She then transferred to Northeastern University in 1974, where she worked as an ASL research assistant and sign language program instructor. At Northeastern, earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics in 1984, minoring in cultural anthropology.

While working at Northeastern, she helped establish the Bilingual/Bicultural program at The Learning Center for Deaf Children in Framingham, Massachusetts. In 1988, she left Northeastern to work full time as Bilingual/Bicultural Coordinator at The Learning Center, where she worked for the rest of her life. In 1989 she also began teaching ASL and other topics at Harvard University, becoming a Preceptor in Linguistics there.

She was an active member of the Massachusetts deaf community and a well-known advocate for ASL, deaf culture, and deaf history, using her skills as a signer and storyteller to promote ASL use in education. She was active in interpreter training and evaluation at the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, served on the boards of several deaf organizations, and was a regular presenter at deaf conventions and workshops around the country and world. She also frequently worked as a sign interpreter in various personal and professional contexts.

Marie Jean Philip died of a pulmonary embolism in 1997; at the time, she was working toward a master’s degree in deaf education at Boston University, with hopes of eventually earning a Ph.D. After her death, the Learning Center named their pre-K-12th school building and program the Marie Philip School. Northeastern University hosts an annual competition for ASL poetry, storytelling, and deaf art performances named in her honor.