Mary Lee Cochran teaches flute and music history classes in the Department of Music at Kansas State University and holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in flute performance from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. Her teachers include the principal flutists of the New York Philharmonic (Julius Baker), the National Symphony Orchestra (Wallace Mann), the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Britton Johnson), and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra (Paul Eahart).

Prior to moving to Kansas in 1979, Cochran was a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps, assigned to the U.S. Marine Band, Washington, D.C., and was a member of, and featured soloist with, the U.S. Armed Forces Bicentennial Band. She has performed in all fifty states, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, including some of the finest concert halls in the land. Her research work for her doctoral degree was done in the Dayton C. Miller Collection of the Library of Congress on early flute tutors.

Before assuming her faculty position at Kansas State University, Cochran served for one year as Artist in Residence under the auspices of the Kansas Arts Commission. Cochran is a frequent participant in flute symposia and masterclasses, including ones led by artists such as James Galway, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Samuel Baron, Carol Wincenc, Mary Karen Clardy, Bradley Garner, Marco Granados, and Julius Baker. She is a frequent performer and, with her husband, has commissioned several works of chamber music by Newel Kay Brown, Hanley Jackson, and Laurel Littrell. She is a member of the National Flute Association, the College Music Society, the American Musicological Society, and the Kansas Music Educators’ Association. She also serves as flutist in the Konza Prairie Chamber Players woodwind quartet.

At home, her family includes husband Alfred, four children, and Chauncey the dog. Her passions apart from music include gardening and antiques.