Marcia Weinstein, a Portland native, graduated from Brown in 1965 with a BA (or AB) in Greek and an MA in Classics; completed a PHD in 1969 at Harvard in Classical Philology (fancy name for Classics); taught and researched in the field and published in Greek Papyrology until 1978 when she resumed her education at Yale, receiving an MPPM (Master of Public and Private Management a.k.a More Power Prestige and Money) and an MA in Chinese Studies. After a year of traveling she returned to Portland where she was an oil and gas industry analyst for NERCO Oil and Gas and then a professional surgical patient. She has been semi-retired since 1986 but does a small amount of consulting on return to work(dis)incentives for people on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income Disability benefits.

She volunteers at the NW China Council, PICA, Portland Baroque Orchestra and was active in the founding group, the Classical Chinese Garden Society, of the Classical Chinese Garden. She has recently become involved in neighborhood matters, serving on the Killingsworth Streetscape Advisory Committee and the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area Transportation sub-committee (all because she wanted to make sure that Killingsworth had curb ramps from Willamette Blvd up to the new MAX station) She lives on Willamette Blvd with her resistance (the opposite of assistance) dogs Baobao and Tianxin (Sweety in Chinglish) who are very mixed breeds.