Career
His original given name was Jianchang (建常) but was changed to Liang (良). "Xiangbo" was his courtesy name. He also adopted the Catholic name "Joseph".
He was one of the founders of Aurora University, Fu Jen Catholic University and Fudan University.
Ma was born in Dantu, Jiangsu province to a prominent Catholic family. In 1886/87, he visited France and eventually devoted his life to higher education.
Ma founded the following institutions of higher learning:
Aurora University (1903)
Fudan University (1905)
Catholic University of Peking, later renamed Fu Jen Catholic University, in co-operation with Ying Lianzhi.