News Release

1972 grad named associate vice provost and vice president at Auburn

July 7, 2008

Penn State Harrisburg graduate John Mason, associate dean for graduate studies, research and outreach in the University’s College of Engineering, has been named associate provost and vice president of research for Auburn University.

Mason will begin his appointment at Auburn on Sept. 2.

David Wormley, the Harold and Inge Marcus dean of Engineering, said, "John Mason has worked to significantly advance research and graduate education in the college. He's worked closely with people around the University to promote high-priority research and education initiatives. John is well versed in major national research priorities and will certainly serve Auburn well as associate provost and vice president of research.”

Eva Pell, senior vice president of Research and dean of the Graduate School at Penn State, said "John Mason has been a superb associate dean for research and graduate education. He has served the College of Engineering extremely well, always representing the interests of its faculty and students. John was an excellent partner as we worked together to develop programming and secure resources to move forward the goals of the college."
In addition to serving as an associate dean at Penn State, Mason is director of the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (PTI) and executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center.

He earned a bachelor of science degree in transportation technology from Penn State Harrisburg in 1972, a master's degree in transportation engineering from Villanova University, and a doctorate in civil engineering from Texas A&M University. Mason is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania and began his career in consulting engineering practice.

He began teaching at the community college level and completed his doctorate while performing research at the Texas Transportation Institute. After returning to private practice as a district transportation manger for a Florida engineering firm, Mason was recruited by Penn State to return to teaching and research and was named the director of the Transportation Operations Program at the PTI. While at the University, he became center director, institute director and, in 1997, associate dean of engineering.

As associate dean in the College of Engineering, Mason's responsibilities included research administration and development, graduate studies, governmental affairs and continuing and distance education programs. He also led state and federal grants that included partnerships with multi-state agencies, a consortium of land-grand universities and private sector sponsors. Most recently he coordinated the establishment of a legacy endowment for the PTI.

Mason has served in several leadership roles with national organizations including the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, American Society of Civil Engineers, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, American Road and Transportation Builders Association. He is past president of the national Council of University Transportation Centers and incoming chair of the Engineering Research Council of the American Society for Engineering Education.

He is the recipient of several distinguished professional and academic awards, has a record of continuous scholarly publications and is a member of the Tau Beta Pi and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.