APRIL MASON NAMED K-STATE'S NEW PROVOST AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
The dean of Colorado State University's College of Applied Human Sciences has accepted the post of provost and senior vice president at K-State. April Carol Mason will join K-State early in 2010.
Mason succeeds M. Duane Nellis, who left K-State in June to become president of the University of Idaho. Associate Provost Ruth Dyer has served as interim provost.
"Dr. Mason brings a wealth of experience to Kansas State and I am very excited to have her join our leadership team," said K-State President Kirk Schulz. "Her extensive experience at land grant universities will serve her well as she meets the challenges of maintaining K-State's student-centered experience while dealing with the impacts of the state economy on university resources."
Search committee chairman John English said the university conducted an aggressive national search, which resulted in a deep and diverse set of applicants interested in helping K-State continue to build a world class land grant university.
"The search committee is very pleased to hear that Dean Mason has agreed to become our next provost and senior vice president. From the onset of the search process, we were impressed with the breadth of her experience," said English, dean of engineering. "She has been successful in teaching, research and service. She works well with faculty, students and staff members and we believe she will be an excellent provost and senior vice president for Kansas State University."
Mason has been dean at Colorado State since August 2004. She oversees the operations of six departments and three schools with about 100 tenure track faculty, many special appointment and adjunct faculty, 4,000 undergraduates and 850 graduate students. She also is a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition. Before joining Colorado State, Mason was associate dean for extension and associate dean for discovery and engagement in the College of Consumer and Family Sciences at Purdue University. As a faculty member in foods and nutrition at Purdue, she conducted research in the area of trace mineral availability from plant foods. She also taught in the cooperative extension program at Purdue for 20 years.
"I am looking forward to joining Kansas State University." Mason said. "I feel honored to take on the responsibilities of provost and senior vice president. While interviewing for the position I was struck by the depth of talent represented in the faculty, staff, administration and students at K-State."
She is Colorado State's representative to the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities' Board on Human Sciences, where she has been on the executive committee since 2005 and board chair beginning this year.
Mason is author or co-author of 24 refereed publications, 40 published research abstracts and seven book chapters and proceedings. Her research has been supported by more than $12 million in grants in the past 10 years, and includes numerous grants from agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Her current research focuses on the availability of key nutrients from plant-based food products, which provide critical calories and essential nutrients to a large proportion of the world's population. She also presents lectures on food safety and food security.
She is a member of numerous academic, professional and scholarly societies including Sigma Xi; American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences; Institute of Food Technologists; American Society for Nutritional Sciences; Epsilon Sigma Phi extension fraternity; and Gamma Sigma Delta.
She attended the Overseas School of Rome in Italy before going on to earn her bachelor's degree in biology from Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio. She holds a master's degree in plant physiology and a Ph.D. in foods and nutrition from Purdue University.