Kansas State University Provost April Mason honored for leadership
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University's top academic leader is being recognized for contributions to her field and outstanding leadership.
April Mason, the university's provost and senior vice president, has been named one of Purdue University's 2015 Distinguished Women Scholars, an honor that is given to outstanding alumnae of the university. The Office of the Provost and the Butler Center for Leadership Excellence at Purdue honored Mason and the other three recipients of the award at a ceremony March 9 on the Purdue campus.
"This is a well-deserved honor for an individual whose leadership has been essential in Kansas State University's plan to become a Top 50 public research university by 2025," said Kirk Schulz, university president. "April Mason has done an outstanding job as our provost and I know the university community joins me in congratulating her on this prestigious honor."
"The 2015 Distinguished Women Scholars are incredibly inspiring role models for women and men in academe. We are proud and honored to showcase their careers and look forward to their insights on how to integrate discovery, learning and engagement to accomplish such impressive scholarly impact," said Patrice Buzzanell, newly appointed Susan Bulkeley Butler Chair for Leadership Excellence at Purdue University.
Mason earned a doctorate in foods and nutrition from Purdue in 1984. She would eventually become associate dean for discovery and engagement in the College of Consumer and Family Sciences at Purdue. As a faculty member in foods and nutrition at the university, 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.
From 2004 to 2010, Mason was dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences, now the College of Health and Human Sciences, at Colorado State University. She supervised 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 was a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition.
As provost and senior vice president at Kansas State University since 2010, Mason oversees the academic affairs of the university and ensures its academic standards. In cooperation with the president, vice presidents and the Deans Council, she provides leadership in the development, review, and implementation of policies and goals related to teaching and learning, research and engagement.
Mason is author or co-author of refereed publications, published research abstracts and book chapters and proceedings. Her research has been supported by more than $12 million in grants, which includes numerous grants from agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Her 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; Association of Chief Academic Officers; and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities' Council on Academic Affairs.
