UC Berkeley Web Feature
In praise of 'dynamo' dean Mary Ann Mason
BERKELEY – A crowd of well-wishers gathered Thursday afternoon at International House to toast Mary Ann Mason, who will step down as dean of the Graduate Division in June. Speakers cited Mason’s many important accomplishments as dean — from hard-won policy changes to help make academia more "family friendly" to new graduate-student housing and more robust fellowship support.
 Graduate Dean Mary Ann Mason, Berkeley Citation in hand, with Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. (Cathy Cockrell photo) |
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Mason was visibly moved as she was presented with the Berkeley Citation, one of the campus’s highest honors, in recognition of her outstanding service to UC Berkeley and its graduate students.
Calling Mason "an extraordinary dynamo in getting things done," George Breslauer, executive vice chancellor and provost, said that early on, in his dealings with Mason on the campus’s Council of Deans, "What I realized was that she had a set of goals that she was utterly unwilling to compromise, an energy level that was humbling, a determination to achieve those goals, and a capacity for advocacy both in public and private that really got things done."
Mason has served as dean since 2000. She plans to return to teaching and research in the campus’s School of Social Welfare.