Ronald Mason, Jr., former president of three historically Black universities, has received the Maria Fielder Medal for Social Transformation from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. The annual award honors an individual’s lifetime achievements in education.
Mason was appointed the ninth president of the University of the District of Columbia in 2015. He served in the role until 2023, marking the longest presidential tenure in the university’s history. In his role, he was essential in establishing the joint UDC-Fielding Urban Leadership and Entrepreneurship doctoral program. The degree program aims to increase diversity in fields such as urban transportation, urban education, and urban planning. Originally established in 2019, the program’s first cohort graduated in 2023.
Before assuming the presidency of the University of the District of Columbia, Mason served five years as president of the Southern University and A&M College System and 10 years as president of Jackson State University in Mississippi. Earlier in his career, he served as senior vice president and general counsel for Tulane University in New Orleans, making him the institution’s first African American to serve in a senior administrator position.
Thanks to his extensive background in HBCU leadership, President Barack Obama appointed Mason to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 2010. He still serves on the presidential advisory board, as well as the board of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Mason is a two-time graduate of Columbia University in New York City, where he received his bachelor’s degree and a juris doctorate.
