His year-long appointment will begin July 1, according to a University press release.
Mason replaces Gerardo Gonzalez, who announced his retirement earlier this year and will step down from the role June 30.
Gonzalez served as dean of the school for 15 years and will return as a faculty member in fall 2016, according to the release. He will also serve as University President Michael A. McRobbie’s special adviser on U.S.-Cuba relations.
“Professor Mason is eminently qualified to assume the role of interim dean,” Gonzalez said in the release. “He has an outstanding record of scholarship and leadership in the school and the University, including serving as associate vice provost for research on the Bloomington campus. He is universally well-regarded by faculty, staff, students and the community at large.”
Mason has been at the School of Education for more than 20 years. From 2004 to 2012, he was director of the Center for Social Studies and International Education. He has directed the University’s participation in U.S. Agency for International Development-funded projects, including the Afghanistan Higher Education Project, the Macedonia Primary Education Project and the South Sudan Higher Education Initiative for Equity and Leadership ?Development.
“Terry is an accomplished teacher, researcher and administrator committed to education as a foundational value of a democratic society,” Provost Lauren Robel said in the release. “He brings his comprehensive knowledge of the school and the University to the position, as well as an ongoing commitment to the excellent and global programs for which the school is justly celebrated.”
He received his Ph.D. from the UCLA Graduate School of Education in 1986. He teaches courses on social studies methods, teacher education and curriculum theory in practice.
Over the course of the next year, the school will reconfigure and explore some programs to adapt to a more modern educational environment, Mason said in the release.
“The role of technology in teaching needs to be well understood; we have enormous capacity to change the way teachers teach and students learn,” Mason said. “But schools are not necessarily tapping into this potential as well as they could. The School of Education can take a leading role in translating the capacity that exists into teaching practices that improve student learning.”
This summer, Mason will begin the process of searching for a new dean for the school as well as expand the school’s on-campus collaborations while working with the school’s faculty on ways the school’s research can connect to the grand challenges outlined in the IU-Bloomington’s Bicentennial Strategic Plan.
“I’ve been involved with the strategic plan process,” Mason said. “I want the School of Education to take a leading and active role in working with professional schools, the College of Arts and Sciences and other units on campus on one or more grand challenges.”
Holly Hays
