Fall 1997

Mason strives to keep students competitive for 21st century

Thomas Mason brings a wealth of experience into the economics courses he teaches at Rose-Hulman. That experience blends higher education administration, corporate leadership and research:

• Three years spent as an executive for Terre Haute’s Applied Computing Devices, Inc., and International Centers for Telecommunication Technology, Inc.;
• Nine years as Rose-Hulman’s vice president of administration and finance; and
• 25 years of researching how technology continues to change America’s corporate environment. In fact, he’s co-author of the book, Forecasting and Management of Technology (Wiley Publishers).

So, Mason is a living example of what he preaches in the classroom: Successful people need to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and have a wealth of knowledge about their area of expertise.

"My role is to be a motivator and facilitator in the students’ discovery of interests and knowledge about topics such as entrepreneurship," says Mason, a member of the Rose-Hulman humanities and social science faculty since 1972. "If you can help with young people’s growth and development, there’s enormous satisfaction when you see the impact they (alumni) have as professionals."

It’s those relationships and his excellent classroom instruction that earned Mason the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award for the 1996-97 academic year. The honor came two years after Mason returned to full-time teaching from 12 years as a college administrator and corporate executive.

"I returned to teaching because I really missed interacting with students," he said. "I learned a lot (at ACD and ICTT) and am glad I did it. I got a feeling for the type of education that students need to be competitive in the 21st century."

Mason believes engineering graduates need more business perspective and to develop the ability to continually adapt to future changes in technology. That was the driving force behind Rose-Hulman’s new graduate program in engineering management that Mason helped initiate when he returned in the fall of 1995. It is believed to be the only such program in Indiana. Courses are offered each quarter in Terre Haute, Indianapolis, Bloomington and the Naval Warfare Center at Crane, Ind. The three-year program has approximately 50 part-time students enrolled for this fall. (There’s still room for more students, Mason reports. See top of this page.)

"The basis for future corporate and personal wealth will be in knowledge," Mason stated. "The power of computers is making more and more processes highly susceptible to automation and configurability. People who have the ability and preparation to make contributions to design, operation and maintenance of complex systems will do well, but those who do not continually learn will have an increasingly difficult time."

"Knowledge has no borders. Almost every growing business will be truly global," he added. "Today’s college students need to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. That’s where knowledge plays a big role. I hope that’s why students are interested in participating in my classes. They want knowledge to turn technological innovation into economic and social value."

With Mason, they’ve come to the right source.

by Dale Long