Mary Mason and Judith Moss, who served 12 years each on the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees, attended their final board meeting as trustees on Dec. 1.
Both were lauded in a series of testimonials from fellow board members Paul Fong, Sandy Hay, Andrea Leiderman and student trustees Adam Welch and Sarah Wiehe. All comments had the common theme of Mason's and Moss' dedication to Foothill-De Anza and their commitment to keeping the good of the entire district paramount. Hay read proclamations from the city of Los Altos for longtime resident Mason and from Mountain View for former mayor and city council member Moss.
De Anza Academic Senate President Dan Mitchell and Foothill Academic Senate President Paul Starer presented a joint Senate resolution for Mason and Moss. Faith Milonas of the Faculty Association offered thanks and best wishes, while Silvia Bichler read a statement of thanks on behalf of the De Anza Classified Senate. Foothill President Bernadine Chuck Fong and De Anza Interim President Judy Miner also expressed their appreciation for Mason's and Moss' length and level of service to the district.
Chancellor Martha Kanter also thanked Mason and Moss. She announced that in honor of their retirement, a trustees' scholarship has been created, with initial donations to the fund totaling $3,000. Kanter then presented Mason and Moss with a souvenir photo album. Those in the audience honored Mason and Moss with a lengthy standing ovation, to which both responded with statements of appreciation. A reception attended by faculty, staff, students and community members was held prior to the board meeting.
Mason and Moss were instrumental in garnering community support for Measure E, the bond approved in 1999 by almost 72 percent of voters in the district’s service area. The bond is being used to renovate and expand college facilities to meet current health, safety and instruction standards. Measure E construction is well underway in the district, with two major projects—the campus center at Foothill and the science building at De Anza—soon to begin. (See Measure E Construction Update.)
Prior to being elected to the Foothill-De Anza board in 1991, Mason served for nine years, two as president, of the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District board. She has been active in statewide organizations including the Community College League of California (CCLC), for which she served a term as president. She was elected five times to the California Community College Trustees Board of Directors, serving as its president and vice president. Mason also is an active community volunteer and was a member of the Junior League for more than a decade, serving as president of the Junior League of Palo Alto. Mason holds a degree in business administration from Oregon State University.
Moss, currently a resident of Palo Alto, was the first woman on the Mountain View City Council, on which she served for eight years, including her term as mayor. She worked for the San Francisco Community College District for more than 20 years. Her decision to dedicate herself to education was a career change from her previous pioneering work in information systems and management planning. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College in economics and master’s degrees from Columbia University in economic analysis and Stanford University in computer engineering.
New board members Betsy Bechtel and Hal Plotkin, along with newly elected former appointee Leiderman, will be sworn in to office at a special board meeting at 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 15, in the district boardroom.
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