Margo Mastropieri.
Creative Services photo

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and Dominion Resources announced that University Professor Margo Mastropieri will receive the 2010 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award, the commonwealth's highest honor for faculty at Virginia's colleges and universities.

Mastropieri will be recognized for her excellence in teaching, research, knowledge integration and public service at a Feb. 18 ceremony in Richmond.

Craig Esherick

Robert Baker

Two Mason faculty members are currently traveling in India as part of a U.S. Department of State cultural exchange program meant to develop awareness of basketball in the country.

Victor Lena completed the Career Switchers Program and left his job as an electrical engineer to teach middle school. Photo by Lori A. Wilson

This fall is sure to be full of challenges and surprises for Victor Lena. After 37 years, Lena is trading in a lucrative career as an electrical engineer to fulfill a lifelong dream of teaching. Having thought about teaching at various times during his engineering career, Lena felt it was never quite economically feasible, since he has three children.

"When my middle son entered his fourth year of medical school, I was confident there was indeed a light at the end of the 'tuition tunnel'," says Lena. "I began to explore post-engineering alternatives in earnest, and it didn't take long for the idea of teaching to reassert itself."

Having completed Mason's Career Switchers Program in May, Lena now teaches math, algebra and life science to middle school students at the Philip Michael Pennington School in Manassas, Va.