Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed Brig. Gen. Gregory D. Mason ’89 and Alfred Purcell to serve on the Missouri Western State University Board of Governors.
“Both of these men know Missouri Western well and will be outstanding members of the Board of Governors,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “Gen. Mason is an alumnus and Al Purcell is a longtime member of our Foundation’s Board of Directors. We look forward to benefitting from their wealth of experience.”
Gen. Mason, of Lee’s Summit, Mo., serves as Assistant Adjutant General-Army in the Missouri National Guard. He is also chief of exercise control for Northrop-Grumman. As Assistant Adjutant General, he has overseen emergency management efforts in Missouri, including flooding in northwest Missouri in recent years.
Gen. Mason received his commission as a second lieutenant through the Kansas Army National Guard Officer Candidate School in 1987. Prior to his commissioning, he began his military career on active duty in 1974 as a military police officer. He has held command leadership positions at Company, Battalion and Brigade levels.
General Mason served as the senior intelligence officer for the 35th Engineer Brigade during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2007-2008. The Brigade conducted combat engineer operations throughout the central Iraq area of operations including Baghdad.
He received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Missouri Western in 1989. He also holds a Master of Public Affairs degree in public management from Park University, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Purcell, of Easton, Mo., is president of Purcell Consulting. He is an authority on management systems and business process with special emphasis on improving business results. He has extensive group facilitation experience. He has worked with a broad spectrum of organizations ranging from hospital boards, city governments, chambers of commerce, museum boards, social service boards, private and publicly held companies.
Purcell spent 40 years in executive positions with Xerox Corporation, holding many key service and sales management positions including Senior Vice President North America Technical Services and Senior Vice President North America Services Operations. In 1984 he was selected by David Kearns, Xerox’s CEO, to help lead Xerox’s quality effort which was key to the company’s turnaround and led to the achievement of the coveted Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
He is active within the community serving on a number of community boards, including Heartland Health, Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, St. Joseph Country Club, Missouri Western State University Foundation, Boy Scouts of America and National Volunteer Trustees of Not For Profit Hospitals.
If confirmed by the Missouri Senate, the terms of Gen. Mason and Purcell would expire Oct. 29, 2018. They have been appointed to replace Dan Danford and Tommye Quilty, whose terms expired earlier this year.
The Missouri Western State University Board of Governors establishes policies, by-laws, rules and regulations for its own government and for control and government of the University; to select, appoint, and remove a president of the university; to set admission standards; and to make decisions on financial matters.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.