William & Mary recently announced it appointed former state senator and W&M alumnus Monty Mason as senior director for community affairs and partnerships.
The appointment is part of a long-term effort to reimagine the university’s government and external affairs team, according to the university. “Aligned with Vision 2026’s goal to expand William & Mary’s reach, the university is enhancing efforts to build partnerships and connections across the region,” a news release said.
According to several donors and friends of William & Mary, the university could hardly have made a better choice than Mason.
After graduating as a government major at W&M in 1989, Mason served in senior roles at VISA and LandAmerica Financial Group and was chair of the Williamsburg Economic Development Authority. He also served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2014 to 2016 and the Virginia Senate from 2018 to 2024.
I asked Mason, what part of his education at William & Mary he considers having the greatest impact on his career in business and politics?
“The Government and History focus had a big impact on my understanding of the political world and its relationship with communities and people,” Mason said in an interview with the Gazette. “It continued to build my love of the process and the intricate workings of government at all levels. What William & Mary really did was show me how much there was to learn and how to do it at a very high level.”
Now that Mason is in charge of William & Mary’s community affairs and partnership programs, I wanted to learn what his goals were.
“We are working to expand existing relationships across the region and state,” he said. “To develop new partnerships that will be beneficial to businesses, government and community organizations while adding to the work done at the university. We are looking for ways to collaborate with new partners. For example, our new School of Computing, Data Sciences, and Physics, the first new school at William & Mary in 50 years, will open many new doors for new partnerships.”
Mason pointed out that mutually beneficial partnerships are good for everyone but they have to be just that. “We are looking for new ways to share our incredible expertise to the benefit of the community and organizations that can also open the door to new opportunities for our students, faculty and staff. In many ways, this is a renewed commitment for William & Mary to build new partnerships and the new and innovative relationships that develop will further advance the university’s mission.”
Mason’s portfolio also includes William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which recently became the beneficiary of a $100 million donation.
I asked Mason how he intends to handle the impact of the donation.
“ President Katherine Rowe, Dean Derek Aday and Vice President Matthew Lambert have said the incredible generous gift to William & Mary from Jane Batten will position W&M and its Virginia Institute of Marine Science as the destination to study, research and develop solutions to the existential threats we face due to global change,” Mason said.
He continued, “It allows us to advance to new levels the advice and research we already provide the Commonwealth of Virginia and it fulfills our mission of being the global leader in coastal and marine science.
“William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Science at VIMS will pave the path for those new opportunities, public and private partnerships and collaborative efforts across the Commonwealth, the nation and the world.”
Frank Shatz is a Williamsburg resident. He is the author of “Reports from a Distant Place,” the compilation of his selected columns. The book is available at Bruton Parish Shop and Amazon.com.
