Science & Technology Campus

Donna Tressler is January Employee of the Month

Colleen Rich — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 13:15:04 +0000

Donna Tressler is January Employee of the Month Colleen Rich Mon, 01/03/2022 - 08:15

Donna Tressler. Photo provided

Donna Tressler says she does whatever it takes to get the job done in ��AV’s Science and Technology Campus Executive Office.

“I’m a very behind-the-scenes person, but I make sure that whatever we’re trying to do, that we’re successful at it,” Tressler said.

Tressler, who is January Employee of the Month, has been an administrative specialist for the Executive Office since September 2014.

From managing multiple calendars, supporting the SciTech Campus Advisory Board, overseeing campus tours, and running the SciTech Campus Facebook page, “you name it, I do it,” Tressler said.

“When she is at work, she is focused, driven and ready to help the team succeed day in and day out,” said Colby Grant, assistant director of operations for the SciTech Campus Executive Office.

Tressler has led the marketing efforts for many events, including Leadercast, a leadership conference the Executive Office hosted in 2018 and 2019. Tressler attended multiple lessons on marketing, social media success, and search engine optimization to create every piece of marketing material for Leadercast.

“She is an avid learner and actively pursues trainings that will enhance the office goals, her colleagues and improvements to processes,” said Debbie Weitzman-Ward, assistant director of administration for the SciTech Campus Executive Office.

While the event was transferred to the Prince William Chamber of Commerce in 2020, Tressler continued to help with promotion by assisting with her social media skills and large database of contacts.

“Everything that she works on is delivered with impeccable professionalism that makes all participants feel welcome and included,” said Amy Adams, executive director of Mason’s Institute for Biohealth Innovation.

“Because of her support, we can grow and thrive at the SciTech campus and Mason at large,” Adams said.

How she got to Mason:

I previously worked in administrative roles for custom manufacturers. Prior to my position at Mason, I worked for a commercial real estate agency. Commercial real estate was hit hard by the last recession, and I felt it was time for a change. I had a conversation with Heather Aleknavage, the office manager and HR coordinator for Mason’s Office of Sponsored Programs, and she told me to apply to Mason. I did, and here I am.

Best day on the job:

Whenever a VIP campus tour is over, and Ronald Carmichael, the director of administration and operations for the SciTech Campus Executive Office, comes back and says, “That was fantastic,”—that’s a good day.

What she likes best about working at Mason:

I like the diversity of all the people here. You could be walking down the hall and run into a researcher or an engineer. I love how there are so many different people with so many different backgrounds. You never know who you’re going to be talking to.

What she does when she’s not working:

I am married with a 13-year-old daughter who is my “mini me.” I also have two step-sons who are grown and married with families of their own. My husband, daughter, and I live on five acres with our two foxhounds and a brood of chickens. I am a big reader so when I’m not hanging out with my family or working in our huge vegetable garden, you will find me curled up somewhere with a book.

Topics

Faculty and Staff News

Science & Technology Campus

Human Resources and Payroll

Employee of the Month

Hylton Performing Arts Center to hold virtual 10th anniversary celebration with live performances

Colleen Rich — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 09:05:41 +0000

Hylton Performing Arts Center to hold virtual 10th anniversary celebration with live performances Colleen Rich Thu, 07/02/2020 - 05:05

Topics

Hylton Center

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Science & Technology Campus

Arts

Campus News

Katherine G. Johnson Hall will be a beacon for Mason students

Melanie Balog — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 19:46:53 +0000

Katherine G. Johnson Hall will be a beacon for Mason students Melanie Balog Wed, 06/19/2019 - 15:46

Katherine G. Johnson overcame institutional racism and sexism to help put the first men on the moon and carve a path for women and people of color in science and space exploration. Now students at ��AV will know her story every time they step onto the Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Virginia.

Mason on Wednesday named its largest building at SciTech, formerly Bull Run Hall, Katherine G. Johnson Hall, after the trailblazing NASA mathematician whose story captivated millions in the Oscar-nominated movie “Hidden Figures.”

Johnson, 100, was unable to attend, but family members including her daughters Katherine Moore and Joylette Hylick and grandson Troy Hylick attended on her behalf, joined by roughly 200 friends, university officials and guests in the Verizon Auditorium at Colgan Hall. A chorus of Mason students and alumni led by Lisa Billingham, professor of choral music education, opened and closed the program and generated enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Kevin Clark, a professor in the division of learning technologies and the director of the Center for Digital Media Innovation and Diversity within the College of Education and Human Development, was among the program speakers and said the newly renamed building would serve as a “constant reminder of the intelligence, intensity, patriotism and dedication of Mrs. Katherine Johnson.”

Mason President Ángel Cabrera said Johnson’s story is a good fit with Mason’s mission to provide higher education access to previously underserved groups.

“I hope that the family of Katherine Johnson sees and appreciates this is an institution dedicated to making sure that any person of color gets access to excellence, access to opportunity,” he said.

Clark, whose research focuses on attracting more women and people of color overall to STEM disciplines and careers, spoke more of the visceral impact upon impressionable young people of seeing someone successful in the STEM field who looks like them.

“Seeing is believing,” he said.

Cabrera announced an additional honor for Johnson on behalf of the state of Virginia, which formally decreed Wednesday to be “Katherine G. Johnson Day” throughout the commonwealth.

Johnson worked at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, for 33 years, performing complex calculations and flight path analysis for U.S. spacecraft in the early years of the space program, including for the Apollo 11 flight to the moon in 1969. She worked on the space shuttle program before retiring from NASA in 1986. NASA facilities have been named in Johnson’s honor, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

“The impact that she made on the space program is immeasurable, and it is fitting that this building, which houses science and technology programs, should bear her name,” said Julian Williams, Mason’s vice president for compliance, diversity and ethics.

Attracting more women of color to STEM degree programs is a priority across U.S. higher education, including at Mason, which produces more graduates in computer-related fields than any university in Virginia.

Kelly Knight, an assistant professor with Mason’s Forensic Science Program within the College of Science and the college’s STEM outreach coordinator, also spoke, and brought a group of her Females of Color Underrepresented in STEM (FOCUS) campers with her. One of those high school students, Olena Bromell, read an excerpt from “Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson.”

The building’s naming means that inspiring the many coming behind her could ultimately be Johnson’s greatest legacy, Knight said.

“This is a reminder to young people of color,” Knight said. “We, too, deserve to have a seat at the STEM table.”