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Mary Ellen Mazey radio spot - April 7, 2026
Transcript
Shauna Johnson: This is West Virginia University. Mary Ellen Mazey, a two-time university graduate and the first woman to serve as Dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is one of this year's inductees into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni.
Mary Ellen Mazey: It absolutely is the honor of my life because it comes from West Virginia University. I really believe I've been able to live the American dream because of this great university.
Shauna Johnson: A Greenbrier County native, Mazey began her academic career at the University of Cincinnati, and later joined Wright State before being selected by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to serve as director of the National Office of University Partnerships. She returned to WVU in 2005 to lead the Eberly College with purpose.
Mary Ellen Mazey: It's picking good people, supporting them, and figuring out how you can build the institution.
Shauna Johnson: Mazey would go on to be hired as the first female provost at Auburn University, and president of Bowling Green State University.
Mary Ellen Mazey: I've been dean two places, I've been provost, and I've been president, and without a doubt, the dean's job is the best job in the university.
Shauna Johnson: Now retired, Mazey continues to raise scholarship support for students from her home in Westchester, Ohio.
Mary Ellen Mazey: I really miss the students because every day I got older, every day they got younger.
Shauna Johnson: Like her fellow alums, Mazey says she owes a lot to West Virginia University.
Mary Ellen Mazey: It's because it's a relatively small state, but this is a land-grant institution. There are not all that many land-grant institutions, one usually in each state across the country, and it really brings prestige to the state. It's visibility across the country and the world in terms of its research, its faculty recognitions, their students, and the alum, they still will always love this institution because it gave them their start.
Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.
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