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LONG BEACH
- Veteran educator Dr. Nancy Masztal, professor of curriculum and
instruction at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast,
will retire this summer after 25 years of service.
A reception
in her honor will be held Monday at the Gulf Park campus in Long
Beach.
"We are
grateful for Dr. Masztal's many years of service to our university
and wish her well in her future endeavors," said Southern MissGC
Dean Dr. Denise von Herrmann. "With her numerous scholarly
publications, grants, conference presentations and administrative
duties, as well as teaching excellence, she will be surely missed."
Masztal earned
bachelor's degrees in English and speech in 1964 from Florida State
University. Later, she received her master's in reading from the
University of Miami, and eventually her doctorate in reading, also
from the University of Miami.
In addition
to her academic work, Masztal has served as an instructor and consultant
with the University of Miami, Western Washington University, the
Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Dade County Public School System
in Miami.
Masztal began
her career with The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast
in 1978 as coordinator of elementary education. In addition to teaching,
Masztal advised undergraduate and graduate students majoring in
elementary education and reading. She also founded an after-school
reading program on campus for children with reading difficulties
and began the Curriculum Materials Center, located on the Southern
Miss Gulf Park campus.
For the past
12 years, Masztal has served as chair of the Division of Education
and Psychology at Southern MissGC. She has been nominated for the
Governor's Award for the Arts, recognized by the Board of Trustees
of State Institutions of Higher Learning for her outstanding achievements,
recognized as 1999's Mississippi Professor of the Year by the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and selected as one
of four professionals from Mississippi and Louisiana to serve as
a member of a Group Study Exchange Team to India.
Masztal is
also the 1985-1986 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award
at The University of Southern Mississippi.
"It has
been my pleasure to work with the people in our coastal area, especially
the children, teachers and personnel in school districts,"
Masztal said. "I leave the Gulf Coast with great memories of
collaborative efforts that have been of benefit to the children,
the teachers and education in general."
Masztal, a
resident of Bay St. Louis, has two daughters, Alicia and Janas.
After her retirement
from Southern MissGC, Masztal plans to move to Miami, where she
will serve as a professor of reading in the graduate reading program
at Barry University.
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