Contact: Jack Bailey (304) 766-4109 Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University (WVSU) will honor its Alumna of the Year and Young Professional Achievement Award Winer at an awards dinner and class reunion, Friday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites in Charleston.
Being recognized as the 2018 Alumna of the Year is Judith Ellis Mason, a 1978 graduate of WVSU. A native of Washington, D.C., Mason retired in 2017 from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, where she served as a Pension Law Specialist and Management Analyst.
Mason is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. She was a member of the Federal City Alumnae Chapter from 1979 until 2018. She has held the positions of Recording Secretary, Historian and Chair of the Economic Development Committee, along with Membership and Archives Committees.
Mason has made significant contributions to both the WVSU National Alumni Association and to the Metropolitan Washington Alumni Chapter where she continues to hold her membership. She served as the Chapter’s President from 2005-2009. During her tenure as President, she initiated the Dr. Vincent E. Reed Scholarship Dinner Dance. This annual event was established as a fundraiser for the Dr. Vincent E. Reed Scholarship Program, providing scholarships to students from the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area who will be attending WVSU.
At the national level, Mason has been a Life Member of the National Alumni Association since 2001. Additionally, she has served as Chair of the National Constitution and By-Laws Committee.
While at WVSU, she was a member of the Student Government Association, the Pep Club, the Gospel Cavaliers, and the Alpha Delta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and in her junior year was crowned Miss State.
The 2018 Young Professional Achievement Award Winner is Sheri A. Sesay-Tuffour, Ph.D., a 1998 graduate of WVSU. Earlier this year, Sesay-Tuffour became the first African-American Chief Executive Officer for the American College of Nurse-Midwives – the leading organization in the United States representing certified nurse-midwives.
Sesay-Tuffour was previously the vice president of business operations for the Heart Rhythm Society, where she was responsible for overseeing the organization’s financial and business operations. Prior to leading business operations, she served as executive director for the International Board of Heart Rhythm Examiners overseeing business strategy, finance and operations.
Sesay-Tuffour is president of the Metropolitan-Washington Alumni Chapter of WVSU. She has professional affiliations with the American Society of Association Executives, Executive Leadership Council, Society for Human Resource Management, and Project Management Institute.
In addition, to the award honorees, Friday’s event will serve as a reunion for the WVSU classes of 1943, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013.
The awards dinner and class reunion are taking place as part of Homecoming activities for WVSU, which run Oct. 4-6. The dinner is open to the public and tickets are $60 in advance, or $70 the day of the event.
For more information, and a complete schedule of Homecoming events, visit or call (304) 766-3387.
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