EMPORIA — Iola’s John Masterson received a Distinguished Alumnus award from Emporia State University on Saturday in an awards ceremony that was part of the university’s homecoming celebrations. The award is the highest honor bestowed to alumni. Masterson, whose career at Allen Community College spanned four decades and 30 as president, was one of six alumni recognized.
Josiah D’Albini, director of student life at Allen, nominated Masterson for the award. “For many years, John has been revered among his colleagues at Kansas community colleges for his experience and wisdom,” wrote D’Albini in his nominating letter.
He said that Masterson was a president who truly knew his students. “John could be seen stopping students in the hallway asking or congratulating them on how their game, concert or performance went,” D’Albini wrote. “John has been…supporting the students in the stands and concert and theater seats, even sometimes in the weight room.”
MASTERSON graduated from Emporia State in 1967 with a BSE in physical education and in 1970 with a master’s in guidance and counseling.
After graduating, Masteron served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War aboard the USS Mt. Katmai with two deployments to the war zone. Upon his release from active duty, he returned to Emporia where his wife, Georgia, was finishing her degree and began work on his master’s.
He was a graduate assistant in the Student Affairs division where he and Georgia lived in the Men’s Residence Hall and was employed as a Residence Hall Director.
MASTERSON has been deeply involved in the Iola and Allen County communities, particularly in the area of economic development. He has served as a vice president and board member of Iola Industries, Inc., for more than 20 years, and on the Iola Area Economic Development Advisory Committee since its inception.
He received the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from Thrive Allen County, a 2021 Kansas Department of Commerce Outstanding Service Award, induction into the 2014 Red Devil Diamonds Club Hall of Fame and was honored on June 30, 2022, with John Masterson Day by the City of Iola.
