Karol Mason

Karol Virginia Mason is an American attorney, government appointee, and academic administrator, serving as the fifth president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice since August 2017. Formerly, she was an Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Justice Programs in the Obama Administration.

Early life and education Mason was born in Amityville, New York, on August 20, 1957. She earned a B.A. in mathematics in 1979 at the University of North Carolina and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

Mason was a low five-figure contributor to "Democratic candidates and causes" from 1994 to 2013 and a low four-figure contributor to Republicans over the same period.

In 2016, as part of National Reentry Week addressing the challenges of prisoners leaving incarceration, Mason instituted a policy in OJP to "no longer use words such as 'felon' or 'convict' to refer to released prisoners". Mason co-wrote a column about juvenile justice and access to legal counsel as part of department efforts. In October, Mason and New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. joined in the National Network of Safe Communities (NNSC) and John Jay's Institute for Innovation in Prosecution (IIP) initiative.

John Jay College Mason is the first woman and first African-American to serve as president of John Jay.