From the small town of Vivian, La., to the highest echelons of
the banking industry, Elvis Mason ’59 has achieved success
beyond the most grandiose dreams of childhood.
Timing and circumstance directed him to Lamar University,
whose influence on his life, he says, is “total.”
“I give Lamar credit for everything I’ve done in my professional
career because it all started here. The foundation I derived from
attending Lamar has been wonderful – and I say that from the
perspective of a 52-year relationship,” said Mason, now retired and
living in Dallas with Joan, his wife of 47 years, just a few blocks
away from one son and two of their three grandchildren.
“The relationships I developed at Lamar directed me toward
banking, toward John Gray,” he said. “I stayed in Texas and married
a Texas girl, so I guess you would say my entire life flowed from my
being at Lamar.”
The impact of Mason’s life on Lamar University has been
phenomenal. He served on the Lamar board of regents from 1974
to 1978, was honored as a distinguished alumnus in 1974, was
awarded an honorary doctor of laws in 1982, and, in 2003, was
one of the first inductees into the Business Hall of Fame. In 1981,
he spearheaded efforts to construct the John Gray Institute – now
the John Gray Center – in which the Elvis Mason Conference
Room now honors him. Now retired as co-founder and managing
partner Mason Best Co., he serves as honorary chairman of the
university’s campaign cabinet.
“I know from first-hand experience there is nothing more
important in Southeast Texas than Lamar University,” Mason said.
“Lamar University is the epitome of a university that really adds to
people’s lives. This campaign can make the difference between an
average university and what it can become when it has the funds
available to supplement its
overall academic mission.”
Elvis Leonard Mason
was born Oct. 4, 1933, in
Vivian, La. The third of
five children, he graduated
from high school in Vivian
and then served four years
in the Army infantry.
During a visit to his
mother, who had moved to
Beaumont, he abandoned
plans to attend Louisiana
State University and
enrolled at Lamar State
College of Technology.
Mason’s Lamar years
proved a harbinger of his
career. He served in a number
of leadership roles –
including president of his
freshman class and the
Student Government
Association – and developed associations with members of the
administration and faculty that would serve him well. He was president
of the Cavaliers – predecessor to Alpha Tau Omega, which he
served as charter president – and was inducted into Delta Sigma Pi
business honor society and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.
In 1958, he was crowned “king of Lamar Tech.” Mason earned his
bachelor of business administration in economics and went on to
receive a Rotary International Fellowship, spending a year at Rhodes
University in South Africa.
“Even in the old days, when we were all Lamar Tech undergraduates
together, we never doubted Elvis was destined for greatness,”
said classmate Ellen (Walker) Rienstra ’62. “On campus, he inspired
confidence on the part of students and faculty and always employed
his formidable mind, charismatic presence, capability and leadership
qualities to the good. To those of us who knew him ‘back when,’ his
towering achievements have come as no surprise.”
Mason’s valued his opportunity not only to pursue a degree but
also to become involved in student life and get to know the administration.
F.L. McDonald was Lamar president at the time, and the
two worked together on a number of projects. As student body president,
Mason led the charge to name the newest building on campus
– McDonald Gym – in honor of the longtime president.
Richard Setzer, who would succeed McDonald, was dean of the
College of Business and Mason’s primary academic advisor. Many of
those he met steered him toward John Gray. One of them was head
librarian Julia Plummer. “She told me, ‘I’d like for you to meet John
Gray. If the two of you will meet, I believe you’ll have a very longterm
relationship.’”
Mason well remembers the day he met the man who was to
become his mentor and friend. “I went to the bank and had a visit
with him, and he was so gracious. He asked me if I could spare the
time to go to lunch with him – and obviously I could.”
After Mason returned from abroad and joined American General
Insurance as branch manager, Gray asked if he had considered banking.
Mason decided the time was not right, but, two years later, while
working in Corpus Christi, “I decided banking would be an arena
that would fit me better than the one I was in.” So Mason got in
touch with Gray.
“He offered me the job and, after a few days, we made the
decision to move to Beaumont. We had one child, who was about 6
months old at the time, so that was a significant move for me – and
how I got my start in banking.
“He took me under his wing and helped me develop,” Mason
said. “He counseled me about going to graduate banking school
(Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University). He
also helped launch me in terms of civic work and relationships in the
community. He was a terrific gentleman
and a great coach.”
Mason began his First Security
career as assistant to the president,
moving through the ranks to
become executive vice president and
member of the board of directors.
When Gray retired (and began his
second Lamar presidency), Mason
succeeded him as board chairman
and chief executive officer. Mason
went to Dallas as vice chairman and
director of International Bancshares, parent company of First National
Bank in Dallas, then the largest banking organization in Texas. He
moved to First National Bank as president and CEO, then became
chairman and CEO. He and fellow Lamar alumnus Randy Best ’67
co-founded the merchant banking firm Mason Best in 1984.
Over the years, Mason served on several corporate boards, including
Texaco, and was active in the city and points beyond. He served as
chairman of the Dallas Citizens’ Council, made up of CEOs from major
companies. Other affiliations include trustee, The Dallas Foundation;
president, board of trustees, St. Mark’s School of Texas; and member,
Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Among outside interests, Mason was a tennis enthusiast for many
years. Double knee replacement surgery several years ago ended that
pursuit, but he loves to read, and he and Joan enjoy traveling. They are
active in First Presbyterian Church of Dallas.
The insistence of his roommate’s girlfriend when he was a Lamar
student led Mason to meet and marry Joan Baker– which he calls “the
best decision I ever made.”
While vacationing one summer near Cape Cod, his friend met a
young woman entering her freshman year at Southern Methodist
University. The two continued dating, and she visited Beaumont. “She
said to me, ‘I have a sorority sister who, if the two of you ever met and
dated, you’d get married.’ I told her that was hard to believe. She went
back to Dallas and wrote a note to Joan about how we should get
together – and literally stayed after us until we started dating. And, as
she predicted, we did get married.”
Joan Baker Mason graduated from SMU where she was president
of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. In Beaumont and Dallas, she has
been active in many community and church affairs. And, Mason adds,
“She’s been involved with Lamar for a long, long time, through me, so
she feels like she belongs to Lamar. She has been a marvelous wife and
a wonderful mother.”
The Masons have three children, Ross, of Dallas; Greg, of Athens,
Texas; and Jo Ellen, of Durham, N.C.; and three grandchildren. Greg
is a 1991 Lamar graduate with a degree in applied arts and sciences.
Mason has supported Lamar University “almost from the start,”
he says. “When I came back to Beaumont and joined the bank, I
began to pick up on things going on at Lamar and began working
with the Alumni Association. I later served on the board of regents
with an appointment from Gov. Dolph Briscoe. Even before that, I
knew (regents’ chairman) Otho Plummer well. My involvement with
Lamar flowed through all of those
activities.”
Mason served on the board
with two of his best friends, George
Dishman and Mark Steinhagen.
“He has always had a warm
spot in his heart for Lamar,” said
Dishman, his friend of 40 years. “He
was always a promoter – of
Beaumont, the Chamber of
Commerce, Lamar University –
doing anything he could to improve
lives or the climate of the community.”
Asked to describe Mason in four words, Dishman replied:
“articulate, analytical, organized and persuasive.” He added, “He has a
great mind and has done phenomenal things.”
Steinhagen met Mason in the 1950s when he was part of an ATO
team from the University of Texas assigned to initiate the Lamar chapter.
“If I made a list of people I know in terms of ability and leadership,
he would be at the very top,” Steinhagen said.
Mason’s steadfast support of Lamar has spanned more than half a
century. He believes the university’s impact will span centuries to come.
Lamar occupies a unique position in the region, and the time is right to
ensure that it continues on the path of academic enhancement, he said.
“Under Jimmy Simmons’ leadership, the university is in the best position
to grow and excel that I’ve seen.”
When alumni provide financial support for a university dependent
on public funds, they do everything from enhancing the quality of the
faculty it can attract and retain to providing a wide range of scholarships,
said Mason. Private funds are essential, he said, and Lamar is a
great investment because it means investing in students.
“Lamar University is important in Southeast Texas for almost
every reason you can think of – economically, culturally, government
relationships and as a place where people can come together for planning
that affects the entire region. I believe this is the right time for a
comprehensive campaign because it is in such a positive period of
growth and development.”
