Winter 2015 Commencement Speaker

Cory Mason III is the chief information officer and director of global information technology at Twin Disc Inc. He served as Small Business Development Director at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside from 2002 to 2004. Prior to that, he held various information technology (IT) positions including director of information services at Harley-Davidson Inc. from 1994 to 2002, and director of global information technology at SC Johnson from 1971 to 1994.

He has been a national and international speaker with topics including "Market Customer Driven Companies," "Customer Service the Next Competitive Arena," and "Transformation from Systems Building to Business Integration." He was recognized at the 2015 Midmarket CIO Forum as this year's recipient for Excellence in the Office of the CIO.

He is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota He is also a recipient of the CIO-100, Leaders for the Next Millennium from CIO Magazine. 

Mr. Mason has taught at the undergraduate and graduate level at UW-Parkside including Small Business for the Entrepreneur, organization theory, strategic planning, and IT courses. UW-Parkside and its Alumni Association recognized Mr. Mason with the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Service Award. 

He served as past chairman and currently serves on the Business Advisory Council for the UW-Parkside College of Business, Economics, and Computing. He is a founding and current member of the UW-Parkside IT Practice Center. 

Heavily involved in the community, Mr. Mason serves on the board for Junior Achievement of Racine and Kenosha, and the Racine Uptown Business Improvement District (BID). He is a past board member and served as president of the Racine Symphony Orchestra. 

He served as chairman/president and is a past board member of the Racine Area Soccer Association (RASA) and was a volunteer youth soccer coach for 36 years. Mr. Mason was honored as the State of Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association Coach of the Year in 1993. He has served as president and is a past board member of the Racine Southeastern Aquatics (SEA) competitive swim club. 

Mr. Mason holds an M.B.A. from Marquette University and a B.S. from University of Wisconsin-Parkside, majoring in business management and chemistry.