Dr. Mary Jo Lass

Mary Jo Lass earned her MA in Education from CSULB in 1954 and was hired as a full-time faculty member at CSULB in 1966. Why did she choose a career in education? “Teaching is a way to affect the world,” she explains. “I taught classes full of teachers or future teachers. Each of those students taught classes of their own students, so each semester I had the potential to affect so many lives. It’s a ripple effect, one person can change the world … through education.”

Mary Jo is retired now, but continues to change lives through education with charitable gift annuities to her alma mater. For Mary Jo, the intangible benefits mean more. “It started as a way to honor my mother and father,” Mary Jo describes. “Flowers are nice, but they fade. This will never fade … and it keeps them alive by helping CSULB students.”

The College of Education (CED) expresses gratitude to all scholarship donors who continue to enhance the quality of education students experience at CSULB.