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Mason: Educationist John Mason, who led Doon School to new heights, no more | India News
KOLKATA: Educationist John Mason, who headed several schools during his career, including St James’ School, the Doon School, and Modern High School in Dubai, died in Chennai on Friday. He had been admitted to a hospital there after sustaining a femur fracture from a fall. He was 78.
Born in Dehradun on January 10, 1945, Jonathan Anthony Mason studied at La Martiniere for Boys and did his graduation and master’s in English from Jadavpur University. He taught English in La Martiniere before moving to St James’ where he became an institution himself. Mason had also written several text books in English.
After retiring from a full-time teaching career, Mason had settled down in Dehradun and was working on a village project near Meerut. Mason and his wife Anjoo had gone to Kerala recently to visit his sister-in-law, the granddaughters of the freedom fighter and lawyer Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. They returned via Pondicherry where he fell and broke his femur. Post-surgery complications led him to Chennai for treatment. He died there on Friday.
St James’ School will hold a memorial service in memory of Mason on Monday. La Martiniere for Boys secretary Supriyo Dhar said the school also plans to offer a tribute to the academician.
Academics recall how Mason had first instilled discipline shortly after he took over the reins of St James’ in 1978 and then went on to recruit several key teachers who turned around the school’s academic record and made it into one of the city’s foremost English medium schools. By the time he left the school in 1992, it was among the top ICSE schools in India.
Students at St James’ recalled his flamboyance: he was always nattily dressed in a suit. “For many of us, he represented the quintessential Englishman. He even had blonde hair. He was like a principal from the English novels we read,” recounted ex-St James’ student Indranil Poddar.
Mason was also famous for not putting up kindly with nuisance. He had a fundamental kindness but was always strict about academics. Students recall how he maintained a register on the academic record of all senior students in his office and consulted it when there was a complaint of indiscipline to check how the student’s academic record was.
“Monday was inspection day. Anyone who was dressed well used to get plus points and those dressed poorly were given negative points,” recounted.
Born in Dehradun on January 10, 1945, Jonathan Anthony Mason studied at La Martiniere for Boys and did his graduation and master’s in English from Jadavpur University. He taught English in La Martiniere before moving to St James’ where he became an institution himself. Mason had also written several text books in English.
After retiring from a full-time teaching career, Mason had settled down in Dehradun and was working on a village project near Meerut. Mason and his wife Anjoo had gone to Kerala recently to visit his sister-in-law, the granddaughters of the freedom fighter and lawyer Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. They returned via Pondicherry where he fell and broke his femur. Post-surgery complications led him to Chennai for treatment. He died there on Friday.
St James’ School will hold a memorial service in memory of Mason on Monday. La Martiniere for Boys secretary Supriyo Dhar said the school also plans to offer a tribute to the academician.
Academics recall how Mason had first instilled discipline shortly after he took over the reins of St James’ in 1978 and then went on to recruit several key teachers who turned around the school’s academic record and made it into one of the city’s foremost English medium schools. By the time he left the school in 1992, it was among the top ICSE schools in India.
Students at St James’ recalled his flamboyance: he was always nattily dressed in a suit. “For many of us, he represented the quintessential Englishman. He even had blonde hair. He was like a principal from the English novels we read,” recounted ex-St James’ student Indranil Poddar.
Mason was also famous for not putting up kindly with nuisance. He had a fundamental kindness but was always strict about academics. Students recall how he maintained a register on the academic record of all senior students in his office and consulted it when there was a complaint of indiscipline to check how the student’s academic record was.
“Monday was inspection day. Anyone who was dressed well used to get plus points and those dressed poorly were given negative points,” recounted.
