Mason Bio 2

Janet Harmon Mason, Ed. D.

Since 2010, Dr. Janet Harmon Mason has served as the superintendent of Rutherford County Schools. Under her leadership, the district has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished Education Program and a North Carolina Innovator in Digital Learning. Dr. Mason was awarded the Friday Medal for Educational Innovation in 2017 and was selected as the 2018 A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year.

Dr. Mason serves on the executive board of the North Carolina Association of School Superintendents, the executive committee of the American Association of School Administrators, and the boards of the Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation and the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. She is a trustee of the McNair Educational Foundation and an active McNair Mentor for 15 middle and high school students.

Dr. Mason was a high school math teacher for 16 years, and served as an assistant principal, a high school principal, secondary curriculum director, and assistant superintendent, all in the Rutherford County Schools. She is a graduate of Appalachian State University, Converse College, and earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Western Carolina University in 2010.

She and her husband, Rick Mason, are the proud parents of Meredith Mason, a 2017 Park Scholar and graduate of North Carolina State University and 3rd grade teacher in Wake County.