A three-sport letterman at Cortland, Vincent J. Mascia, Jr. ’53 went on to a distinguished career as a U.S. Navy aviator, businessman and conscientious owner of a multi-million dollar corporation.
The Buffalo, N.Y., native graduated from Kensington High. He earned letters in football, track and field and lacrosse at Cortland. He was a three-year starter at halfback in football and led the 1951 squad in scoring despite in a season cut short by a broken leg. He was a record-setting hurdler in track. On campus, Mascia, who was listed in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, was active with the House of Delegates Executive Council, the Cardinal Key Society, the Health Club, the Newman Club and was house president of Beta Phi Epsilon fraternity.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Cortland and a master’s degree in education from Canisius College. Mascia served as an aviator with the U.S. Navy between 1953-57. He was the most junior officer selected to become section leader with the VF-92 Fighter Squadron. He made 108 shipboard landings on the CVA-38 aircraft carrier Shangri-La. He was assigned to Naval Air Station Pensacola as an instructor. Selected to attend the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command Survival School, he was ranked second among 249 classmates. He attained the rank of Sr. Lt. in 1958 and retired from the Reserves in 1960.
Between 1957-60, Mascia taught and coached at Lewiston-Porter High, where his track and field squads won two regional titles. He entered the corporate world in 1960 as an award-winning salesman for Pennsalt Chemicals. In 1964, he went to Hysol Corp. and soon advanced to a regional sales manager position. He joined Amicon Corp., a division of W.R. Grace, in 1970 and was promoted to vice president of marketing. He served as president of Vandar Corp. from 1980-83.
Mascia was president/owner of Mavidon Corp., a manufacturer of specialty resins, coatings, adhesives and encapsulants of the electrical/electronic industrial markets, from 1983-96. He employed 60 persons and had sales approaching $10 million.
Inc. Magazine selected Mavidon as one of the top 500 fastest growing companies in the U.S., while Mascia’s operation won distinguished supplier awards from Motorola Corp. and Sprague Electronics. Mavidon received both the Governor’s and the Palm City Chamber of Commerce’s Industrial Appreciation Awards, as well as the Martin County Education Award of Partnership for classroom sponsorship.
Mascia served on the boards for the Florida National Bank, the Martin County Economic Development Council and the Tri-County Rehab Center. He raised funds for a new Catholic church in his community and has generously supported the SUNY Cortland baseball program and improvements at Wallace Field.
He and his wife, Roberta Miller Mascia ’53, have five children: David, Thomas, Susan, Kathleen and Carolynne.
