From students to striped bass Dean of Students Regina Mooney will leave the College at the end of June to become president of Aqua-Mass Ltd., which will raise fish in an indoor aquaculture plant to be built in Western Massachusetts.
Dean of Students Regina Mooney will leave the College at the end of June to become president of Aqua-Mass Ltd., a new division of the Pennsylvania-based firm Integrated Food Technologies. She will oversee creation of an indoor aquaculture plant in Western Massachusetts, seeking equity share partners, choosing a site, supervising construction of the plant, and hiring workers.
"Betty Friedan recently said that women should be ready to have three careers in their lives," Mooney says. "I've been a college chaplain and dean of students already, so this will be my third career." Integrated Food Technologies Chair of the Board Jack Summers described his new president as "a woman of solid integrity, vision, and intelligence who will fit right in with our creative team."
Aqua-Mass will raise fish--such as Arctic char salmon, tilapia, striped bass, perch, and redfish--in concrete tanks. Fish raised this way are free of parasites and chemical contaminants like mercury that are sometimes found in other freshwater fish, Mooney says. The fish will be marketed locally and shipped around the world under the Blue Mountain Brands label.
Mooney says the company is looking for educational partners, who would bring research findings to the operation, as well as investors. Once the plant is running, she anticipates internship opportunities will be available there for MHC students.
Mooney, who has been dean of students since 1994, says, "I was brought in to enhance the honor code and the blending of academic life with cocurricular life. I feel that the students, staff, and I have launched these projects and have made significant strides toward achieving these goals."
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