His innovative and entrepreneurial leadership approach in these roles contributed to establishing additional campuses, launching independent online programming, improving retention, participating in fundraising, generating alternate revenue (including establishing a COVID-19 surveillance lab), engaging community and corporate partners, and overseeing a multi-million-dollar construction portfolio.

Born and raised in Niagara Falls, upon graduating valedictorian of his high school class, he received his education at the State University of New York at Buffalo, graduating magna cum laude and earning a BS and PhD in biology. Dr. Mauro was also awarded a National Institutes of Health Ruth Kirchstein Postdoctoral Fellowship to further his education at Cornell University.

From 2005 to 2013, Dr. Mauro joined the faculty at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. His work on the abundance and distribution of viral, bacterial, and chemical agents in recreational water has received national attention through peer-reviewed publications and press releases, including articles featured by the National Science Foundation, Homeland Security, and National Geographic News.

Dr. Mauro is an outdoor enthusiast and participates in endurance athletic events. His worldly travels have given him an appreciation for the value that affordable, accessible, high-quality education can bring, which has become his vocational calling.