SPIRIT
S U M M E R 2021
A M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E G E O R G E M A S O N U N I V E R S I T Y CO M M U N I T Y
ADVANTAGE ARLINGTON MASON’S NEW DIGITAL INNOVATION HEADQUARTERS IN ARLINGTON WILL ANCHOR THE INNOVATION DISTRICT IN THE ROSSLYN-BALLSTON CORRIDOR
D I G I TA L I N N O VAT I O N S | R E S TO R AT I V E J U S T I C E | B I G N E W S F O R B A S K E T B A L L
Working in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Health and regional public health agencies, Mason took a major step toward resuming a normal campus life by starting the inoculation of roughly 4,000 Mason students in April during two vaccination clinics at EagleBank Arena. Photo by Shelby Burgess
VACCINATED BY A
About the Cover Mason’s Arlington Campus at night. Photo by Ron Aira
PATRIOT
People vaccinated at EagleBank Arena went home with this sticker.
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FEATURES 16
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Advantage Arlington The new building on the Arlington Campus will be home to the Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) and the new School of Computing, and will serve as an anchor for an innovation district in the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor.
10 Digital Innovations You Need to Know About Many of the technologies we use today were once the fodder of science fiction writers. Now these items are integral to everyday life. These advances are all part of the growing field of digital innovation, as well as the focus of a new Mason institute.
Building Community through Restorative Justice Mason students and faculty are helping create a new program in Arlington County that shifts the way the community approaches justice while fostering better understanding and connections among participants.
DEPARTMENTS 2 FIRST WORDS
45 CLASS NOTES
3 FROM OUR READERS
46 From the Alumni Association President
4 @MASON
ALUMNI PROFILES
36 INQUIRING MINDS
44 Khalid Noor, BA Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’19
47 Melissa A. Long, JD ’95
49 Michael Murphy, MA History ’12
40 SHELF LIFE 42 ALUMNI IN PRINT 43 PATRIOT PROFILE
53 PROFESSORS WE LOVE
MORE ON THE WEB When you see this graphic, follow it to the magazine’s website for more: spirit.gmu.edu. Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 1
MASON SPIRIT
FIRST WORDS
A MAGAZINE FOR THE GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY
spirit.gmu.edu
PARTNER OR PERISH George Mason University is transforming the Arlington Campus into an innovation district that will anchor the digital ecosystem of Northern Virginia and, in particular, the RosslynBallston Corridor. This expansion will have a profound positive effect not just in Arlington, but on all of Mason. Now more than ever, Arlington will be the front-facing gateway to the university for many in the National Capital Region who might not otherwise be engaged with us. PHOTO BY RON AIRA
The digital innovation headquarters we’re building in Arlington, a public-private partnership funded in large part by state investment, will magnify Mason’s capabilities as well as the research and scholarship that takes place on all of our campuses. Such engagement has never been more important. Remember the old higher ed axiom of publish or perish? At universities now, it’s partner or perish. Through the Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) and the new School of Computing, Mason will attract partners from industry, government, academia, and the community to focus on the critical technological needs of the region. That includes producing much of the state’s digital workforce. IDIA will provide the ecosystem, a living laboratory, for these various stakeholders to convene to lead innovation in health informatics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and a host of other tech avenues. Mason has been a fixture in Arlington for more than 40 years, but now we have company. Universities from around the country are opening or planning facilities in the Washington, D.C., market because it provides access to prospective collaborators, valuable resources, and influential policymakers. It is important, too, that these universities, including Mason, partner and push each other. In other words, coopetition. Every major innovation hub in the country has multiple universities working together to maximize the potential of that region. Think Silicon Valley, the Research Triangle in RaleighDurham, and the Boston Corridor with Harvard, MIT, and a host of other universities. All thrive on partnership and coopetition. As the largest producer of tech talent in the commonwealth, Mason is eager to partner with fellow universities. At the same time, we differentiate ourselves as the largest and most diverse public research university in Virginia. And Mason’s sponsored research expenditures are among the fastest growing in the country. We come to the table with our entire academic and research portfolio right here in the region. No one else does. Mason has leveraged its proximity to Washington, D.C., for years. This digital headquarters will heighten the university’s profile to an unprecedented level in our region. Mason is the old kid on the block in Arlington. We know our way around the neighborhood. And we’ve got our welcome mat out. Gregory Washington President, George Mason University 2 | SPIRIT.GMU.EDU
M A N AG I N G E D I TO R Colleen Kearney Rich, MFA ’95 A S S O C I AT E E D I TO R S Melanie Balog Priyanka Champaneri, BA ’05, MFA ’10 Rob Riordan, MPA ’19 E D I TO R I A L A S S I S TA N T S Delaney Harrison, BA ’21 CO N T R I B U TO R S Mariam Aburdeineh, BA ’13 Christopher Bobo Martha Bushong Damian Cristodero Kristen Greiner, MFA ‘20 John Hollis Katie Maney Buzz McClain, BA ’77 Ryley McGinnis Aubrey Medina Robin Rose Parker Anna Stolley Persky Anne Reynolds Corey Jenkins Schaut, MPA ’07 Preston Williams D E S I G N A N D I L LU S T R AT I O N Claire Brandt Joan Dall'Acqua David Lewis Marcia Staimer P H OTO G R A P H Y A N D M U LT I M E D I A Ron Aira Shelby Burgess Melissa Cannarozzi Evan Cantwell, MA ’10 Ian Shiff P R O D U C T I O N M A N AG E R Brian Edlinski E D I TO R I A L B O A R D Paul G. Allvin Vice President for Strategic Communications and Marketing Trishana E. Bowden Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Kathleen Diemer Associate Vice President for Advancement Relations Jennifer W. Robinson, JM ‘02 Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations Michael Sandler Associate Vice President for Communications Mason Spirit is published three times a year by the Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations and the Office of Communications and Marketing. George Mason University is an equal opportunity employer that encourages diversity.
FROM OUR READERS
A Need for These Times ➤I was taken aback by Paul Barsnica’s letter in the Spring 2021 issue, where he accused President Gregory Washington and GMU of “witch hunts” because of the establishment of the anti-racism task force. To respond to Mr. Barsnica, yes, the country did elect a Black president twice, and yes, Virginia does have a Black lieutenant governor, but as the events of the last five years prove, the country has a lot farther to go. What’s happening in Georgia with their new Jim Crow era-esque voter laws is the most recent example. Last year, peaceful protests in Washington, D.C., were met with tear gas so the former president could walk to a church to hold a Bible upside down, but an angry mob can attack the U.S. Capitol and pose for selfies with Capitol Police and get what amounts to collective slaps on the wrist. The Anti-Racism Task Force is a need for these times. David Rossé, BS ‘90
Continue Rooting Out Problems ➤As a Mason alumna, I have always been proud of the history of diversity and inclusiveness of the Mason mission and student body. Recently, I have become achingly and increasingly aware that below the surface are often many layers of racism, discrimination, and inequity. Mr. Barsnica stated that because we as a nation, state, and school have elected Black leaders we are “woke” and to stop looking for problems where they don’t exist (by forming an Anti-Racism Task Force). I assure you, they do still exist, even in a long-standing culture that has worked against it. The fact that Mason’s statistics are impressive does not give us permission to stop rooting out problems. The task force’s efforts will create a truly transparent, open, and welcoming community at Mason. Ultimately, Mason is an institution of education, which will be better imparted through a non-cloudy lens. Jeanne M. Crowley, MM ‘88
An Uncomfortable Topic ➤I am happy to hear about the amazing things that are happening on campus. I’d just thought to comment on the “From Our Readers” section. Race is a very uncomfortable topic here in the United States. Each of us has our own experiences regarding racism, privilege, and/ or discrimination. I was shocked to see a sentiment of “A Wasted Opportunity,” an exacerbated sigh of “What more do you want, you have a Black president,” while at the same time we have a police officer on trial for the murder of George Floyd. To simply dismiss populations that have a historical experience of being marginalized and lacking
fair equity in society is unjust. As a respected university, I would strongly suggest to think critically about whose “opinion” you publish. Is it a voice of ignorance, failing to see the big picture here, or is it a voice like Robert Lazaneo who added context to the global discussion of “humanity’s original sin”? Imari Sallins, BA ’13
Having the Courage to Speak Out ➤Referring to “From Our Readers,” Spring 2021, having just arrived in my mailbox, bravo to Robert Lazaneo and Paul Barsnica for having the courage to speak out concerning the focus of systemic racism by the new president of GMU, Gregory Washington. June Leeuwrik’s letter was also of interest, in that it highlighted the fact that George Mason was an abolitionist, ahead of his time. My question is this: Why not focus on educating our multigenerational student population about the greatness of America and what makes it a “shining beacon on the hill” to the world rather than continually tearing it down? Yes, we are flawed, but those flaws are diminished in light of the opportunities provided our citizens. Yes, it’s equal opportunity, not equal outcome. Please remove my name from your mailing list, as I no longer feel a connection to this institution or the need to wallow whenever Spirit arrives in the mail.
We want to hear from you. Letters to the editor are welcomed. Send correspondence to Colleen Kearney Rich, Managing Editor, Mason Spirit, 4400 University Drive, MS 2F7, Fairfax, Virginia 22030.
Susan Heflin Maruzo, BSEd ’79, MSEd ’98
Setting the Record Straight ➤I was disappointed to see some very ignorant statements in the “From Our Readers” section of the Spring Mason Spirit, and I want to set the record straight. We need to stop deflecting, stop ignoring, and start taking responsibility for the role slavery played in this country and its consequences. While we can celebrate the creation of this country, we can’t genuinely say that all men were treated equal from this nation’s foundation. That’s a slap in the face to every person whose ancestors were enslaved. Acknowledge the past, recognize the pain, and find a way to craft a better path forward. There’s nothing wrong with finding racism in our society and doing everything possible to uproot it. Not only does President Washington have the ability to make Mason a home for all students, it’s his duty. There is nothing wrong with making GMU a more inclusive university by uprooting any and all racial bias. I’m proud to call myself an alumnus of GMU for many reasons. President Washington gave me one more.
Or send an email to spirit@gmu.edu. Need to change your address or update contact information with us? Or prefer not to receive the magazine in the mail any longer? Just let us know via email at development@gmu.edu.
Dan O’Brien, BA ’16 Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 3
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MASON
New Research Coming Out of Its Shell
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or decades, research on wood turtles—a threatened reptile species native to North America—has focused on trying to better understand and protect their populations. But there’s one area of wood turtle research that’s been lacking. In spring, a team from George Mason University, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), and the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) headed to the streams to fix that. “The assumption with animals that have a long life history, like turtles do, is that adult survival is really the most important thing to focus on for conservation,” says J. Hunter VanDoren, a Mason environmental science and policy master’s student and graduate fellow with SCBI. “But you can’t leave out juveniles, and they have largely been left out of the literature.” VanDoren, a Front Royal native who interned with SCBI before becoming a graduate fellow, is part of a team headed by Mason alumnus and Smithsonian researcher Tom Akre, PhD Environmental Science and Public Policy ’03, who’s been working with threatened turtles for more than 20 years. Virginia wood turtle habitat consists of both upland protected forest regions and lowland mixed agricultural areas. Surprisingly, Akre’s data has shown juvenile recruitment to be low at protected upland sites, despite reproductive rates remaining high and the land being preserved. The team’s research is of particular importance to understanding why. It is also the final piece needed to conduct integrated population modeling and inform a population viability analysis. To understand the factors involved and how juveniles fare in both habitats, VanDoren put radio transmitters on the young turtles (primarily identifiable by the length of their shells) and tracked them to estimate their known fate (an estimation of survival probability). 4 | SPIRIT.GMU.EDU
Each week, VanDoren checked on the turtles, collecting data on their status, survival, and location, as well as qualitative habitat data. Later, he will analyze the results in the lab. The goal was to track 30 turtles at each site, but VanDoren says that number was dependent on how many juveniles could be captured and tracked. He adds that part of the reason juvenile research is limited is because the individual turtles are elusive and difficult to study. “Juveniles are the missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding their life history, how populations are reacting to land use change, and all the threats they face from habitat loss and fragmentation, road mortality, and illegal collection for the pet trade,” says Jessica Meck, Turtle Conservation Ecology project manager. “The pieces already in place are important for conservation of the species…but the missing data on juvenile survival is particularly crucial for informing conservation in Virginia.” In addition to their hands-on research, Meck and VanDoren have been mentoring an undergraduate SMSC student each semester. These undergraduates learn experientially by supporting the team in the field and lab. Teaching the future generation of conservationists is of critical importance, Meck says, adding that the applied conservation experience is rewarding for both mentor and mentee. As a student, VanDoren agrees. “Something I didn’t fully grasp as an undergraduate was just how important the experience itself is,” he says. “It’s the experience that develops you as a scientist and allows you to fully understand what it is you’re doing and why.” —Mariam Aburdeineh, BA ’13
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Q&A with Andre Marshall ndre Marshall joined Mason as the new vice president for research, innovation, and economic development and president of the George Mason University Research Foundation on July 1. Before coming to Mason, Marshall was program director for the National Science Foundation’s $38 million Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Program, which helps researchers reduce the time it takes to translate promising ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace. He was also founder and director of the Fire Testing and Evaluation Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.
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GIVING
DAY 04/08/21
Giving Day 2021
24
2,300+
Hours
Donors
$544,000+
400+
Raised
Faculty and Staff Donors
6%
Students
11%
Parents
35%
Friends
18%
Faculty and Staff
Breakdown of Donors
30%
Alumni
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What attracted you to this position at Mason? I absolutely love Mason's culture of accessibility and inclusion. Also, Mason is an R1 university, which, as someone who absolutely loves the research enterprise, is exciting. I have a high regard for what Mason has been able to achieve in its research enterprise. This whole idea of executing excellent research while creating opportunities for more people through access—it's really a dream for me. What are your thoughts on best practices for promoting multidisciplinary research? The institute structure that is in place at Mason is considered a best practice for promoting multidisciplinary research. Those areas of application—biohealth, sustainability, digital innovation—do, in fact, serve as a focal point where you can bring in experts that may have different areas of expertise surrounding a specific challenge. In my experience at a national level, looking at different universities and how they've organized themselves, Mason is already there. We have a great framework, and that framework is what attracted me to Mason. Were there any challenges at Mason that you were able to spot from the outside? When you're coming into a position, you do want to have a vision, you want to have something to offer, but it has to be tempered with learning what the institution's real challenges are, and that takes time. I had some ideas about things that I could help Mason with, but even in my day and a half of interviews, I began to understand better what some of Mason's challenges were, and they weren't necessarily what I thought they would be. So my approach is going to be to continue to learn the culture of Mason and to begin to understand where the opportunities are and where the challenges are from inside of the organization. And then harmonize those with my own ideas to make sure that we are doing things that are going to matter for Mason. W —Colleen Kearney Rich, MFA ’95 Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 5
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Rising Star Kim English to Lead the Men’s Basketball Program
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n March, George Mason University introduced new men’s basketball coach Kim English at an enthusiastic press conference at EagleBank Arena, with the 32-year-old hire touting the program as a prospective “incubator for the best talent in the country.” “We’re slap dab in the middle of the most fertile recruiting in the world,” English, a Baltimore native, said to a socially distanced crowd of Mason supporters, including several current and former players. “It’s already a national brand,” added English. “Everyone knows George Mason. Everyone. It’s going to become a global brand—[we’re going to] recruit kids from all over the world to come to this place and do something special.” Since joining the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2013, Mason has yet to reach the men’s basketball semifinals. Even so, English, the 11th head coach in program history, says he sees more opportunities than challenges. He also says he has received calls from prospective transfers from the nation’s top basketball conferences, and he intends to hire an assistant who specializes in international recruiting. A second-round pick of the Detroit Pistons after starring at the University of Missouri on four NCAA tournament-qualifying teams, English played basketball overseas and has his own international connections as well. President Gregory Washington is pleased to have found a rising young coaching talent to head the university’s team.
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He says hiring English, who served as an assistant at Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee, is just another example of the university’s penchant for spotting talent. “Mason’s story in the end is one of finding talent,” Washington said at the press conference. “We discover talent wherever it is and we bring that talent into our classroom, and we graduate that talent toward success. This is one of the youngest, hot, successful coaches out there.” English is the same age that Rick Barnes was when he became Mason’s head coach in 1987. English coached under Barnes during the past two seasons at the University of Tennessee. Mason’s assistant vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics Brad Edwards credits longtime (and retiring) athletic department staff members Carolyn and Jay Marsh, BS Business Administration ’73, for maintaining close ties to Barnes. That relationship helped lead Mason to English. “[Barnes’s] continued affinity for our university and wanting to do what was in its best interest really became clear,” says Edwards, who heard raves about English from the many coaches and NBA executives he contacted during the search. “A basketball program is so much more than March Madness,” says Washington. “A strong program serves as a beacon of light for our institution, for our community, and for the university in general.” —Preston Williams
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Vanessa Blair-Lewis Brings Her Winning Ways to Mason
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student-athletes’ well-being, to an inclusive culture and community involvement,” says Mason assistant vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics Brad Edwards. “I’m very proud to say that Vanessa Blair-Lewis is that coach and is that leader.” “You don’t get in first place overnight, nor do you get in last place overnight,” says Blair-Lewis, who met with her Mason players before the press conference. “It’s a place they don’t want to be. And it’s a place we don’t want to be. We have such an important responsibility to, yes, win a lot of games, but we have a bigger responsibility to win in the lives of these young people.” Blair-Lewis had been mentioned as a candidate for other coaching jobs during the 2015 to 2020 period when her Bethune-Cookman teams posted a 107-48 record, including 68-12 in the MEAC. She says she was waiting for the right opportunity. “Coach Blair-Lewis will do at Mason what she has always done,” says President Gregory Washington. “A) Win. And B) More importantly, she will provide opportunities for young women and help them to develop in ways that will transcend the court.”
Both of Mason’s new basketball coaches played as #24 in their college days.
—Preston Williams
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eorge Mason University introduced new women’s basketball coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis at an April press conference in EagleBank Arena, praising her ability to build relationships—and a winning program. Blair-Lewis, the ninth coach in program history, comes to Mason from Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She told the supportive crowd on hand that she does not consider her profession as coaching. To her, it’s “a ministry.” “A long time ago I realized it wasn’t about the X’s and O’s,” says Blair-Lewis, who grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and played for her father, Bob, at Largo High School. “It’s about pouring into the lives of young people to make them better now and for the future.” Blair-Lewis led Bethune-Cookman to four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships and five postseason berths, including the program’s first trip to the NCAA tournament in 2019. The four-time MEAC Coach of the Year inherits another challenge at Mason. The Patriots went winless in the Atlantic 10 Conference last season. “We really started out to find someone who had a blueprint for how to build a program and who also understands the strong commitment to the
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Launching More Than a ThinSat
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY NASA
hen Northrup Grumman’s mission NG-15 launched into space on February 20 from Wallops Island, Virginia, the event symbolized both an end and a beginning for George Mason University graduate student Jay Deorukhkar. The Antares rocket carrying supplies to the International Space Station carried a secondary payload of 30 ThinSats from U.S. schools and colleges. A team of students from Mason built one of these ThinSats. “It didn’t really sink in until I saw it happen,” says Deorukhkar, who is working on a master’s degree in computer engineering. “You never know if the rocket is going to lift off until it does, but when the engines start, you get that feeling in your chest. Then it’s real.”
Deorukhkar grew up in Northern Virginia and knew that he was headed to either Mason or Northern Virginia Community College. Now six years later, he plans to pursue a PhD in electrical and computer engineering at Mason and sees a career in space systems and satellites in his future. “Working on this project solidified my career choice,” says Deorukhkar. “Until this experience, I wasn’t sure what field I wanted to go into.” The ThinSat program, spearheaded by Piotr Pachowicz, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, started in fall 2018 when Pachowicz was looking for students who might be interested in the program as a senior design project. One of those students, Hina Fatima, BS Computer Engineering ’19, went to watch the launch. “My coworkers are really into satellites and space and said I should go,” says Fatima, who now works as a software engineer.
PHOTO BY EVAN CANTWELL
Engineering student Jay Deorukhkar worked on a team to design and build a satellite to launch into lower Earth orbit.
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Fatima says she woke up early on that morning to make the three-and-a-half-hour drive to Wallops Island. Her group found a location less than five miles away from the launch pad and saw the rocket ignite, lift off, and disappear into space. “It’s so much different to see it in person than on television,” she says. “For one thing, you can watch it much longer, and the sound is eerie. When the rocket lifts off, you don’t hear it—sound comes later.” After the launch, the ThinSat orbited the Earth for six days and completed two experiments. The first experiment compared two methods for shielding batteries against freezing temperatures in space, and the second one compared the efficiency of two power architectures when influenced by satellite spin. Deorukhkar sees tremendous value in the ThinSat program. “It’s really the first line of testing different technologies.” —Martha Bushong
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Raising a Glass to Student Scholarships tep into a local Total Wine or Whole Foods store and you may be surprised to find George Mason among the wine bottles on the shelves. Sporting a colonial hat with a modern pair of shades, he’s the face of George Mason University’s private wine label. Geo. Mason Wines is more than a classy addition to dinner. It’s also been generating scholarship funding for Mason students since 2018. It started with an alum… Terri Cofer Beirne, BA Government and Politics ’88, knows a lot about wine. The chair of the George Mason University Foundation Board of Trustees is a lawyer for the California wine industry and serves as eastern counsel for the Wine Institute. When foundation members were looking for additional revenue streams for student scholarships, she was inspired to create a Mason-branded beverage. To get started, she pulled together a group of volunteers from the Board of Trustees, the Board of Visitors, faculty, and staff. …with a little help from a former Mason soccer coach. Manu Gaiarin, owner of Siema Wines and a former assistant coach for Mason’s men’s soccer team, partnered with the university as the supplier. “We carefully selected the wine to be an exceptionally good value for the price point, and we’re very proud that we had Mason students help us develop the final package,” says Gaiarin, who coached at Mason for six years in the 1990s and has a son who currently attends Mason. It’s student-centered. Three dollars and 50 cents from the sale of every bottle goes to student scholarships. Since 2018, Geo. Mason Wines has sold about 700 cases of wine and contributed approximately $29,000 to student scholarships. And scholarships aren’t the only ways students have benefited. It inspired some healthy competition. After the name Geo. Mason was selected, a competition was held among teams of Mason art students to design the label, Beirne says.
“That was really fun to see how creative these students were with their ideas,” she says, adding that some designs were contemporary and funky, while others were graceful and natural. “We settled on one hand-drawn by a student with George in sunglasses.” A second student group competed with their peers to help with the marketing plan. In addition to gaining experience, students from the design and marketing groups whose work was selected each received a $250 cash prize, Beirne says. What’s in a name? Papers in colonial times often abbreviated names to save on ink, and “Geo.” hearkens back to this tradition. It also served as a way to avoid legal challenges that could have arisen with intellectual property protections of “George Mason” or “GMU,” Beirne says. It’s bicoastal. Unlike other universities with branded beverages priced above $50, the Mason team wanted their brand to be high quality, but accessible. Mason’s two wines come in at about $20 a bottle. The wine is sourced from California. As Virginia wineries sell most of their wines in their tasting rooms, the team decided to go out of state to find a winery with the volume and experience of making private-label brands. It’s expanding. In the near future, the number of wines under the Geo. Mason brand is expected to increase. Currently, a chardonnay and a cabernet sauvignon are available. “It took a good three years from throwing ideas around to actually getting wine in a bottle,” Beirne says. “It was a labor of love from a lot of people.”
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—Mariam Aburdeineh, BA ’13
To purchase Geo. Mason Wines, visit siemawines.com/george-mason for a list of retailers or to have the wine shipped directly.
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@ ILLUSTRATION BY MARCIA STAIMER, GETTY IMAGES
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Diversifying D.C.’s Tech Ecosystem
POINT of PRIDE Mason is one of just 10 Division I schools to achieve a perfect score in Athlete Ally’s Equality Index rankings. Launched in 2017, this first-of-its-kind report provides a comprehensive look at how institutions are supporting their LGBTQ studentathletes, coaches, administrators, staff, and fans.
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eorge Mason University received a grant from Break Through Tech to propel more female and nonbinary students into technology education—and ultimately tech careers—through curriculum innovation, career access, and community building. The goal of the grant is to increase the number of these students graduating with a tech degree at Mason by 12.5 percent by 2026. “Computer science is a growing field, yet less than 20 percent of computer science degrees in this country are awarded to women,” says Mason President Gregory Washington. “Mason is the largest producer of tech talent in Virginia, and this partnership will provide additional opportunities for women to excel in computer science, broadening the capabilities of the digital workforce.” Mason and the University of Maryland will be joining Break Through Tech as it expands from its hubs in New York City and Chicago to Washington, D.C. This expansion was made possible through the Gender Equality in Tech (GET) Cities initiative, which is led by a $50 million investment from Pivotal Ventures, the investment and incubation company created by Melinda Gates, as well
as an additional $7 million investment from Cognizant U.S. Foundation and Verizon. Mason’s Break Through Tech program will be administered by Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing. The program will include • a summer program that will teach rising first-year students how to code real-world applications; • a new introductory sequence of computing courses; • a three-week, paid mini-internship program called a “Sprinternship®” that gives first- and second-year students a resume credential and real-world experience; and • the development of a networked cohort of individuals who identify as women and nonbinary—both peer-to-peer and student-to-professional—in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to support, engage, and motivate one another. In Break Through Tech’s founding city, Cornell Tech partnered with the City University of New York, with the university seeing a 61 percent increase in the number of women pursuing computer science degrees since its launch in 2016. —Martha Bushong
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Christopher Preston Sr.
Jason Howell
Callie Brownson
Peggy J. Maddox
Isabella Bah
Mason’s Impact Resonates through the 2021 Celebration of Distinction
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t the 2021 Celebration of Distinction, Mason alumni recalled the common threads that tie them together: the memories, traditions, and faculty mentors they hold close long after graduating. The recurring theme of how their years at Mason influenced their careers echoed throughout the evening’s celebration. A 30-year annual tradition, the Celebration of Distinction celebrates remarkable graduates from every alumni chapter and recognizes a faculty member of the year and senior of the year. This year, the Alumni Association also introduced the Graduate of the Last Decade (G.O.L.D.) Award, to recognize outstanding young alumni. Christopher Preston Sr., BS Management ’96, was honored as Alumnus of the Year. He is the vice president of corporate relations at United Way Worldwide, where he oversees the global corporate leadership program, which raised more than $900 million to support local United Ways. A founding member of the Black Alumni Chapter and former Alumni Association president, Preston currently serves on the Honors College Advisory Council and is interim chair of the Green Machine Advisory Council. Jason Howell, BS Accounting ’97, received the Alumni Service Award. Howell is a certified financial planning professional and president of his own company. Howell has been recognized by Mason’s School of Business as a Prominent Patriot and was twice the distinguished alumnus speaker for the school’s graduating class.
Callie Brownson, BS Health, Fitness, and Recreation Resources ’16, is the first-ever Graduate of the Last Decade awardee. Brownson, chief of staff for the Cleveland Browns, made history last year as the first woman to coach a position group in an NFL game. Previously, at Dartmouth College, she became the first full-time female football coach in the NCAA’s Division I. She is also a two-time gold medalist with Team USA women’s football. Peggy J. Maddox, chair of the Department of Health Administration and Policy, was honored as Faculty Member of the Year. A career nurse, Maddox has led the development of programs in health administration, health policy, and health informatics. She established the Office of Health Services Research in the Center for Health Policy, Research, and Ethics, where she served as the director. Isabella Bah, BS Accounting ’21, is a first-generation college student and the 2021 Senior of the Year. Her leadership skills led to her receiving the EagleBank Endowed Academic Scholarship and the Cardinal Bank Endowed Scholarship as an undergraduate. She also served as president of the African Student Association. This year’s Celebration of Distinction, held virtually on April 22, was broadcast live on GMU-TV. To see the full list of honorees, including the 15 distinguished alumni nominated by our alumni chapters, go to bit.ly/AACoD21. —Christopher Bobo
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Eight Graduate Programs Listed among Top 25 Nationally
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eorge Mason University has eight graduate programs listed among the top 25 nationally according to the latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report, reflecting the university’s impact as one of the best institutions for advanced degrees. Mason’s part-time law program at the Antonin Scalia Law School, ranked No. 1 in the nation among public institutions, leads the list, which also includes two programs at the Schar School of Policy and Government that are among the top 10 nationally for public universities. Rounding out the list are programs in criminology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as elementary education and special education in the College of Education and Human Development. Overall, Mason has 17 programs ranked in the top 50 nationally and 30 ranked in the top 50 among public universities.
“These rankings highlight the quality of our programs, expertise of our faculty, the impact of our research, and the achievements of our students,” Mason President Gregory Washington says. “Mason is a destination for the nation’s best students, and we are very pleased that U.S. News has recognized our graduate programs that provide access to excellence.” Each of the top 25 ranked programs is based at Mason’s Arlington Campus, less than five miles from Washington, D.C.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE Among Public Institutions: 34 Overall: 48 (up from 49 last year) Homeland Security: 4 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 7 overall
LAW Part-time program: 1 among public institutions; 4 overall Full-time program: 19 among public institutions; 41 overall (up from 42 last year) Intellectual Property: 10 among public institutions; 26 overall (up from 31 last year)
Local Government Management: 18 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 22 overall Public Management: 18 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 26 overall (up from 28 last year)
Corporate Law: 16 among public institutions; 36 overall
Nonprofit Management: 23 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 32 overall
Constitutional Law: 20 among public institutions; 41 overall
Public Policy Analysis: 11 among public institutions; 23 overall
Contracts: 21 among public institutions; 45 overall
Political Science: 46 among public institutions
Tax Law: 35 among public institutions; 73 overall
BUSINESS (PART-TIME MBA)
International Law: 36 among public institutions; 78 overall
Among Public Institutions: 40
Trial Advocacy: 33 among public institutions; 90 overall
HISTORY
Dispute Resolution: 42 among public institutions; 100 overall
Among Public Institutions: 42
Criminal Law: 42 among public institutions; 81 overall
ECONOMICS
CRIMINOLOGY
Among Public Institutions: 42
Among Public Institutions: 10 (Best in Virginia)
EDUCATION
Overall: 10
Elementary Education: 17 among public institutions; 20 overall
NURSING
Special Education: 15 among public institutions; 16 overall
Master’s: 21 among public institutions; 37 overall (up from 51 last year)
ENGINEERING
DNP: 31 among public institutions; 51 overall
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International Policy: 5 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 14 overall
Industrial Engineering: 24 among public institutions; 37 overall
PUBLIC HEALTH
Bioengineering: 53 among public institutions; 89 overall (up from 93 last year)
Among Public Institutions: 36 (tied with University of Virginia for best in state)
Computer Engineering: 46 among public institutions; 76 overall
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PHOTO BY CABLE RISDON
Milt and Carolyn Peterson in 2018 with Mason performing arts student Crystal Golden, MM ’19, a recipient of scholarship support through the Peterson Endowment in Vocal Arts.
Remembering Mason Benefactor Milt Peterson
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hen the history of George Mason University’s first 50 years is written, real estate developer, philanthropist, and community leader Milt Peterson and his family will merit a significant chapter. Since the early 1980s, Peterson, who died May 26 at the age of 85, and his wife, Carolyn, have helped shape the Mason story. Their dedication and philanthropy have directly impacted thousands of students, who have benefited from facilities and scholarships. “Mason wouldn’t be what it is today without the leadership of Milt Peterson and his wife, Carolyn,” says President Gregory Washington. “Their support for the performing arts, for scholarships, and for health sciences has helped bring Mason to the top tier. Their names are honored on our campus, and Milt’s legacy will live on here.” One of Northern Virginia’s leading real estate developers, Peterson founded Peterson Companies, which has created many residential developments and more than 30 million square feet of retail, hotel, and office space throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Some of the company’s best-known projects include Fair Lakes, Burke Centre, and National Harbor. Applying his business acumen to the challenges of a rapidly growing suburban university, Peterson helped guide Mason’s growth and development in Fairfax County, where both his home (just two miles from the Fairfax Campus) and business headquarters were located. The family’s $8 million leadership gift supported the construction of Peterson Family Health Sciences Hall, which opened in 2018. That same year the College of Visual and Performing Arts unveiled the Peterson
Performing Arts Teaching Center, in the Music/Theater Building, in recognition of the family’s $2 million commitment for scholarships in the vocal arts and the Peterson Excellence Fund for the Arts. That was the latest of the couple’s many gifts for the performing arts. Their $1 million gift in 2006 established music scholarships, and they often chaired or advised committees and arts fundraising events. The couple also endowed a scholarship fund in the Volgenau School of Engineering (now part of the College of Engineering and Computing) in 2010. Other significant gifts have supported the humanities, athletics, and the Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship in the School of Business. Peterson received the George Mason Medal, the university’s highest honor, in 2008. The Petersons passed on to their four children (and 10 grandchildren) their passion for Mason and philanthropy. Their son Jon Peterson, now the CEO of Peterson Companies, serves on Mason’s Board of Visitors. The family’s philanthropy extends far beyond Mason. The Peterson Family Foundation, established in 1997, has contributed more than $100 million to causes including health, cancer research, youth development, and the Methodist Church, and has helped raise millions more. “Success is defined by the degree to which you realize your potential,” Peterson said at an event in 2017. “That applies to your work, your family, your church. Here at Mason, success should be measured by how the school helps you realize your potential.” —Rob Riordan, MPA ’19
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Ideas in Conversation
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PHOTO BY IAN SHIFF
orizon Hall, at the center of George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus, was conceived as a crossroads where faculty and students from many disciplines could meet and exchange ideas. The multistory Word Wall that greets visitors in the building’s atrium embodies this vision. “Every time I come into the atrium, the Word Wall offers something new to consider,” says Dean Ann Ardis of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), whose office is in the building. “It absolutely sets the tone for what we want this learning space to be.” On the ground floor, adjacent to the MIX’s makerspaces, a dynamic digital display shares a kaleidoscope of quotations, juxtaposed in an ever-changing conversation of ideas. Shifting pairs of quotes, contributed by the Mason community and representative of their fields of study and favorite texts, appear in unexpected combinations, inviting an exploration of new contexts and meaning, and offering textual windows into global human history in a 21stcentury academic building. “It’s a matrix of 12 display screens, operating to look like one,” says CHSS information technology (IT) and web development director Danny Collier, MFA Creative Writing ’94. “They are covered with a translucent veneer that matches the rest of the wall, so when it’s turned off it just blends in.”
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Most of the time, though, the wall displays illuminated wisdom collected via a web app designed by the CHSS IT team. Collier was a member of the team that worked with Horizon architects Perkins+Will to refine the concept of the wall. “The committee came up with the idea of this never-ending conversation, which is the defining characteristic of the wall,” says Collier. “Two quotes are randomly paired. The first quote leaves, the second takes the top spot, then another quote finishes the new pair.” He appreciates the way the random pairing of the Word Wall’s quotes come together. “There’s something powerful in these pairings,” he says. “Not every pairing resonates, but more often than not, they combine in a striking way.” The wall’s first citations were offered by CHSS faculty and staff, though Collier notes that anyone with a Mason login is welcome to submit their own quotes for inclusion on the Word Wall. The submission page is available at wordwall.gmu. edu, and the college encourages Mason community members to offer their own thought-provoking quotations for the wall. —Anne Reynolds
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PHOTO BY EVAN CANTWELL
MEET THE MASON NATION Lisa Park, MD Executive Director, Student Health Services
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s executive director of Student Health Services at George Mason University, Lisa Park oversaw the university’s rapid pivot to telemedicine, the diagnostic COVID-19 testing for symptomatic students, and the case investigations and procedures to isolate and quarantine students with potential cases of COVID-19. This is what she and her team of 42 doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, medical assistants, and lab technicians have trained for, but that doesn’t make it any less challenging. A TYPICAL DAY?: Park laughs when asked what keeps her busy during a typical day. “Meetings,” she says. “A lot of meetings about processes that affect the whole university and processes that affect student health and the clinical care we provide to students.” She isn’t kidding. At the height of the pandemic, she had six meetings a week with the outbreak mitigation team, including three with the Fairfax County Health Department to pinpoint trends or clusters of outbreaks. There are meetings about diagnostic and surveillance testing strategy, and quarantine and isolation, as well as clinical meetings concerning continually evolving scientific evidence around COVID-19 care and applying those changes at Student Health Services and university-wide. IT TAKES A VILLAGE: “Testing is one piece of containing the virus,” Park says. “Getting a sample from a patient is one step—you have to be able to get the test results through IT infrastructure. They have to be accurate—that’s the lab. You have to be able to communicate
the test results to the patient, to the health department, to Housing if there are residential students [involved] so they can be isolated and close contacts quarantined. So, there are many more pieces to managing COVID than just testing, and so many hardworking people involved for each test.” KEEPING THE MASON NATION SAFE: According to Park, one of the most important factors for keeping the whole process working has been buy-in from the Mason community. “I’ve said from the beginning, this pandemic is really driven by people’s behavior,” she says. “I think that Mason, especially students and staff, have been great at following those behavior precautions. And that is what has kept us safe.” ON AVOIDING BURNOUT: Throughout the pandemic, Park has urged the campus community to stay vigilant—”because what we all do off campus is just as important as what we do on campus.” It’s even more important, she says, to give each other grace and patience, and that extends to her staff, too. She implemented an on-call schedule at Student Health Services so that staff who aren’t on call can truly disconnect and get some time to unplug, rest, and rejuvenate for the work ahead. She says that’s critically important to avoiding burnout. It also means her team will be able to continue to provide telehealth and mental health resources to students after the pandemic passes.
POINT of PRIDE Mason earned a silver designation from the Exercise Is Medicine® On Campus program— an initiative supported by both the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Medical Association. The silver designation recognizes Mason for engaging students, faculty, and staff in education initiatives and making movement part of the daily campus culture.
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ADVANTAGE ARLINGTON
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All great buildings tell a story. Carefully woven into its design, there lies a narrative, formed by the intentions of its creators, speaking through the walls and the rooms and the work done within. For George Mason University’s new digital innovation headquarters in Arlington, coming in 2025, the plans reveal a story that feels both old and new, uniting Mason’s history and values with a state-of-the-art building designed to evolve and adapt over time. BY ROBIN ROSE PARKER
From its beginnings in 1957 until today, George Mason University has been driven by, connected with, and dedicated to the needs of its community. Launching as an education center aimed at serving adult learners, returning veterans, and Northern Virginians needing college-level instruction, Mason evolved from a center, into a University of Virginia branch campus, and then into the largest and most diverse public research university in the commonwealth. Now, as technology makes the world smaller, the boundaries of Mason’s community are expanding, extending its reach across Virginia and around the globe. Mason is once again answering the call to meet community needs. Sparked by Amazon’s decision to move its new headquarters (HQ2) to Northern Virginia, and supported by the state’s determination to boost the tech workforce, Mason is designing a new state-of-the-art building that will become the university’s digital innovation center and an economic driver for Virginia and the National Capital Region. “Great universities take on great challenges, and on the Arlington Campus, students, faculty, and innovators will come together to learn and to influence and inspire each other,” says Mason President Gregory Washington. “The center will provide an ideal forum for collaborators to confront the regional and global issues of our time and deliver true impact.” A collaboration-oriented design will create a dynamic ecosystem to foster ideas and innovation, and will serve as a platform for bringing research into society. The building will host learners, educators, entrepreneurs, innovators, and community and industry partners. Students and faculty innovators will benefit from the presence of in-house incubators, accelerators, and start-ups; and businesses will have access to researchers and tech talent in collision spaces where collaboration can occur without a conference room. The new headquarters will feature approximately 360,500 square feet of space and will be unlike anything Mason has built before. It is expected to be the university’s first LEED Platinum building and will incorporate advanced cyberinfrastructure and design to support digital innovation, active learning, cutting-edge research, and tech incubators.
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PHOTO BY EVAN CANTWELL
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Great universities take on great challenges, and on the Arlington Campus, students, faculty, and innovators will come together to learn and to influence and inspire each other. Mason President Gregory Washington The Arlington Campus project is a public– private partnership (P3) made possible through an $84 million investment from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mason’s Board of Visitors has approved official negotiations with a development partner, Mason Innovation Partners, a consortium that includes Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate as developer and investor and Harrison Street as a capital partner, among others. The university will also fund an additional $84 million through philanthropy, of which $21 million has already been raised.
“All of us at Mason are excited to be moving forward on this tremendous project,” says Carol Dillon Kissal, Mason’s senior vice president for administration and finance. “Everything about the project is innovative, from being Mason’s anticipated first LEED Platinum building to the groundbreaking, collaborative work that it will facilitate and inspire when it opens 18 | SPI RIT.GMU.EDU
in 2025. The Arlington Campus will help transform the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor and establish it as the top tech-talent pipeline in the commonwealth.”
INCREASING THE TECH-TALENT PIPELINE It was national news when Amazon revealed it would build its HQ2 in Northern Virginia. And just like that, the region sealed its position as one of the nation’s emerging tech hubs, elevating its profile overnight and instantly becoming a compelling destination for tech companies drawn to Amazon’s orbit. Since the announcement, tech giants like Microsoft, Facebook, and Google have arrived or chosen to expand their presence in the commonwealth, lured by the irresistible pull of a growing digital economy, proximity to policymakers in
Washington, D.C., and universities that can deliver a steady supply of tech talent. Recognizing the importance of its “worldclass higher education system,” the state developed the Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP), a 20-year program designed to produce 25,000 additional graduates in computer science, computer engineering, and software engineering. “Virginia’s tech sector will continue booming only if we can train the workforce those jobs require,” said Governor Ralph Northam in his 2019 press release. “We are educating a workforce that will fill jobs at hundreds of tech companies around the commonwealth, including at Amazon, helping boost our economy and quality of life in every corner of Virginia.” TTIP supports 11 of Virginia’s institutions by providing funding to increase their total number of graduates. Mason was one of only two universities asked to
“Mason’s leadership in TTIP is a sign of Virginia’s confidence and an acknowledgement of the role we play in Virginia’s innovation economy,” says Liza Wilson Durant, associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement and associate dean in Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing. “Mason is more than a piece of the puzzle—we are absolutely essential for Virginia’s job creation and economic growth.” The commonwealth is also counting on Mason to help diversify the tech talent pipeline, which has been a long-standing problem for the tech industry. For Mason, this is business as usual, with programs like ADVANCE, the Early Identification Program (EIP), and the Online Virginia Network all positioned to widen the doors of access to higher education for all Virginians. “Mason is committed to increasing diversity in all of its forms. And not just because it’s the right thing to do, it’s good for business,” says Wilson Durant. “We want different people, from different disciplines, with different experiences, all to have a seat at the table. We know this will fuel innovation and will make our economy more powerful.”
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increase graduates at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Given that Mason is Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university and the largest producer of technology talent in the state, the TTIP leadership role came as no surprise.
LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED Eager to get started on the work that will be done in the new building, Mason has converted the first floor of Vernon Smith Hall into an innovation pilot space, which opened in May. Liza Wilson Durant, associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement in Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing, calls the space “proof of concept. This is to be a microcosm of the new digital innovation headquarters and to mimic the ecosystem we will create in that building.” The pilot space is home to two research labs and Scalia Law’s Innovation Law Clinic, where teams of students will provide entrepreneurs, creators, and inventors from the university’s internal and external communities with free legal counseling. As a managing member of the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII), Mason is leading CyManII’s East Coast headquarters, which will be housed in the new building. The CyManII Research Lab in the pilot space is occupied by graduate students working to test emerging cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing technologies and products.
PHOTO BY EVAN CANTWELL
Mason also leads the Northern Virginia Node of Virginia’s Common wealth Cyber Initiative (CCI). The CCI Living Innovation Lab in the pilot space is a 5G testbed for researchers working on autonomous vehicles, energy grid security, and manufacturing security. CCI university and corporate partners are expected to collaborate on research in this lab. There are also a classroom, meeting rooms and collaboration spaces, drop-in office space for administrators from the Office of Technology Transfer and other areas, and an area for industry partners who want to co-locate in the new innovation ecosystem. Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 19
Provost Mark Ginsberg
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Our primary job is to prepare students across all disciplines to compete in an increasingly digital economy. And then they will be the ones to work in the tech industry, create the start-ups, and innovate the ideas that will impact the world.
Carter School students work in one of the flexible classrooms on the Arlington Campus.
CULTIVATING COLL ABORATION ON THE ARLINGTON CAMPUS Situating the new headquarters in Arlington offers a rich environment for crossdiscipline collaboration. The Arlington Campus is home to the Antonin Scalia Law School, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, the Schar School of Policy and Government, the Arts Management Program, and School of Business graduate programs—all providing an advantageous launching pad for fostering digital innovation across the Mason community. “The growth of digital innovation is not consigned to one school or college. It exists across the university,” says Provost Mark Ginsberg. “One of the great opportunities for the new headquarters is that
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it will foster the growth of an inclusive academic community for faculty teaching and conducting research and students pursuing programs and taking courses in the fields of engineering and computing.”
education between academic units by supporting the integration of computing into programs in the humanities, education, science, policy, engineering, and other disciplines across the university.
The new facility has been designed to promote interaction among researchers, innovators, and scholars from computing, policy, business, law, peace studies, the arts, humanities, public health, and engineering. Participants will engage in cutting-edge research and innovation efforts, graduate education programs, partnerships, and community engagement—all interacting to advance and support digital innovation.
The new building will house tech-intensive laboratories, active and experiential learning classrooms, informal learning and convening spaces, incubators, accelerators, co-working facilities, makerspaces, community engagement spaces, and corporate innovation labs.
The expanded Arlington Campus will be the home to the Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA), which is the nexus for all of Mason’s research in digital innovation, and the new School of Computing, which launched in May. The new unit will be responsible for developing collaborations in computing research and
“At its core, the new building is an academic initiative, and our greatest contribution will always be our students,” says Ginsberg. “Our primary job is to prepare students across all disciplines to compete in an increasingly digital economy. And then they will be the ones to work in the tech industry, create the start-ups, and innovate the ideas that will impact the world.”
PROXIMITY IS THE POINT Around the globe and across the country, in cities like Barcelona, Detroit, San Diego, and Pittsburgh, new urban-centered hubs are emerging, bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders in clusters or “innovation districts” that typically include mixed housing, retail, and easy access to public transportation. Proximity is the point, as all that closeness is intended to inspire and accelerate new ideas.
“Research universities are one of the strongest assets America can use to compete in the age of innovation,” says Sorrell, who participated in the development of Detroit’s innovation district and led the development of many university-based entrepreneurship programs in the state prior to joining Mason. “Institutions of higher learning anchor successful innovation districts, and their connection to the community beyond its faculty and students is paramount.” And Mason will not have to go it alone. Sorrell is working with a team of regional university representatives and nonprofit
Mason and its Arlington neighborhood tick most of the requisite boxes for seeding a new district—Metro access, higher education institutions, and a burgeoning tech corridor. The effort will undoubtedly get a big boost from the development of Mason’s Arlington Campus. Still, this is an adventure that will require partnership and input from all its participants.
and industry leaders to ensure that this is an effort that includes and benefits the entire community. “We want to foster economic development for the region, but it’s also important that it be inclusive,” says Sorrell. “Women and people of color are traditionally left out of the tech industry and are rarely the recipients of startup investments. We want to build a digital economy that includes everyone, and Mason has a track record of creating supportive pathways. That’s what Mason does—we create access for our community.”
The Rosslyn-Ballston innovation corridor spans roughly two miles and is composed of the Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Ballston, and Virginia Square neighborhoods.
“Successful placemaking involves a community-centric approach to development,” says Paula Sorrell, Mason’s associate vice president of innovation and economic development. “It’s not just about how a building or a piece of real estate looks, but how it functions to those who live and work around it.”
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Sorrell’s portfolio includes leadership of entrepreneurial programming for the innovation development in Arlington, and she believes the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor has what it takes to get started.
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AN ASSET TO
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ARLINGTON
The new Arlington Campus building will house a mix of university research and development and related education programs, as well as corporate innovation labs, incubators, accelerators, co-working facilities, retail, a below-grade parking garage, and enhanced public spaces.
The project will incorporate stateof-the-art smart and green building technologies, as well as the cyberinfrastructure essential to advance the digital innovation goals of thousands of university, industry, and community innovators who will use the facility. Using the site of the former Kann’s department store, the project will expand the Arlington Campus by adding more space while maintaining the same footprint. Coming in May 2025.
Concept rendering by Mason Innovation Partners/EYP
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MASON LAUNCHES INNOVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL President Gregory Washington has formed a new diverse roundtable of regional business executives and community leaders to provide strategic guidance and advocacy for the university’s Arlington innovation initiative.
chairs the council. Chopra is president of CareJourney and served as the Obama administration’s chief technology officer. “I’m eager to collaborate with regional stakeholders to build on Mason’s impressive foundation to spark new products and companies that will employ more of our talented workforce.”
The President’s Innovation Advisory Council (PIAC), comprising forward-thinking executives, signals Mason’s community-centric vision for its Arlington Campus and the emerging RosslynBallston innovation corridor. “These council members have been carefully selected for their knowledge and expertise, and also because they represent industries and organizations that are critical to the ecosystem we want to build,” says Washington. “We are bringing together community leaders that have a stake and an interest in helping us create an inclusive innovation economy.” PIAC includes a number of Mason alumni and executives from a wide range of organizations such as Deltek, Sandy Spring Bank, Dovel Technologies, Verizon, Arlington Public Schools, the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, and the NAACP.
While the council’s focus areas will include Mason’s long-range plan to anchor an innovation district in the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor, the COVID-19 pandemic has created community needs that call for immediate council engagement. With the pandemic causing layoffs and unemployment, Mason will launch several new initiatives that address job readiness, preparation, and placement supporting Virginians with internships, job preparation, microcredentials, and entrepreneurship programs. “The council will play a vital role addressing today’s top economic and social challenges by connecting the academic com-
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“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build an economy for our region that works better for everyone, anchored in technology, data, and innovation,” says Aneesh Chopra, who
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The council will advise the university as it adds a digital innovation research hub for learners, educators, entrepreneurs, innovators, and industry partners to its Arlington Campus. Mason’s footprint in Arlington provides a unique ecosystem for a future innovation district.
munity with industry and government leaders,” says Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA ’94, president and CEO of Array Information Technology, and president of Mason’s Alumni Association. “This distinguished leadership council, along with the Arlington innovation initiative, will help ensure that the region continues to attract, educate, and shape the brightest minds in our industry and continues our rise as one of the hottest technology and entrepreneur ecosystems in the country.” Find out more about the council at bit.ly/masonpiac.
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PHOTO BY RON AIRA
ENDING ONE ERA, BEGINNING ANOTHER
1980 YEARBOOK PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
In 1979, Mason purchased the building that once held Kann’s department store to house its new law school and Mason’s Metro Campus. Demolition began on the Original Building, as it came to be called as the Arlington Campus grew, in March and should be completed this fall to make room for the construction of the new headquarters.
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DIGITAL INNOVATIONS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RESEARCHERS IN MASON’S INSTITUTE FOR DIGITAL INNOVATION (IDIA) ARE DOING CUT TING-EDGE WORK TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF OUR SOCIET Y.
ILLUSTRATION BY MARCIA STAIMER, GETTY IMAGES
B Y CO L L E E N K E A R N E Y R I C H , M FA ’ 95
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any of the technologies we use today were once the fodder of science fiction writers. Now these items are part of everyday life: the smartwatch on your wrist that tracks your heart rate, the global positioning and collision avoidance systems you use in your car, even the household printer that tells you when to order more ink. These advances are all part of the growing field of digital innovation, and at George Mason University, we’ve created an institute to spur and support discoveries in this area. More than 300 researchers, innovators, and scholars in Mason’s Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) are engaged in the cutting-edge work that is shaping our digital society, while promoting solutions that move us closer to societal goals, such as equality, well-being, security, and prosperity. The institute is led by Interim Director Kamaljeet Sanghera, professor of information sciences and technology in Mason’s new College of Engineering and Computing. “We are making tremendous strides in all aspects of digital innovation, from wearable technologies to smart cities,” says Sanghera, a founding member of the Virginia governor’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education Commission. “It’s my privilege to continue the momentum and accelerate it through internal and external partnerships, so, together, we shape the future of tomorrow.” IDIA’s work is organized across three themes: •
Technologies: Creating new algorithms, developing new digital techniques, and inventing new technologies
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Systems: Developing and deploying computing systems to advance fields as diverse as finance, agriculture, health, transportation, and social justice
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Digital Society: Examining the implications of digital innovation to ensure that innovators are designing responsibly and that key stakeholders—including users, innovators, policymakers, and the public at large—are informed about technology’s social, ethical, political, and economic impacts
With the new building on the Arlington Campus, the institute will not only support the university’s tech-based research and related educational programs but will also provide collaboration and convening spaces to the Arlington community—fueling the new innovation district. Working with our academic neighbors—George Washington University, Marymount University, University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech—and our community partners, Mason will add strategic innovation assets to the two-mile-long Rosslyn/Ballston Corridor, including a more than $100 million research and development portfolio in computing, thousands of faculty and student innovators, programs that support high-growth ventures, and partners like MACH 37 and Smart City Works. Even as the partnerships and new facilities have come together to support IDIA, the researchers at the heart of the institute have continued working, launching a number of exciting and innovative projects. Here are a few that showcase IDIA’s promise. Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 27
PRECISION WAR-TIME COMMUNICATIONS: The Rapid Prototyping Research Center is developing highly reliable and versatile networking and communications technology for the U.S. Department of Defense. Among its capabilities, this new technology allows warfighters to transmit precise and secure position, navigation, and timing information on the battlefield when traditional satellite-based GPS and similar systems become degraded or unavailable. Such information is essential to coordinate battlefield assets and launch precision weapons.
MORE THAN JUST A WRISTWATCH: Researchers Vivian Motti and Anna Evmenova are pushing smartwatch capabilities to help neurodiverse individuals live more independent lives. They have a $700,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a smartwatch application that will help young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their daily lives.
SCROLLING TO OFFER SUPPORT: The CitizenHelper tool sorts through social media to identify behaviors that could assist emergency agencies during a disaster and give them an understanding of the population’s attitudes. The tool, developed with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), uses artificial intelligence techniques to filter the posts and then determine the relevance and information level of each.
WHEN VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS NEED AN ASSIST: When people ask Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant a question, they expect the programs to understand them, but that is not always the case. A person’s language, accent, dialect, and even gender can have an impact, preventing the system from correctly interpreting an individual. With NSF support, Antonios Anastasopoulos and experts from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Washington are studying areas where there is bias in language technologies and measuring the discrepancies. Then they will attempt to fix the issues.
THE HEALING POWER OF DRAGON’S BLOOD: Inspired by the germ-fighting abilities of the Komodo dragon's blood, researchers have created a new way to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria while spurring the body’s cells to heal cuts faster. Developed with a Defense Threat Reduction Agency grant, the synthetic germ-fighter called “DRGN-1” is designed to help soldiers heal faster and protect them from bacterial bioweapons.
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HANDS-FREE IN D.C.: Driving three decked-out Toyota Corollas, researchers are taking to the busy streets of the Washington, D.C., area to test sensors and cameras they’ve installed to simulate a self-driving car (see page 30). Duminda Wijesekera seeks to improve an autonomous car's ability to recognize potential hazards at night, in severe weather, and in construction conditions, making the roads safer for everyone.
LINKING DATA TO STOP CORRUPTION: A grant from Mason’s Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis Center (CINA) will enable researchers Maurice Kugler, Foteini Baldimtsi, and Jiasun Li to apply tools from economics, cryptography, and finance using groundbreaking blockchain technology in an effort to trace possible money laundering and financial fraud in cryptocurrency markets.
ROBOTS IMITATING NATURE: It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) robotic shark blimp named Bruce that Mason engineering students have competed with nationally. Working with Mason engineering professor Cameron Nowzari, students perfect their designs by making these bio-inspired robots complete a variety of tasks, including playing soccer.
SPINNING INTO THE FUTURE: A group of researchers from Mason’s Quantum Science and Engineering Center are working to study quantum phenomena that have potential to become building blocks for future spin-based electronic devices and quantum computing. Spintronic devices use the electron's spin rather than its charge for computing, which offers significant improvements in processing speed and energy consumption.
SEE IT BEFORE YOU BUILD IT: The College of Science’s Chi Yang leads a research group that has developed a computational tool called SimDShip, which allows researchers to efficiently explore and evaluate a wide range of novel ship hull forms through simulations. The tool ultimately shortens the design cycle and saves fuel consumption costs for the U.S. Navy.
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Taking It to the StreetS riving three decked-out Toyota Corollas, researchers are taking to the busy streets of Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., to test sensors and cameras they’ve installed to simulate a self-driving car.
Mason computer science professor Duminda Wijesekera, the project lead, is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help create smarter car sensors. His research seeks to improve an autonomous car’s ability to recognize potential hazards at night, in severe weather, and in construction conditions, making the roads safer for everyone. He’s drawing upon the expertise of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) network by engaging several professors across Virginia, and the team’s findings could be applied to other 5G-connected technology in the future. CCI’s funding allowed Wijesekera to purchase three Toyota Corollas as testbeds. —Aubrey Medina
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Find out more about the project at bit.ly/ccicars.
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From left, Mason researchers Zoran Duric and Duminda Wijesekera pose with graduate students Yongxin Wang and Bo Yu and the autonomous vehicles on the Arlington Campus.
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BUILDING
COMMUNITY
THROUGH
RESTORATIVE
JUSTICE B Y M A R I A M A B U R D E I N E H , B A ’13, A N D CO L L E E N K E A R N E Y R I C H , M FA ’ 95
MASON STUDENTS AND FACULTY ARE SUPPORTING A NEW PROGRAM IN ARLINGTON COUNTY THAT SHIFTS THE WAY THE COMMUNITY APPROACHES JUSTICE WHILE FOSTERING BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND CONNECTIONS AMONG PARTICIPANTS.
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here are times when studying peace and conflict resolution is theoretical. But at George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, students also put their knowledge into action to benefit the local community.
Restorative justice is an alternative approach to punitive discipline. It centers around community building and repairing not only the harm done, but also the relationships.
CONNEC TING TO THE COMMUNIT Y “The Restorative Arlington partnership opens a kind of door between us and many other organizations across Arlington,” says Carter School professor Susan Hirsch, who is on the initiative’s steering committee. “In working with them, we become more connected to a whole gamut of things that are going on in the community that surrounds this campus. I really value that.” The Carter School partnership offers engagement on multiple levels, says Liane Rozzell, a senior associate from the Annie E. Casey Foundation who was on loan to Arlington County to help build this initiative. “We have students who are helping us grow the initiative while they’re learning themselves. There are faculty who are knowledgeable, excited, and can contribute their expertise to this process.” Some of the ways the Carter School is and will continue to be involved include training teachers and community members on how to facilitate restorative justice practices, developing curriculum, organizing dialogues, conducting research, and evaluating how the initiative is going. “All of this is very needed, and it gives us a tremendous boost that we couldn’t do on our own,” says Rozzell, who continues to volunteer with the organization. What would incorporating restorative justice look like in action? “We would have way fewer, if any, students suspended,” Rozzell says. “We’d have way more connection and folks thriving in schools.” “My hope is that a number of different cases that might have gone to the criminal legal system might find their way to be handled
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Since January 2020, the school has partnered with Restorative Arlington, a new initiative aimed at incorporating restorative justice practices into Arlington County’s public schools, legal system, and community. The partnership was formalized in July 2020 when Carter School dean Alpaslan Özerdem and Arlington County manager Mark Schwartz signed a joint letter of intent.
Carter School professor Susan Hirsch meets with the team of her Transitioning Justice Peace Lab over Zoom. outside that system,” says Hirsch, who taught a conflict course this past spring in which students could directly support the initiative. “I would also hope that community members would embrace a restorative ethic and feel empowered to resolve other conflicts using approaches that are restorative and not punitive.”
TAKING THE LEAD When Mason alumna Kimiko Lighty, MAIS ’10, heard that Rozzell was working to bring restorative justice to Arlington County, where she lives, she was excited. As the parent of a special needs child, Lighty has been active in the Arlington Public Schools and its Special Education Parent Teacher Association (SEPTA), and she approached Rozzell to find out more about the plans. “I was not just reaching out to [Rozzell] as [a restorative justice] practitioner, but as a SEPTA mom who wanted to make sure that the needs of special education students and families were represented and considered in the way that these programs were developing,” says Lighty, who has worked as a restorative justice practitioner in Fairfax County and Washington, D.C. “One of the things that’s important to us is how discipline affects students with disabilities.” When the coronavirus pandemic shutdown began in March 2020, Lighty found herself unable to continue her practice, so she volunteered with Restorative Arlington, helping to create the group’s Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 33
strategic plan and facilitate peace circles, which during this time were held over Zoom. In October, she was hired as the full-time coordinator of Restor ative Arlington. Lighty says that, now that they have a strategic plan in place, her role is to begin implementing those plans. She has focused her efforts on creating pathways and trainings to introduce restorative justice to the county’s legal system and public schools, and to provide them with the tools they need to make real systemic change. “I think we have a disposability crisis in our civilization, where we have so much disposable stuff that it leads us to start thinking about people as disposable,” she says. “Restorative justice honors the fact that we’re all connected—it gives us a way to see people as whole people who we live in relation with, and do the work to prevent harm before it even happens.”
GET TING STUDENTS INVOLVED Graduate students in Hirsch’s online CONF 625 Engaging Conflict course started out the spring semester learning about restorative justice and then broke into groups to work on Restorative Arlingtonspecific projects. The project-based class is designed to provide students with an opportunity to put the theories that they’ve studied into practice. “[This partnership] really is an opportunity for students to be on the ground floor as a major community-driven initiative is built,” says Hirsch, who was recognized with one of Mason’s 2021 Teaching Excellence Awards earlier this year. “It’s the best of experiential learning.” One group chose to work on researching and mapping out youthrelated services in the Arlington County that might benefit from restorative justice, while another focused on Arlington’s faith-based organizations. With the support of Restorative Arlington, the students developed materials for the nonprofit to use for outreach and education to these groups.
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The third group created a curriculum for a summer camp on restorative justice geared toward fifth- and sixth-graders.
Mason alumni Michael Brown, MA Conflict Analysis and Resolution ‘20, and Kimiko Lighty work for Restorative Arlington. Brown co-leads the nonprofit’s community implementation team. 34 | SPI RIT.GMU.EDU
“Restorative justice honors the fact that we’re all connected—it gives us a way to see people as whole people who we live in relation with, and do the work to prevent harm before it even happens.” —Kimiko Lighty, Restorative Arlington coordinator
“The group really thought about what young people who were about to go to a new school would need, with an emphasis on social and emotional learning and giving them skills for resolving conflicts and engaging with others,” says Hirsch. “Until I took this class, I did not truly understand what restorative justice was or what it offered as an approach to justice,” said Carter School graduate student Aleksander Kusik, who attended the class virtually from Boston, Massachusetts, where he works full-time and attends school full-time. Kusik describes the experience as transformative. “This class opened my eyes to an approach that prioritizes relationships, community, collaboration, and healing. As someone who studies conflict resolution and peacebuilding, restorative justice was like a beacon of hope to all the concerns I have with the traditional criminal justice system.”
PEACE CIRCLES
After the training, the graduate students were asked to facilitate circles of students on topics related to the Carter School and restorative justice as an opportunity to put their new skills to work. “Facilitating a circle was one of those experiences where the practical experience is much different than reading about them,” said Kusik, who will complete his MS in conflict analysis and resolution this summer. “I began to find where my strengths and weaknesses were by facilitating a group with Mason undergraduates. But most important, I got to experience firsthand the power circle practices have in building relationships and understanding through shared experiences.”
NEX T STEPS This summer Hirsch is continuing the restorative justice work with students, interns, and volunteers, including Kusik, in one of the new Peace Labs at the Carter School.
As part of their restorative justice training, the graduate students took basic circle training with an undergraduate conflict resolution class and several Arlington community members.
“To do real engagement with the community, we can’t just offer courses,” Hirsch says. “We need to conduct research that we’re doing with and/or for the community.”
These circles, sometimes called healing circles, originated in the practices of Native Americans, First Nations, and Indigenous peoples, and bring together people to have open exchanges about difficult issues.
Hirsch’s lab is called Transitioning Justice, and the team will take the materials created for Restorative Arlington and begin outreach efforts. They will also design, deliver, and evaluate restorative justice trainings titled Restorative Foundations and Basic Circle Process.
The training was led by Hirsch and Carter School PhD student Najla Mangoush and had to be adapted for a virtual environment. Outside of the pandemic, circle members would sit in a circle and pass a talking piece from person to person. The circles are Lighty’s favorite part of the training. “That was the most powerful part of the [restorative justice] training for me, and everything I know and everything I do as a circle keeper comes from that initial training,” Lighty says. “It’s a really powerful exercise, and it has been challenging to adapt it to a virtual environment. We’ve had some success in being able to do that.”
And there will be more circles. Lighty says Restorative Arlington is working with the Arlington Office of Race and Equity to create a series of virtual circles focused on race and equity in Arlington County government, and Mason alumni and students are involved. “There’s a lot of excitement among the students, some of whom were in the courses, but also other students who have been working on these issues and want a chance to be part of an engaged team,” says Hirsch.
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INQUIRING MINDS
Reconstructing Their Narratives
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f the more than 4,000 lynchings of Black Americans that took place in the United States between 1865 and 1950, at least 43 cases occurred in Maryland. Since 2019, George Mason University’s John Mitchell, Jr., Program (JMJP), housed within the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, has been helping research several of these cases to support the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In October 2020, they received news that they will be taking their research to the next level, thanks to a $300,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant they helped secure for the commission. The grant, which is part of the Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations Program, will allow the commission and JMJP to supercharge their research.
“We work through each individual case in the various communities with key expert witnesses, relatives, and descendants bearing witness to this history.”
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—Charles Chavis
“States, in terms of their narratives, don’t shed light on these historic traumas,” says Carter School professor Charles Chavis (pictured left), who is on the board of directors for the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project. The grant sets aside $100,000 for the communities and families of the victims for restorative justice reform, says Chavis, who founded JMJP to address narrative change and social transformation. The rest of the funds will go toward live reconciliation-style hearings. “[With the grant] we’re now able to hire expert genealogists to help us track down the relatives [of lynching victims] so that they can be a part of the process,” Chavis says. “We work through each individual case in the various communities with key expert witnesses, relatives, and descendants bearing witness to this history.” Before that happens, Chavis says the Mason team helps with forensic reconstruction, which involves leaning on existing research and records to put together a mosaic of the case. The Maryland State Archives have been key to their efforts. “Students have been able to work directly with the research, documenting cases, doing census data, pulling death certificates, verifying biographical data, and pulling together narratives of individuals,” Chavis says. In the process, undergraduate and graduate students are gaining hands-on activist and research experience. “What has been most important for me is being able to put some of what I learned about narrative approaches to racial and social justice into practice,” says conflict analysis and resolution graduate student Audrey Williams, who is one of five students supporting the commission. She says the project has also helped her better understand her role in creating change. “You have to recommit to confronting anti-Black racism every day,” Williams says. “What that means for people who already benefit from the system is committing, with humility, to listening to and platforming the voices of colleagues, friends, and community members who have been harmed, and to becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. The best place for this entire process to start is in our own hallways, classrooms, and relationships.” —Mariam Aburdeineh, BA ’13
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RESEARCH
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Combating Wildlife and Conservation Crimes
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George Mason University researchers say their study of COVID-19 antibodies in people previously infected with the virus reveals the human immune system’s strong ability to fight the virus, even if individuals displayed minimal or no symptoms. Early results are showing that the vaccines being rolled out to combat the global pandemic generate a strong immune response. Lance Liotta, the co-director of Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM), and his colleagues are using an improved COVID-19 antibody test developed as part of a Mason clinical study to measure the body’s response to the vaccine. Based on months of study of patients who were naturally infected, the team was able to verify that patients’ antibodies lasted longer than initially believed and that they potentially helped prevent those patients from getting sick again. Early results of those who have been vaccinated have confirmed the shots to be strong boosters to the human immune system’s ability to combat the virus by generating more antibodies that block the virus spike protein tips. These spike tips are the starting point for the virus to enter the patient’s cells. Liotta and his team began their initial COVID-19 antibody study at the start of the pandemic last spring. The testing allows scientists see how the body recognizes and reacts to the virus, which is particularly important when it comes to asymptomatic cases. “[Some of the subjects tested] never knew that they had contracted COVID,” Liotta says. “But we can tell by looking at the antibodies that exist in their body. That’s a very important piece of information.” —John Hollis
—Buzz McClain, BA ’77
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Fighting the Good Fight
he International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has admitted the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at George Mason University as a member. TraCCC will work with fellow IUCN member organizations in developing policies to combat natural resource crimes and illicit trade that endangers wildlife around the globe. The IUCN, founded in 1948, is a Swiss-based international nonprofit with more than 1,400 government and nongovernmental organizations from 170 countries working in the fields of conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. The agency represents more than 17,000 scientists, policymakers, and business leaders promoting ecosystem protections, creating economic and social policy for species survival, and establishing environmental laws. Mason is one of only three U.S. universities with research centers affiliated with IUCN. “We were asked to apply because of our pioneering work on addressing corruption in natural resources and addressing the illicit wildlife trade,” says TraCCC founding director Louise Shelley. “Our webinars during the pandemic on these issues have reached people in more than 40 countries. We address emerging priorities for IUCN, and we have the expertise to contribute to their understanding and policy in these areas. We bring a unique perspective among their American academic partners.”
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INQUIRING MINDS
Researchers Receive $1.6 Million to Optimize Security and Energy Tradeoff
PHOTO BY EVAN CANTWELL
he capabilities and reach of 5G are expanding, but with new capabilities come new security challenges. Four George Mason University researchers received a $1.6 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to tackle one of the many security issues that 5G poses as part of a larger DARPA initiative. The grant aims to optimize the security and energy efficiency tradeoff by creating a low-energy security architecture for various types of internet-of-things (IoT) devices. These small IoT devices could be as simple as a thermometer or humidity sensor that is part of a larger smart home system. “In a network, there are many devices of different sizes and capabilities. Many of these devices don’t have much computing power or battery life, and a common cybersecurity attack on these devices is to drain their battery life,” says Brian Mark, co-principal investigator on the grant. Mark, Khaled Khasawneh, Kai Zeng, and Sai Manoj Pudukotai Dinakarrao in Mason’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are collaborating with the company Kryptowire and Matthew Hicks from Virginia Tech on the project. “These sensors can be very tiny, and they have limited computation and communication capabilities,” says Zeng. “The first step for each of these types of sensors would be to bootstrap, or link, a secure connection to the network, which requires authentication without pre-shared secrets. This is where the vulnerabilities lie.” When sensors or other types of small IoT devices must automatically authenticate themselves, hackers have many paths of attack. They can drain the device’s battery, rendering it useless, or steal sensitive
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information or data from the device. Because of the many pathways available to attackers, the team is combining cryptography, network protocol design, and machine learning to ensure the success and scalability of their efforts. One way they are looking at securing the connection is through gait-inspired authentication, which leverages the kinetic energy generated by a human user. Another approach is to exploit the “always-on” sensors in some devices like smartphones. They are also using machine learning to both authenticate and authorize different devices. Long term, the team aspires for their security architecture to be easily applied to other devices. “When we talk about the energy and security tradeoff, we have to think about how we can do things in a smart way to conserve energy while enhancing security,” says Mark. “Right now, this work is with smaller devices, but the hope is that our overall security architecture can apply to a variety of devices with different capabilities.”
New Life for the Life Sciences
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eorge Mason University and the Prince William County Department of Economic Development will lead the Northern Virginia BioHub for Virginia Bio-Connect, a statewide initiative for life sciences and biotechnology work. The project, which is directed by the Virginia Biotechnology Association and supported by a two-year, $3.2 million initiative funded by a GO Virginia statewide competitive matching grant, is a collaboration designed to increase connectivity and awareness of the existing Virginia programs, resources, and communities that support the life sciences industry.
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—Ryley McGinnis
During the grant period, Virginia Bio-Connect will create a workforce development program to connect students with Virginia-based companies, including an industry-specific internship program. “Students will have the opportunity to be part of a statewide cohort and develop meaningful connections with Virginia’s life science industry professionals,” says Amy Adams, BS ‘03, MS ‘12, executive director of Mason’s Institute for Biohealth Innovation, who will co-direct the Northern Virginia BioHub. “It’s a win-win for both our students, who will gain practical skills that make them more competitive in the job market, and for companies seeking a diverse, talented workforce pipeline.”
RESEARCH
The Relationship between PTSD and Children’s Emotional Functioning
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parent who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect the whole family. A George Mason University researcher is looking at the effects of such stressors on children ages 6 to 12 and their emotional functioning. With support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health, Mason doctoral student Sarah Giff, MA Psychology ’17, is examining the connection between parents with PTSD and their children’s emotional functioning, looking specifically at military families. Giff, who is working on a PhD in clinical psychology, says that the negative impacts on emotional functioning can be categorized as “internalizing,” which includes anxiety and depression, or “externalizing,” with the child showing anger or acting out in some way. “This construct of emotion socialization has three components: how parents model emotions for their children, how parents respond
to their children’s display of emotions, and how parents talk to their children about emotions,” says Giff. Her research involves watching videos of parent-child interactions that were collected by researcher Abigail Gewirtz at the University of Minnesota. Giff is coding these videos for specific types of behavior seen throughout the exchanges, such as if a parent responds in a supportive manner to a child expressing emotion. The goal is to see if there is a link between military servicemembers who are struggling to regulate their emotions as a result of PTSD and potential difficulties with helping their children control their own feelings. Giff believes her research will have broader applications to the general public and has been thinking specifically about frontline workers during COVID-19. “There are high-stress situations being created for families during COVID-19, especially if there is a family member who is working at
a hospital every day and experiencing severe burnout,” says Giff. “We believe this research could help better educate and equip families facing these kinds of overwhelming challenges.” With her research, Giff aims to raise awareness about the impacts of PTSD, both at the individual and family level. Giff credits the clinical training she received at Mason’s Center for Psychological Services as the catalyst for getting her involved in military-related research, particularly the center’s collaboration with the Virginia Veteran and Family Support Program. “What I want to bring to light is when one person is enduring a burdensome level of stress, their family members may experience changes in their emotions and behavior, which can influence the course of treatment,” says Giff. “Ideally, I’d like to better implement ways to help treat mental health issues with a family context in mind.” —Katie Maney
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SHELF LIFE Recently published works by Mason faculty K-12 Blended Teaching: A Guide to Personalized Learning and Online Integration Jered Borup, associate professor, College of Education and Human Development, with Charles R. Graham, Cecil R. Short, and Leanna Archambault
Courtney Adams Wooten, assistant professor, English, with Jacob Babb, Kristi Murray Costello, and Kate Navickas
Independently published, March 2019
Utah State University Press, November 2020
Online learning has seen a rise in the past year and a half, not just at the collegiate level but in all the grades before it. This book serves as a guide to combining virtual and in-person learning for K-12 educators. The authors detail four key competencies for blended education and finalize them in the last chapter, where blended learning is actually implemented in the classroom.
By making clear the often-invisible role of emotional labor in writing program administration, this book demonstrates practical strategies for navigating that labor and opens a path for further research. The book has three sections, one emphasizing writing program administrators’ own work identities, one on fostering community in writing programs, and one on balancing the professional and personal, with chapters written by a diverse range of authors in various contexts.
Digitally Supported Disciplinary Literacy for Diverse K-5 Classrooms Amy Hutchison, associate professor, College of Education and Human Development, with Jamie Colwell and Lindsay Woodward Teachers College Press, July 2020 This book serves as a practical how-to guide on incorporating digitally supported disciplinary literacy practices in elementary classroom instruction—disciplinary literacy being the art of communicating within a specific discipline. The authors have included a framework for lesson planning, examples of classroom activities, and suggestions of digital methods for reaching all learners.
Infrastructures of Apocalypse: American Literature and the Nuclear Complex Jessica Hurley, assistant professor, English University of Minnesota Press, October 2020 Out with the old, in with the new—or in this book’s case, out with the top-down white male “nuclear canon” and in with Black, queer, Indigenous, and Asian American literatures that focus on the apocalypse from below. The author, whose work focuses on the infrastructure of the American nuclear complex, sets out to answer the question of what apocalypse does for people whose futures are already threatened. 40 | SPI RIT.GMU.EDU
The Things We Carry: Strategies for Recognizing and Negotiating Emotional Labor in Writing Program Administration
Actively Dying: The Creation of Muslim Identities through End-of-Life Care in the United States Cortney Hughes Rinker, associate professor, Sociology and Anthropology Routledge, December 2020 In this book, “actively dying” is shifted from a medical term referring to a patient near death to a theoretical framework that analyzes how end-of-life care shapes the way that those involved think of Islam and their own Muslim identity. Using the dying body as the main object of analysis, the book shows that religious identity is not only created through living but also through the physical processes of dying and death.
Happiness in World History Peter N. Stearns, professor, History Routledge, December 2020 The concept of happiness is one that has changed through the millennia, and this book begins with the advent of agriculture and continues through modern times to assess major historical transitions around the world for patterns in happiness. It analyzes the impact of religions, industrialization, and imperialism, and the final contemporary
The Fall of Reza Shah: The Abdication, Exile, and Death of Modern Iran’s Founder Shaul Bakhash, Robinson Professor emeritus, History and Art History I.B. Tauris, January 2021 Reza Shah’s tumultuous final years in and after Iran are documented in this book, from his final journey through the country, to his time in exile, to estate disputes after his death. The book reveals the fraught relationship between a once-powerful ruler in his final days and the British government at a critical moment in recent history. The author also utilizes previously unused sources to reveal that the British briefly but seriously considered reinstalling a former dynasty on the throne and doing away with the Pahlavis entirely.
Environmental Cartoons for Teachers Richard S. Groover, PhD Environmental Science and Public Policy ’17, affiliated faculty, Environmental Science and Policy Independently published, February 2021 Students in any grade level learning about environmental and biological topics can use the cartoons and information in this book as discussion starters and to make the information more memorable. This author has used the more than 40 cartoons in the book for more than 20 years in his classes.
THE CRISIS IN FLINT In 2014, the city managers of Flint, Michigan, switched the water supply from Detroit’s system to the Flint River. The cost-saving change created one of the greatest environmental catastrophes in recent history as the foul-smelling, discolored, and off-tasting water supply to the 96,000 residents— whose years-long complaints of skin rashes, hair loss, and other ailments were ignored—was found to be both contaminated with dangerous levels of lead and harboring Legionnaires’ disease. Charges of systemic racism continue. A new book of essays, Managing Challenges for the Flint Water Crisis (Westphalia Press), examines the crisis as a failure of municipal management. The book was commissioned by Schar School associate professor Bonnie Stabile, editor of the World Medical & Health Policy journal, and edited by Mason assistant professor Tonya Thornton; Katherine Simon, MPA ’19; Mason environmental science and policy professor Jennifer Sklarew, PhD Public Policy ’15; and public works expert Andrew Williams. Thornton (above) discussed the book with the Mason Spirit. What inspired you to put together this collection? As an emergency management expert, particularly working with the local governments, this was a unique crisis to study. It was also important to examine this crisis from many angles, given its social, political, economic, and environmental implications. Additionally, human-induced disasters are treated very differently from natural threats, given that [natural disasters] are perceived with a lack of control and there is a responsible party to be held accountable [in human-induced disasters]. Now my hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, is also facing a water crisis, about which we are now considering pulling together an edited volume. You’ve said the disaster fails your 4C’s model. Can you elaborate? There was a lack of communication that led to a disconnect in coordination and cooperation, which, in turn, did not produce meaningful collaboration. When this model is not adhered to, even in the simplest of terms, it will result in weakened social capital and fractured political trust. Was there anything that surprised you when working on the book? It became apparent that the choices among governing bodies have consequences. Sadly, many elected leaders run on a single-issue platform and are not well versed in the larger operating mechanics of local government. Therefore, their decisions can be catastrophic regardless of intention. Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 41
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section covers alternate ideas of happiness globally. The author uses his expertise in history, especially the history of emotions, to explore the interaction between psychological and historical findings about happiness.
ALUMNI IN PRINT Recently published works by Mason alumni Oregon Barbara Tricarico, BA English ’75 This coffee-table photobook (Schiffer, May 2020) joins a series of regional photobooks in demonstrating the beauty of Oregon, from the quiet to the dramatic. A former English teacher, Tricarico currently lives in Ashland, Oregon, following 40 years in Virginia. She has produced nine photobooks on the regions of Oregon and currently serves as president of the Southern Oregon Photographic Association.
Willis is a professor and chair of the department of photography and imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is a historian of photography and has received many accolades for her work, including an NAACP Image award.
Before March Madness: The Wars for the Soul of College Basketball
Miraflores: Memoir of a Young Spy
Kurt Kemper, MA History ’95
Keith Yocum, BA Philosophy ’75
This text (University of Illinois Press, August 2020) examines the origins and the rise of NCAA basketball. In particular, Kemper analyzes the differing factions at play in the commercialization of college basketball during the mid-20th century.
In this spy novel (Selfpublished, September 2020), Nick Halliday poses as a visiting professor at the University of Panama in order to infiltrate a leftist student group. However, his mission becomes complicated as he falls in love with one of the students.
Kemper is a professor of history at Dakota State University. He is also the director of the school’s General Beadle Honors Program. He previously wrote College Football and American Culture in the Cold War Era and American Sports History, 1607 to Present.
To Make Their Own Way in the World: The Enduring Legacy of the Zealy Daguerreotypes Deborah Willis, PhD Cultural Studies ’01, Ilisa Barbash, and Molly Rogers This book (Aperture, September 2020) presents some of the most 42 | SPI RIT.GMU.EDU
challenging images in the world and discusses them alongside thought-provoking essays from some of the preeminent scholars in the area. The essays discuss the identities of those pictured in the daguerreotypes, the relationship between photography and race, and the influence of this type of imagery throughout the years.
Yocum is the author of several novels, including Valley of Spies. He is retired and lives in Cape Cod with his wife, Denise.
Memories of Lasting Shadows Michael Gryboski, MA History ’15 In a hypothetical future 40 years after Roe v. Wade has been overturned, a reporter investigates claims that a U.S. senator may have once performed abortions. This novel (Ambassador International, October 2020) explores the interplay of a dark past with a difficult present.
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Gryboski currently works as a novelist and reporter for The Christian Post. He previously published Carla: The End of Reason, the third book in his Carla series.
The Tin Can Crucible Christopher Davenport, MFA Creative Writing ’07 This memoir (Lume Book, December 2020) traces a series of events witnessed and experienced by the author in Papua New Guinea. As a Peace Corps volunteer, he lived with subsistence farmers. Over time, he earned their trust and began to feel like a valued member of their community. That is, until he witnessed a young woman kidnapped, tortured, and killed for alleged sorcery. Davenport is now an employee of the U.S. State Department. His work has taken him all over the world, to places like Albania, Vietnam, Guatemala, and Moldova. He lives with his wife, their two daughters, and their many pets.
This Is What America Looks Like Jona Colson, MA English ’08, Editor This anthology (Washington Writers’ Publishing House, February 2021) features works of poetry and prose from 100 writers in and around the Washington, D.C., area to illustrate the state of the union. Colson lives in Washington, D.C, and teaches English as a second language as an associate professor at Montgomery College. In 2018, he was awarded the Jean Feldman Poetry Prize for his debut poetry collection, Said Through Glass.
Plastic: An Autobiography Allison Cobb, MFA Poetry ’97 Stemming from the author’s obsession with a large plastic car part years ago, this book (Nightboat Books, April 2021) explores consume-and-dispose culture and the way it entangles with plastic waste, climate change, nuclear technologies, and racism. Part memoir, part environmental callto-action, part examination of societal forces, this book details a decade-long journey of examining the past and moving toward a more hopeful future. Cobb is the director of development communications at the Environmental Defense Fund and currently lives in Portland, Oregon. She has published three other books, most recently After We All Died.
A Social Theory of Congress: Legislative Norms in the TwentyFirst Century Brian Alexander, PhD Political Science ’15 This book (Lexington Books, April 2021) analyzes norms in the U.S. Congress through definition and identification of which norms exist, and examination of their effects. In it, Alexander develops a new theoretical framework of a social theory of Congress to offer new perspectives in the study of legislatures and political behavior. Alexander is an assistant professor of politics at Washington and Lee University, where he is also the director of the Washington Term Program. He is also a fellow at the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello.
PHOTO BY RON AIRA
PAT R I O T P R O F I L E
Sidney Boakye YEAR: Senior MAJOR: Mechanical Engineering HOMETOWN: Woodbridge, Virginia
Many people dream of being an astronaut and rocketing into outer space, but senior Sidney Boakye just landed an opportunity that launches him closer to that lifelong aspiration. Boakye is the first George Mason University student to be awarded the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship, a highly selective internship, mentorship, and networking program for students interested in spaceflight. To Boldly Go Where No Patriot Has Gone Before: “I have dreamed of becoming a rocket engineer since I was 10,” says Boakye. As an Isakowitz fellow, he will receive a paid summer internship at Rocket Lab, one of the program’s host companies. He will also be paired with a notable commercial space industry leader as his mentor. On Networking: Boakye was drawn to this fellowship because of the way the program embeds recipients within the commercial space industry. “I know I will learn a lot from this experience,” he says. “At the end of the summer, there is also a big networking event where we get to meet other fellows and commercial spaceflight professionals, so I will also get to meet like-minded people.” On the Fast Track: When Boakye came to Mason, he knew he wanted to pursue mechanical engineering. Now he is graduating a year early, but that shortened
timeline did not keep him from immersing himself in Mason Nation. In addition to being a community assistant for Mason Housing, he has served on different executive boards across such organizations as the Mason chapters of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers and National Society of Black Engineers, Engineers for International Development, and SatCom GMU. “I am graduating in three years instead of the traditional four years, but it was important for me to plan in time to get involved in clubs,” he says. Out of This World: As a project lead for SatCom GMU, Boakye channeled his fascination with space into devising and building a CubeSat, which is a miniature cubeshaped satellite. “Large satellites have a lot of functions, but CubeSats are much smaller with limited capabilities. We got to design and build one that actually hitched a ride into space on NASA’s NG014 in October 2020.” Pursuing Opportunities: Boakye may be the first, but he hopes he isn’t the last Mason student to be chosen for the prestigious fellowship. He urges all students to get involved and seek out opportunities on and off Mason’s campuses. “There are plenty of opportunities like this out there to go for. At Mason, you can find clubs and organizations that can also give you experience in what you enjoy and expose you to new things.” —Ryley McGinnis
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class notes
Negotiating with the Taliban
A
few days after Khalid Noor, BA Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’19, was born in Takhar, Afghanistan, the Taliban seized the province, and his family had to escape to another region on foot.
“We were constantly moving from city to another city,” he says. “When one district was taken or collapsed, we had to move to another.” It wasn’t an ideal life, but Noor is motivated to change that for future generations—and he’s negotiating with the Taliban to do so.
decade-long conflict. Noor is the youngest member of the negotiating team. “My vision is to have a peaceful Afghanistan, where there is political justice, where there’s social justice, and all ethnic groups see themselves as equal,” says Noor, who also learned about the struggles of Afghans from his father, who is the head of the political party Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan. “I want to see the women of Afghanistan empowered; I want the young generation educated.” His dream mimics U.S. ideology, he says, which is why he wanted to study at Mason. The Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution’s prestige in the field of conflict resolution was another draw. So, what’s it like negotiating with the Taliban? “It’s a bit complicated,” Noor says, adding that the team spends between one and five hours a day in negotiations. “In the first round, we spent three months only talking about the rule of conduct.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF KHALID NOOR
The slow progress can be frustrating, but Noor keeps the goal in perspective. Noor says his Mason education helps him decrypt complicated scenarios. In particular, he recalls that he enjoyed learning from Professor Marc Gopin and reading his book Healing the Heart of Conflict on understanding opposing sides. Khalid Noor speaks in Balkh, Afghanistan, after the first round of peace talks in Doha, Qatar.
GETTY IMAGES
In March 2020, the George Mason University alumnus was appointed to the Afghan negotiating team by President Ashraf Ghani. The team, comprising high-level politicians, members of Parliament, and representatives of political factions in Afghanistan, is negotiating with the extremist insurgency group in an effort to achieve peace, ceasefire, and a political settlement to the four-
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“These classes help me analyze the situation every time that we meet with the Taliban,” Noor says. Negotiations aren’t always successful, but he’s giving it his all. “Whenever I see my people and that hope they have when they look at me and other team members representing them, that is something that gives me patience and drives me at those difficult times,” Noor says. “I have patience because I negotiate for a cause that I live for.” —Mariam Aburdeineh, BA ’13
class notes
1970s
Jim McCarthy, BS Public Administration ’75, has been appointed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis to the Environmental Regulation Commission, subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate. The commission sets standards and rules that protect Floridians and the environment based on sound scientific and technical validity, economic impacts, and risks and benefits to the public and Florida’s natural resources. This marks the third governor from two states, from two different parties, who have appointed McCarthy to two different commissions.
1980s
David A. Hirsch, JD ’84, was elected to the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors as its general counsel. Hirsch is with The Myerson Law Group P.C. in Reston, where his practice includes representation of businesses and individuals in litigation, arbitration, mediation, and state and local administrative agency hearings. His areas of law include business, contracts, construction, and criminal and traffic defense. Hirsch also sits as an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.
C. Denise Spenik, BA Art (Studio) ’85, recently passed her certification for the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards as a national board-certified teacher in early/middle childhood art. She teaches at Fireside Elementary in Paradise Valley School District in Phoenix, Arizona. She has taught elementary art for 11 years and has been a teacher for 15 years. Kevin E. Cevasco, BS Computer Science ’89, MPH ’20, received the College of Health and Human Services Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He has served in pro bono leadership roles as chairman of Friends of Patients at the National Institutes of Health and as an advisor to Health Occupations Students of America Future Health Professionals. His professional career has been dedicated to developing health information technology solutions and architectures for programs such as improving veterans’ access to care. Jack Harrington, BS Computer Science ’89, was the recipient of the College of Engineering and Computing Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is a serial entrepreneur with 30 years of experience delivering
leading-edge technology in the aerospace and defense industry. He is currently the chief executive officer of Research Innovations Inc., headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. Mary Diane Whaley, MA English ’89, was selected for a multiphase English language specialist project for the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan. Whaley’s project focuses on designing new ways to assess the language skills of students in embassy English language programs nationwide in Azerbaijan. Whaley has served as an English specialist for the U.S. Department of State since 2012 on projects in Uruguay, Egypt, Brazil, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. She spent most of her career on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. Roderick C. Young, BA Speech Communication ’89, MA English ’94, received the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is a U.S. District
Court judge for the Eastern District of Virginia and former United States magistrate judge of the same court.
1990s
Indira Ahluwalia, BS Psychology ’90, published the book Fast Forward to Hope about her journey from fear to hope during her experience with stage-four cancer. The book is an homage to living life well even with all its challenges and is available on Amazon. Victoria A. Lipnic, JD ’91, received the Antonin Scalia Law School Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. She recently completed her decade-long service as a commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a position to which she was twice appointed by former president Barack Obama. From 2017 to 2019, she served as the acting chair of the agency. Lipnic has also served at other senior levels of the federal government, both in Congress and in the
Executive Branch, including as an assistant secretary of labor under former president George W. Bush and as workforce policy counsel to the Committee on Education and the Workforce in the U.S. House of Representatives. Gerard Stegmaier, BA History ’92, JD ’00, a partner in Reed Smith’s Global Corporate Group, was named one of the 250 most influential people in Washington, D.C., according to the Washingtonian. Stegmaier, whose practice focuses on all aspects of data-related innovation, privacy, security, and consumer protection issues, was included in the Tech and Telecom section. Stephanie Vanderslice, MFA Creative Writing ’92, professor of creative writing at the University of Central Arkansas, has a new book set for release in 2022 called The Lost Son. Horace L. Blackman, BA American Studies and English ’93, received the Black Alumni Chapter Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is senior vice presi-
What’s New with You? We are interested in what you’ve been doing since you graduated. Moved? Gotten married? Had a baby? Landed a new job? Received an award? Submit your class notes to alumni.gmu.edu/whatsnew. In your note, be sure to include your graduation year and degree. Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 45
class notes
dent of consulting services and leads the health and human services markets at CGI Federal, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of CGI Inc.
Dear Fellow Patriots, Mason is on the map. It is incredible to see how our Arlington Campus— which began in the late 1970s in a former department store building that housed only the law school—has expanded into a thriving educational hub offering programs from seven of George Mason University’s schools and colleges. The transformation of the Arlington Campus echoes that of Mason at large: starting from humble beginnings, growing into a household name in the region, and now making an impact that is evident across the country and around the world. Our new Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) will only magnify the great research and work that students and faculty are already doing. One thing is certain: Our alumni have been a key factor in the success and growth of the Arlington Campus. The achievements of our graduates were also critical to the proposal to bring Amazon’s new headquarters to Northern Virginia—once again, putting Mason on the map. The annual Celebration of Distinction, held April 22, showcased how Mason alumni are excelling in their fields, leading by example, and providing outstanding service to their alma mater and their communities. Alumni are breaking barriers, like Melissa A. Long, JD ’95, who was recently sworn in as the first Black justice on the Rhode Island Supreme Court (see opposite page). Others are working at the intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship, like software technology entrepreneur AC Chakrabarti, BS Decision Science and Information Management Systems and Accounting ’96, who has created and sold multiple companies to some of the largest global software enterprises, and serves Mason on the President’s Innovation Advisory Council. Your fellow alumni are also helping guide our alma mater forward. As I look at the advisory boards—from the Board of Visitors and Board of Trustees to the Innovation Advisory Council and other leadership boards—it fills me with pride to see how many alumni are involved. Mason alumni are leading the way! With Patriot Pride, Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA ’94 President, George Mason University Alumni Association 46 | SPI RIT.GMU.EDU
Musa Eubanks, BA Politics and Government ’93, has accepted a position as deputy counsel at the Maryland Department of Health. Riz Khaliq, BA International Studies ’93, MA International Transactions ’94, was recently appointed CEO of Assima, a worldwide leader in training, assistance, and software adoption for Fortune 500 companies. Bobby Patrick, BS Decision Science and Management Information Systems ’93, received the School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is the chief marketing officer of UiPath, the fastest growing and leading provider of robotic process automation and artificial intelligence (AI) software worldwide. In this role, he leads global marketing strategy and execution as UiPath continues to usher in the “automation-first era,” helping businesses of all sizes digitize everyday business operations and apply AI to drive true digital transformation. John Wing, BA Psychology ’94, earned a master of science in sports administration from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma. Laura Hampton, BA International Studies ’95, was elected as an independent
to the governing body of the City of Manassas Park, Virginia. She created her own campaign material and served as her own campaign manager. She is pursuing a DBA in leadership from Liberty University. Kathy Hollinger, MAIS ’96, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington since 2012, was awarded a COVID19 Response Leader Award by the Washington Business Journal as part of its 2020 CEO of the Year and C-Suite Awards. Christopher M. Preston Sr., BS Management ’96, was the 2021 recipient of the George Mason University Alumni Association’s Alumnus of the Year Award. He is the vice president of corporate relations at United Way Worldwide. He currently serves on the Honors College Advisory Council, is interim chair of the Green Machine Advisory Council, and is a member of the Patriot Club. Preston is a founding member of the Black Alumni Chapter, where he served as treasurer. He served on the Alumni Association Board from 2005 to 2017, including as president from 2014 to 2016. Michael L. Whitlock, BA Government and Politics ’96, received the Honors College Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is assistant general counsel of Sumitomo Electric USA Holdings Inc. (SEUHO). Based in Southern California, SEUHO
PHOTO BY CONNIE GROSCH AND REINHARD SOKOL
class notes Scalia Law alumna Melissa A. Long at her swearing-in ceremony earlier this year.
All Rise
M
elissa A. Long’s story is one of perseverance. Earlier this year, the Antonin Scalia Law School graduate was sworn in as the first Black justice on the Rhode Island Supreme Court, a career pinnacle that reflects at least a generation’s worth of tenacity.
“[Long] exuded a wisdom beyond her years, one deeply connected with her family’s remarkable history, which made her realize the serious racial injustices, among others, that confront members of our society through no fault of their own,” says Stearns.
“I like to say that my story is really a story of the American dream,” says Long, JD ’95, who was also part of another historical moment when her appointment shifted women into the majority on the state’s high court.
Long, who previously served on the Rhode Island Superior Court, says she recognizes the historical importance of her appointment, but she also believes that it is especially critical right now for judges to remember that “we are at a low point in how people view our institutions, including the judiciary.”
This very American story began with Long’s parents. Her father, who is Black, grew up in Blackstone, Virginia, which she says was “a segregated town with segregated schools.” Her mother, who was white, grew up as the youngest of nine children in a poor family in Pennsylvania. Long’s parents met while both were serving in the military in San Antonio, Texas. The couple married in Washington, D.C., one year before the landmark Loving v. Virginia U.S. Supreme Court decision ended racebased restrictions on marriage.
She says that when she is on the bench, she tries to remember that behind every case there are real people with real stories to share. “Every single person coming before me has a story to tell that is important to them, and that also potentially has implications for generations of people.” —Anna Stolley Persky
The influence her family’s history had on her was apparent, according to former Mason law professor Maxwell Stearns, who Long worked for as a research assistant during law school.
is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-based Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., one of the largest wire and cable manufacturers in the world. Whitlock has served as inhouse counsel for a major media company, as a partner in two large law firms, and a federal prosecutor. Jason J. Howell, BS Accounting ’97, was the 2021 recipient of the Alumni Association’s Alumni Service Award. He is president
of Jason Howell Company, a family wealth management firm that uses sustainable, responsible, and impact investing. Howell is an adjunct instructor of personal finance at American University’s Kogod School of Business. He is also an adjunct instructor for Mason’s School of Business financial planning and wealth management (FPWM) concentration and the council chair for the FPWM Advisory Board.
Christopher Hunt Robertson, BIS ’97, MEd Curriculum and Education ’00, received the 2020 Historical Book Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians for his book, William Johnston: Carolina Railroad King, published on Google Books. This is his sixth award from the historical society. Brian Simpson, MA Economics ’98, PhD ’00, recently published the book A Declaration and Constitution for
a Free Society with Lexington Books. The book uses objectivist philosophy to analyze subjective, intrinsic, and objective theories of rights and show why rights and freedom are objective necessities of human life. Simpson is a professor and chair in the department of accounting, finance, and economics in the College of Professional Studies at National University in San Diego, California. He is also the author of the two-vol-
ume book on the business cycle Money, Banking, and the Business Cycle (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) and Markets Don’t Fail! (Lexington Books, 2005). Michael Porterfield, BA English ’99, has been reading children’s books aloud online every day since late March 2020, when he started working from home during the pandemic, to spread some positive energy. He has read almost Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 47
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1,000 books and shared the videos on YouTube and Facebook. James Tully, BS Administration of Justice ’99, retired from the Office of the Sheriff in Fairfax County, Virginia, after 25 years of service in April 2020. He accepted a position with the Virginia Department of Military Affairs, where he served as an operations manager for domestic operations at the Virginia National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters. For his efforts during the declared states of emergency for the pandemic and civil unrest, Tully was awarded the Vir-
ginia Army National Guard Commendation Medal. As of April 2021, Tully has returned to a uniformed position and is the deputy superintendent of the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
2000s
Seann S. Kalagher, BA Government and Politics ’00, was the Schar School of Policy and Government Distinguished Alumni Award recipient at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is the general counsel and chief
compliance officer at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, where he oversees legal issues for the college, serves as a member of the college cabinet, and oversees campus safety and human resources. Seng Chan, BA English ’01, has been promoted to associate at Dewberry’s Fairfax, Virginia, office and is a senior client relations manager in the firm’s resilience solutions group. William Preston McLaughlin, MA History ’01, was appointed to be an assistant professor at the U.S. Army
War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This college provides graduate-level instruction in strategic leadership, decision-making, and national security strategy to senior officers and governmental and international leaders. He was invited by the dean and the department head to join the department of military strategy, planning, and operations in December 2020. Carl Oberg, MA International Commerce and Policy ’02, MA Economics ’09, is the controller for Mountain States Legal Foundation and the senior accountant for
Mission First Operations, a nonprofit support firm. He lives in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, with his wife, Caren. Alexander P. Gabriel, BA English ’03, was recently promoted to vice president of health care at Boston Insurance Brokerage LLC, a wholesale brokerage that offers commercial insurance products, where he will be working to grow business in Northern Virginia. Isaac W. K. Thweatt, BM ’05, received the College of Visual and Performing Arts Thomas W. Iszard IV Distinguished Alumni Award at
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2021–22 Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA ’94, President
Whitney Ward, BA ’08, Director-at-Large
Vacant, President, Lambda Alumni Chapter
Christine Landoll, BS ’89, MS ’92, PresidentElect
Janae Johnson, BS ’11, MAIS ’15, President, Black Alumni Chapter
Daniel Logroño, BS ‘20, President, Latino Alumni Chapter
Yoshie Davison, MSW ’09, Vice President, Live
Vacant, College of Education and Human Development Alumni Chapter
Vacant, Antonin Scalia Law School Alumni Chapter (contact lawalum@gmu.edu)
Kathi Huddleston, PhD ’08, President, College of Health and Human Services Alumni Chapter
J. J. Stakem, MS ’12, President, Schar School of Policy and Government Alumni Chapter
Daniel Lash, BS ’97, President, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Alumni Chapter
Scott Hine, BS ’85, President, School of Business Alumni Chapter
Mark Monson, BS ’74, President, College of Science Alumni Chapter
Tim Plum, MS ’16, Chapter Representative, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution Alumni Chapter
Darcy Kipp Kim, BS ’02, MPA ’20, Vice President, Work Raymond Wotring, BA ’05, Vice President, Play David Atkins, BS ’90, Treasurer Ailsa Ware Burnett, BS ’93, MA ’96, MPA ’08, Historian Mary Bramley, BA ’07, Director-at-Large Harold Geller, MAIS ’92, DA ’05, Directorat-Large Steve Kann, BA ’85, Director-at-Large Jimmy Martin, BA ’07, Director-at-Large Molly McLaurin, BA ’08, Director-at-Large
Molly Grimsley, BA ’81, President, College of Visual and Performing Arts Alumni Chapter Sawyer Dullaghan, BS ’15, President, Green Machine Alumni Chapter Elizabeth Stern, BA ’09, President, Honors College Alumni Chapter
Hadi Rezazad, ENGR ’03, PhD ’09, President, College of Engineering and Computing Alumni Chapter Natalia Kanos, Student Government Representative
If you would like to become involved in the Alumni Association, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@gmu.edu.
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class notes
Torey Carter-Conneen, BA Economics ’06, was recently selected as the CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Turning an Injury into an Opportunity
I
t is hard to imagine a calamity that takes away one’s mobility as being the best thing that could happen to a person. But that is what Michael Murphy, MA History ’12, believes about the 25foot drunken fall off a roof that shattered one of his vertebrae and left him a paraplegic.
“It was a weird twist of fate that turned out to be one of the best things to ever happen to me,” says Murphy. “It opened up a lot of opportunities for me.”
Curt Crouch, BS Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ’06, has been promoted to associate at Dewberry. Crouch is a senior project manager and has more than 15 years of experience. He has used his civil engineering expertise to work with both private- and public-sector clients on land development, substation, and telecommunications projects throughout Northern Virginia.
Murphy, who uses a wheelchair, is pursuing a spot on the 2022 U.S. Paralympic team as a monoskier (skiing on a chair attached to one ski). He also has written a book—When I Fell: How I Rerouted My Life and Found Strength in a Severed Spine (Morgan James Publishing, April 2021). It is, Murphy says, an avenue “to teach readers how to hit home runs when life throws them curves.”
Saima K. Hedrick, BS Biology ’06, MPH ’12, has been named the new executive director of the Society for Research in Child Development.
Murphy slipped from the pitched roof and landed on his back. The fall shattered his T-9 vertebra and cracked several ribs. He was in the hospital for five weeks and came out with two titanium rods and 12 screws to stabilize his spinal cord.
Patrick Delaney, BA Communications ’07, started in January as director of external affairs for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry under Chair Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. In this role, Delaney will oversee coalition building, stakeholder outreach, and industry affairs. Previously, he was the chief spokesperson for the House Agriculture Committee under Chair Collin Peterson of Minne-
experienced as a result of a struggle with a major life crisis or traumatic event. Murphy credits his time at Mason with giving him the writing and research skills that he needed to write his book. “As you struggle through life-changing events, there are positive effects that come from it,” Murphy says. “It can be new opportunities or new relationships and communities. It has given me an inner strength. I want to get that message out to the people.” —Damian Cristodero
Originally from McLean, Virginia, Murphy was a junior at Randolph-Macon College studying history in April 2007, when he and a friend at a house party decided to catch the view of campus from the roof.
Murphy rehabbed four days a week that summer. He was inspired by the book Gimp by Mark Zupan, a college soccer star who became a quadriplegic after a car crash and went on to captain the U.S. wheelchair rugby team. In 2008, Murphy says he watched the Beijing Olympics and internalized the stories of hard work and determination. “I would look at the podium, and [I] realized they are not much different than I am,” Murphy says of the medal winners. “I have just as much determination. I can work just as hard. That was a big part of getting me out of some dark times.” Murphy says his life philosophy comes from the concept of post-traumatic growth, a psychological theory that identifies a positive change
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL MURPHY
the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is a fundraiser, performing artist, and clinician who currently serves as associate dean of development at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
A former baseball and football player at RandolphMacon College, Michael Murphy has tried several adaptive sports.
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sota, and, for 10 years prior, he handled policy communications for the American Soybean Association and the United Fresh Produce Association.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANEES MOKHIBER
Jona Colson, MA English ’08, co-edited the anthology This Is What America Looks Like, which was published in February 2021 by Washington Writers’ Publishing House.
On April 10, during an Instagram Live from his Ford Focus, the up-and-coming rapper Anees Mokhiber, BA Philosophy and Sociology ’14, JD ’17, sang his latest single, “Slip,” and was surprised when Justin Bieber joined the livestream to jam along. The Grammy-winning pop star complimented Mokhiber on his musical talent in front of an audience of more than 60,000 people. Since then, the Northern Virginia native has seen a major uptick in his followers and been featured in numerous media outlets. 50 | SPI RIT.GMU.EDU
Ryan Milligan, BS Geography ’08, MS Geographic and Cartographic Science ’12, received the 2021 Lambda Alumni Chapter Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is a geography and geoinformation science professional within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Milligan is a champion for diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace. He served as a co-chair for a DoD LGBTQA+ affinity network working group, organized under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, reviewing policies and practices that may present barriers to the recruitment, advancement, or retention of employees. Rima Nasser, BA Integrative Studies ’08, was recently profiled and named to the 2020 40 Under 40 Awards list by the Triangle Business Journal. Tiffany Reaves, BS Health, Fitness, and Recreation Resources ’09, was the recipient of the College of Education and Human
Development Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. She is the senior director of social impact and fan engagement for the New York Knicks. In this role, she sets the strategy and runs operations for the department responsible for all community activities, youth basketball programming, and fan engagement platforms for the brand.
2010s
Aaron M. Honsowetz, MA Economics ’10, PhD ’15, is releasing the board game Robotech: Reconstruction by Strange Machine Games in late 2021. The game is based on the Robotech anime series and was designed with Austin Smokowicz under their pseudonym Dr. Wictz. Dilafruz Khonikboyeva, BA Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’10, MS ’14, received the 2021 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. She is a conflict and development practitioner focused on ethnic and identity conflict, humanitarian access, and civil wars, and has studied and worked in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Khonikboyeva is currently part of the Biden-Harris administration as a senior advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development Bureau for Policy,
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Planning, and Learning. She is also one of the 43 immigrants featured in former president George W. Bush’s new book Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants, published in April. Kendall Ridley, BA Communication ’10, was hired as the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s senior director of communications. Bianca Alba, BS Community Health ’11, MPH ’15, was the 2021 Latino Alumni Chapter Distinguished Alumni Award recipient at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. After receiving her MPH in 2015, Alba was accepted into the Public Health Associate Program, a competitive Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fellowship program, where her public health journey truly began. Alba currently works as a CDC public health advisor based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Alexa Severo, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’13, is the president of Loudoun Youth Inc., a nonprofit organization that works to empower, connect, and offer leadership opportunities to Loudoun County teens. Brian Alexander, PhD Political Science ’15, published the book A Social Theory of Congress: Legislative Norms in the Twenty-First Century. He is an assistant professor of politics at Washington and Lee University and the director of Washington and Lee’s Washington Term, an experiential learning program
based in Washington, D.C., each spring. Andrew Dougherty, BM ’15, was the recipient of the Green Machine Ensembles Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” the premier musical organization of the U.S. Army. Previously, Dougherty performed as a tuba player in the West Point Band, the official musical ensemble of the U.S. Military Academy, where he performed for military and patriotic ceremonies. Patrick O’Neil, MS Mathematics ’15, PhD ’17, received the College of Science Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumni Association’s 2021 Celebration of Distinction. He is the chief data scientist at BlackSky, a global monitoring firm leveraging high-resolution satellite imagery and advanced artificial intelligence to map global activity in real time. In this role he is responsible for building BlackSky’s analytics business and developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems. Callie Brownson, BS Health, Fitness, and Recreation Resources ’16, was the inaugural recipient of the Alumni Association’s Graduate of the Last Decade (G.O.L.D.) Award. She is entering her second year with the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns as chief of staff. In 2021, she made history by becoming
the first woman to coach a position group in an NFL game when she served as the Cleveland Browns’ acting tight ends coach in its Week 12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ken Mika, BA Government and International Politics ’16, the former director of email marketing for the Republican National Committee, founded TurnRed Media—a political digital media company—after playing an integral role in raising more than $1 billion for the Trump Campaign and the Republican National Committee. Revella Warega, BA Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’18, started her staff augmentation firm in 2010. Revella Consulting Group has expanded from one staff member in 2013 to more than 16 members working on billion-dollar projects around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region. Its diverse staff includes engineers, inspectors, contract administrators, and management. Revella Consulting Group looks forward to expanding into federal projects in 2021. Coy Lindsay, MPA ’19, was sworn into the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Foreign Service in April 2021.
POINT of PRIDE Mason was named a Voter Friendly Campus by the national nonpartisan organizations Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project (CVP) and NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education as the result of a campuswide strategy to increase voter turnout. Mason is one of more than 231 colleges and universities across 37 states and the District of Columbia to earn this designation. Mason students living and registered on campus vote at the university precinct in Merten Hall, which is in the 11th Congressional District.
2020s
has also worked with many nonprofit organizations in Northern Virginia that provide academic and personal resources to first-generation middle and high school students. She plans to use her skillset to pursue a full-time career as a staff accountant upon graduation, and soon after, obtain her CPA and CFE certifications to begin building her career as a certified forensic accountant.
Isabella Bah, BS Accounting ’21, was the 2021 recipient of the Alumni Association’s Senior of the Year Award. Bah is a first-generation college student. While at Mason, she had the opportunity to be a member of and lead organizations on campus, including serving as president of the African Student Association. Bah
Are you an alum who owns a business? List it in our alumni-owned business directory. Go to bit.ly/masonbiz to find out more.
Summer 2021 M A S O N S P I R I T | 51
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Obituaries ALUMNI AND STUDENTS
Blazita G. Flores, MEd Elementary Education ’75, d. January 7, 2021
Randolph C. Kross, BA Art ’81, d. December 19, 2020
Michelle C. McMahon, BA Sociology ’91, d. January 9, 2021
Stephen C. Edwards, MA International Transactions ’00, d. February 12, 2021
FORMER FACULTY AND STAFF
Patricia R. Brookhart, MBA ’83, d. February 15, 2021
Jennifer Chacon, MEd Special Education ’92, d. January 13, 2021
Joann S. Kennedy, CERG Education (Community College) ’00, d. January 13, 2021
Bong Chung, d. February 12, 2021
Roger D. Jewell, BS Business Administration ’83, d. March 18, 2021
Linh C. Lam, BS Public Administration ’92, d. January 4, 2021
Lauren M. Atkins, BA English ’01, d. January 10, 2021
Frances Martin, JD ’84, d. March 10, 2021
Karen L. Hatch, BA English ’93, d. January 8, 2021
Anthony Evaristo, JD ’78, d. January 18, 2021
S. Fred Figa, JD ’86, d. February 16, 2021
Sylvia W. Geer, MEd Special Education ’78, d. December 21, 2020
William J. Karppi Jr., MS Molecular and Microbiology ’89, d. March 6, 2021
Barbara A. Cornwell, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’97, d. March 1, 2021
Joseph D. Comtois, MPA ’80, d. March 17, 2021
Colonel George A. White, MBA ’89, d. March 3, 2021
Keli L. Luther, JD ’97, d. March 14, 2021
Suzanne M. Carlton, MPA ’81, d. December 26, 2020
William H. Engelbrecht, BS Accounting ’91, d. January 8, 2021
Mark A. Manalo, BS Marketing ’97, d. March 21, 2021
Deanna Merrill, BA Psychology ’75, d. January 29, 2021 George W. Crump III, MS Biology ’76, d. January 13, 2021 Donna W. Furbish, BA English ’76, d. February 27, 2021
Virginia R. Helsel, BSN ’81, d. April 7, 2021
Christopher S. Monek, JD ’81, d. March 2, 2021
Roger W. Lambert, MBA ’97, d. April 3, 2021
Ellis H. Coon, MEd Special Education ’99, d. December 27, 2020
Joanne M. Iannitto, MSN ’01, DNP ’12, d. March 8, 2021 Joseph B. Dailey, JD ’03, d. March 14, 2021 Xavier Ramos, BS Information Technology ’06, d. March 14, 2021 Cameron M. Hibshman, MEd Special Education ’09, d. January 12, 2021 Terry D. Beitzel, PhD Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’11, d. January 29, 2021 David A. Teixeira Sr., former student, d. March 14, 2021
Joseph R. Bailey, d. March 26, 2021
Brad J. Cox, d. January 2, 2021 Kathleen A. Curtis, d. January 3, 2021 Edwin Fleishman, d. February 17, 2021 Frederic W. Foss, d. February 20, 2021 Kenneth A. Gabriel, d. January 28, 2021 Richard B. Gomez, d. December 30, 2020 Carol J. Hlavinka, d. February 17, 2021 Diane C. Kellberg, d. March 8, 2021
FA C U LT Y, S TA F F, A N D F R I E N D S Mary Catherine Bateson, Clarence J. Robinson Professor emerita, died January 2 at the age of 81. Bateson, the daughter of anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, was a best-selling author, a linguist, and a cultural anthropologist. She taught at Mason as a Robinson Professor of Anthropology and English from 1987 to 2002. Among her many books were the New York Times bestsellers With a Daughter’s Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson (1984) and Composing a Life (1991). She is survived by her husband of 60 years, J. Barkev Kassarjian, her daughter and son-in-law, two grandsons, and a half-sister. Colonel (Ret.) Michael A. Dickerson, former Communication Department instructor, passed away on March 11 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was 83. After 26 years with the U.S. Army, Dickerson retired and had an extensive career in public relations in Washington, D.C. In 1998, he joined Mason and began teaching courses in public relations, advertising, and communication. He led the London International Public Relations course and oversaw the Communicator, a student magazine written by his public relations students. His leadership and vision led to a robust internship program within the Department of Communication. He also founded the department’s Insight Committee Advisory Board, which continues to flourish today. He retired 52 | SPI RIT.GMU.EDU
from Mason in 2016. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Nancy (Whalen) Dickerson, who also worked at Mason; a daughter; two sons; six grandchildren; and three nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that remembrances be made in the form of contributions to the Colonel Michael A. Dickerson Scholarship in Public Relations at advancement.gmu.edu/iss05. Hazel M. McFerson, professor emerita of international affairs, died February 27 at her home in Silver Spring, Maryland. She was 78. McFerson had been at Mason in various roles since 1990 before retiring in 2015. She grew up in Boston’s Orchard Park Housing Project and turned her humble beginnings into academic inspiration. She taught gender politics, conflict analysis, race and ethnic relations, and governance. In a 40-year academic career, McFerson became a specialist in critical-race theory and wrote or co-wrote five books. She held a PhD in politics from Brandeis University, a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of International Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston. She was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Asia and the Pacific in Manila, Philippines, and was a Fulbright specialist. McFerson is survived by her husband of 51 years, Salvatore Schiavo-Campo, three children, seven grandchildren, and a great-grandson.
PROFESSORS WE LOVE G E N E R O U S G I F T I S T H E L AT E S T S T E P I N A R E M A R K A B L E J O U R N E Y Along the way, Shukla’s reputation grew. The author or coauthor of more than 250 scientific papers, he received the International Meteorological Organization Prize, the field’s highest honor, and was among the lead authors of the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which earned the IPCC a share of the Nobel Peace Prize. He modernized India’s weather enterprise by establishing a supercomputer center for weather prediction and monsoon forecasting in New Delhi. For the past 40 years, he has annually returned to his home village of Mirdha, India, where he and his wife fund education and women’s empowerment programs. There, in 1999, they founded Gandhi College, which has about 800 students, more than 70 percent of whom are women. The entrepreneurial spirit that has characterized his career fits well at Mason, Shukla says. That spirit makes his journey not just a classic American success story, but a quintessentially Mason one as well.
Do you fondly remember certain places within the Mason community that exemplified the “college experience”? Did a specific Mason professor or mentor influence your life and career? If so, tell us about it. Send your submission to spirit@ gmu.edu. Please keep submissions to a maximum of 500 words.
—Rob Riordan, MPA ’19
PHOTO BY LATHAN GOUMAS
T
he journey that brought renowned climate researcher Jagadish Shukla from his childhood in rural India to world prominence at George Mason University recently gained a new chapter. Shukla and his wife, Anastasia, have established the Jagadish and Anastasia Shukla Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences Fellowship Endowment, among the largest philanthropic commitments ever from a Mason faculty member. The endowment will support graduate students pursuing a PhD in climate dynamics. Shukla, a University Professor of climate dynamics who joined Mason in 1994, is a founder of the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences. He’s helped bring international recognition for Mason in that field, while mentoring more than 25 doctoral students. Growing up in 1950s India, in a village without roads or electricity, Shukla attended a school started by his father, the only person in the village who could read. “He bought me five grades of science books to learn in one summer,” Shukla recalls. “‘You’re not going to graze cows this summer—you’re going to learn science.’” Enrolling at Banaras Hindu University, Shukla earned a master’s degree in geophysics, then entered oil prospecting. He changed fields after being offered a govern ment job at the Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune. “I knew nothing about meteorology, so I went to a library, got a glossary, and started learning. I managed to do some weather predictions by using their new computer. Remember, this was 1967. They said, ‘My gosh, this guy from the village can actually use computers!’” Soon Shukla garnered a prestigious United Nations fellowship and went abroad. An encounter with famed meteorologist Jule Charney, who became a friend and mentor, led to his admission to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he completed a doctor of science degree. In 1979, Shukla joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, becoming head of the climate modeling group. There, he pioneered an exception to the famed “butterfly effect,” which describes the unpredictable nature of long-term weather conditions. In 1984, Shukla cofounded the Center for OceanLand-Atmosphere Studies (COLA), then at the University of Maryland. Later, he and his colleagues began collaborating with Mason students and researchers. In 2014, COLA officially joined Mason’s College of Science.
Distinguished University Professor Jagadish Shukla speaks on climate change science at the “Climate 3.0: The Science, the Politics, and the Policy Agenda” panel in 2019.
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4400 University Drive, MS 3B3 Fairfax, Virginia 22030
RITE OF SPRING—Mason Day, one of the university’s longest running traditions, took place over two days this year. Socially distanced and safe, the event on the Mason Pond Lawn and in Lot K offered music, including bilingual pop singer-songwriter Yaniza (above), food trucks, and amusements. Photos by Evan Cantwell