2022 Faculty Notable Achievements

Our faculty are known for their contributions to the changing landscape of education, innovation, and leadership.

 George Mason University President Gregory Washington announced the recipients of the 2022 Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence, honoring nine Mason faculty members for their work on behalf of the university, students, and the broader community. Girum Urgessa, associate professor, won the John Toups Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Teaching. Urgessa came to Mason in 2007 tasked with developing a curriculum in structural engineering, directing the program, teaching most of the classes in it, and promoting its enrollment growth. He has developed a passionate following among CEIE students, who describe him as a clear, stimulating, engaging instructor who takes time to know them as individuals. He has also made a point of involving both graduate and undergraduate students in his own research projects and has co-authored publications with many of them. He received the Professor of the Year award from Mason’s Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (2008), the University Teaching Excellence Award (2015),

By the Numbers

and the Chi Epsilon Cumberland District James M. Robbins Excellence in Teaching Award (2020). He wrote two textbooks on licensure preparation, has presented scholarship on the lack of diversity among faculty in his field, taught curriculum development to faculty abroad, and is supporting efforts to advance the role of diversity, equity and inclusion in workforce development in structural engineering. He received $10,000 toward his research efforts.

 Researchers in Mason’s College of Health and Human Services and College of Engineering and Computing received a $988,559 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, for a three-year study pairing forensic bruise analysis with machine learning. David Lattanzi, associate professor, brings his expertise using deep machine learning and image analysis to track damage to civil infrastructure to the research team.

 Burak Tanyu, associate professor, was voted into the Director of Academic Outreach position on the ASCE National Capital GeoInstitute Board. The Geo-Institute (G-I) is a membership organization focused on geoprofessionals and the geo-industry. It was created by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as a specialty institute. g

100% increase in out-of-state MS students compared to 2021

17% increase in underrepresented minority student population in the CEIE undergraduate program compared to 2021

27% of the CEIE undergraduate population are first-generation college students

94% retention rate of transfer students

17% increase in civil engineering degrees awarded compared to 2021