Mason Spirit Spring 2018 by Mason Spirit magazine

MASON SPIRIT

S P R I N G 2018

A M AG 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

WE ARE GOLDEN:

Celebrating

Years of Mason Alumni

R E E LI N G I N T H E Y E AR S

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S T R O LLI N G D OW N M E M O RY L AN E

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I N T H E I R OW N WO R DS

THROWBACK MASON MEMORY The Student Government Association hosts Gold Rush at the Mason statue before the first men’s basketball game after joining the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2013. Photo by Alexis Glenn

On the Cover Edward J. (Jeff) Cawley Jr., BA in Business and Public Administration ’68, was a member of the first graduating class of the George Mason College of the University of Virginia. He has remained an active alumnus throughout the past 50 years, serving on the Board of Trustees of the George Mason University Foundation from 1974 to 1998. He also served as a member of the Annual Fund Committee from 1994 to 2005. Read about his Mason memories on page 24. Photo by Evan Cantwell

Congratulatory telegram sent from Clarence Robinson to Mason's first chancellor, Lorin Thompson. Mr. Robinson's "whole-hearted" support would come in 1985 in the form of the bequest that established the Robinson Professors.

G E O R G E M A S O N U N I V E R S I T Y: A G R E AT U N I V E R S I T Y O F A N E W A N D N E C E S S A R Y K I N D

Reeling in the Years Stroll down memory lane and see how Mason has changed over the decades.

50 Years Separates Them, but Mason Connects Them English major Lindsay Bernhards takes a tour of the 1960s part of campus with Mason alumnus Jeff Cawley, BA Business and Public Administration ’68, to compare notes on Mason then and now.

50 Years of Alumni Stories 28 Capturing The golden anniversary of the Class of 1968 provides the perfect opportunity for learning more about the Mason student experience—from the very beginning.

Follow us on Twitter @MasonSpirit for alumni news, events, and more. ecome a fan of the Mason Spirit on B Facebook for links to photos, videos, and stories at www.facebook.com/ MasonSpirit. Check our website for a behind-thescenes look at the Spirit, more alumni profiles, and breaking news at spirit. gmu.edu.

MASON AS SSPIRIT

F E AT U R E S

D E PA R T M E N T S 2 3 4 6 13 32 36 38 39

FIRST WORDS FROM OUR RE ADERS A D VA N C I N G M A S O N @MASON M E E T T H E M A S O N N AT I O N INQUIRING MINDS SHELF LIFE A LU M N I I N P R I N T PAT R I O T P R O F I L E

4 0 C L A S S N O T E S A L U M N I P R O F I L E S 40 Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco, BS

Administration of Justice ’05; MA Justice, Law, and Crime Policy ’10; PhD Criminology, Law and Society ’12 43 Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah, MAIS ’96, PhD Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’06 45 Steve Parke

MORE ON THE WEB When you see this graphic, follow it to the magazine’s website for more: spirit.gmu.edu.

Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 1

FIRST WORDS

MASON SPIRIT A MAGAZINE FOR THE GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY

LOOKING BACK AND FORGING AHEAD

nyone who has attended George Mason University, worked here, or supported us over the last half a century can look back with great pride. In this remarkably short period of time, we have built the largest and fastest-growing university in Virginia, produced nearly 200,000 alumni, and reached the ranks of the 300 most reputed universities in the world.

We didn’t achieve any of this by looking to the past. Our success has largely been the result of thinking differently than our peers, forging ahead with new ideas about higher education and research, and believing that more students deserve an opportunity for a great education—not fewer. Our new Tier 1 (“Very High Research”) classification, a distinction reserved for only 115 colleges and universities in the nation, has opened more doors for grants and partnerships that will be crucial to the university’s ability to conduct multidisciplinary research of great consequence. This past year, for instance, leading faculty from six Mason schools joined forces to land a multimillion-dollar, 10-year grant from the Department of Homeland Security. More students from all over the world are seeking us out. Mason is responsible for 48 percent of all enrollment growth in Virginia in the past decade and 57 percent just last year. The number of undergraduate international students has doubled in the last six years. The number of inter national students we serve has surpassed 3,000 and is now second only to Virginia Tech in the commonwealth. We are, of course, not standing still. On the contrary, several ongoing initiatives aim at further differentiating the Mason experience, delivering transformative learning to more students, and improving student success and learning outcomes. Through our Mason Impact, we are revising curricular structure and the co-curricular environment to ensure we provide a transformative education at the heart of our vision: to graduate engaged citizens and well-rounded scholars who are prepared to act. The Student Experience Redesign project will better align Mason systems and infrastructure with services to provide more personalized guidance to our 36,000 (and counting) students. New online partnerships already allow us to reach adult learners who need greater flexibility to complete their coursework and earn a degree. And a new partnership with Northern Virginia Community College, which we call ADVANCE, will allow thousands of students to seamlessly transition into Mason and earn their degrees on time. We also continue to recruit outstanding faculty and staff from increasingly diverse backgrounds who are helping us achieve our ambitious teaching and research plans. The past—and future—of Mason and Northern Virginia are intertwined. We have grown hand in hand over these 50 years, with Mason as the educational, economic, and cultural hub here in our home region. That will continue to be the case for decades to come. Ángel Cabrera President

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spirit.gmu.edu MANAG ING EDITOR Colleen Kearney Rich, MFA ’95 A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R S Cathy Cruise, MFA ’93 Rob Riordan C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R Sarah Metcalf Seeberg SE N I O R CO PY WR ITE R Margaret Mandell A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R Melanie Balog E D I T O R I A L A S S I S TA N T Lindsay Bernhards I L L U S T R AT I O N Marcia Staimer CO NTR IBUTO R S Martha Bushong Damian Cristodero Elizabeth Grisham, BA ’02, , MA ’12 Danielle Hawkins John Hollis Tara Laskowski, MFA ’05 Saige MacLeod Buzz McClain, BA ’77 Michele McDonald Arthur Wesley, BA ’17 Preston Williams P H O T O G R A P H Y A N D M U LT I M E D I A Evan Cantwell, MA ’10, Senior University Photographer Ron Aira, University Photographer Bethany Camp, Student Photographer Melissa Cannarozzi, Image Collections Manager PRODUC TION MANAG ER Brian Edlinski EDITORIAL BOARD Janet E. Bingham Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Frank Neville Vice President for Communications and Marketing Christine Clark-Talley Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations Mason Spirit is published three times a year by the Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations and the Office of Communications and Marketing. Please log in at alumni.gmu.edu to update your records or email spirit@gmu.edu. For the latest news about George Mason University, check out www.gmu.edu. George Mason University is an equal opportunity employer that encourages diversity.

FROM OUR ALUMNI

Thanks for the Memories!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Normally this section of the magazine has letters from you, our readers. However, while researching the stories for this special anniversary issue of the Spirit, we came across some Mason memories that we thought related to this issue of the magazine and wanted to share.

IT TAKES A [PATRIOT] VILLAGE We were a bunch of Alpha Phi sorority girls living together in Patriot Village. On one side, we had a bunch of frat boys, and on the other was the university’s Child Develop ment Center. At night, it was a fun party, and in the daytime, we could see the kids at recess in our backyard.

Hap and what a great leader and inspiration he was to his players and to the student body at large. After I graduated, Hap Spuhler was one of my references for jobs and for elite military programs. Paul T. Burke, BA Business and Public Administration ’68

Amy Takayama-Perez, BA Sociology ’96, MEd ’02, is now the dean of admissions at Mason and the faculty advisor to Alpha Phi.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

STUDIO MEMORIES

Letters to the editor are welcomed.

On of my favorite Mason memories is of sitting in the drawing studio on the old North Campus at night, sketching the model, as someone in a downstairs music studio was playing the flute. Molly Grimsley, BA Art (Studio) ’81, recently retired after 32 years at the Smithsonian Institution, where she worked at three separate museums—Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Museum of African Art, and National Portrait Gallery—during her career.

FROM THE BEGINNING I finished my coursework at GMU in the summer of 1968. It was the height of the Vietnam War, and I was inducted into the U.S. Army that fall. While at GMU, I was on the Patriot Baseball Team, led by Coach Hap Spuhler. My position alternated between first base and right field. Whenever I pass Spuhler Field on campus, I think of

David Farris

REVELATIONS Working on my PhD was a great experience to grow per sonally. It was a transformational time for me; I was given a unique opportunity to learn about my limitations and potential. I also started realizing what I’m doing might actually have impact, and that these 27 years in school are worth it. David Farris, MBA ’07, PhD Education ’16, (pictured above) is currently the executive director of Safety and Emergency Management at Mason. He joined the university in 2004 as a chemical hygiene officer.

CORRECTION EDITOR’S NOTE: Our fall 2017 issue stated that Mason’s part-time MBA program was ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. It was actually ranked 53rd, tying with Clemson University. We regret the error. We incorrectly included Michael J. McFadden, BS Electrical Engineering ’00, in the obituary listing in the Fall 2017 issue. We apologize for the error.

Send correspondence to Colleen Kearney Rich, Managing Editor, Mason Spirit, 4400 University Drive, MS 2F7, Fairfax, Virginia 22030. Or send an email to spirit@gmu.edu.

CALL FOR MEMORABILIA Do you have memorabilia that you would like to share with the university? We are looking for photos, articles, keepsakes, and more to add to our Special Collections and Archives. Items may be loaned to the university or donated at the owner's discretion. Contact us at alumni@gmu.edu or 703-9938696 to learn how you can share a part of Mason's history with us today!

New on spirit.gmu.edu If you are looking for more nostalgia, be sure to check out the comprehensive 50th anniversary of Mason alumni timeline at alumni.gmu.edu/50years. It’s not too late to share your story at alumni.gmu.edu/yourstory. On May 12, the Alumni Association is throwing a Golden Anniversary Celebration in place of the annual Celebration of Distinction. Be sure to check out the website for photos of the event. Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 3

A DVA N C I N G MA S O N

Mason Nation Is Waiting for You

o you know that feeling of excitement that comes when you have great news that you can’t wait to share with friends? That’s how I feel whenever I get the chance to tell someone about George Mason University. Throughout this special issue of Spirit magazine, and for the entire year of 2018, we are celebrating 50 years of the Alumni Association, which means the 50th anniversary of the birth of Mason Nation. Where does your university stand, after just five decades? Let me tell you. Here’s the great news: Mason today takes a back seat to no one. This university has it all: a world-class faculty, a beautiful campus, fantastic facilities, impactful research, inspiring students, and a commitment to student access and to learning of the highest quality. As you can see from the enjoyable conversation captured in our article “1968 Meets 2018” (page 24), each decade and each generation has had its own type of Mason experience. While it’s always fun to reminisce, that was then; this is now. Today, you have the power to define your relationship with Mason based not on what was, but on what you and Mason can do for each other now—and certainly in the future. Decade by decade, year by year, Mason gets stronger and better. No matter when you earned your Mason degree, in 2018 its value is high. In so many fields that are in demand and that enrich our lives, Mason talent leads the way. As our university’s standing and prestige grows, so does the value of your degree in the eyes of employers and others. Just as importantly, the Mason Nation—now 185,000 strong—sees you as a fellow Patriot. What will you make of your connection to Mason? Consider the many ways you can benefit now from being a Mason alum—through professional relationships, through enjoyment of the arts or athletics, or through the rewarding feeling of interacting with a vibrant group of students. And consider how Mason can in turn benefit from what you have to contribute—your knowledge, life experience, spirit, and support. Thousands of alumni choose each year to be part of the Mason community. If you are still looking, or waiting, for your opportunity to reconnect, I hope that this year’s anniversary celebration prompts you to do so. I am sure you will be glad that you did. There is so much we can do for each other, together. Janet E. Bingham, PhD Vice President, Advancement and Alumni Relations President, George Mason University Foundation

Nursing Trailblazer Served Mason, and America One of Mason’s, and the nation’s, foremost trailblazers was honored at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day weekend in November. Guests gathered to salute the life of the late General Hazel Johnson-Brown, a career U.S. Army nurse who became a renowned professor at Mason. Johnson-Brown was the first African American woman to achieve the rank of general, and was appointed chief of the 7,000-member Army Nurse Corps. After retiring from the military, JohnsonBrown began her second career as an educator at Mason in 1989. She taught in the graduate nursing program and founded Mason’s Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics. To honor her legacy, Mason has established the General Hazel Johnson-Brown Endowed Scholarship Fund, with a goal of raising $500,000 to benefit deserv ing students in the College of Health and Human Services and establish an endowed chair in nursing. Johnson-Brown knew from an early age she wanted to be a nurse. But in that era, African Americans could not attend nursing school near her home in Chester County, Pennsylvania. So she enrolled instead at the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing in New York. “This young woman could not attend the local nursing school in her own county, where her family had lived as free people of color for more than 150 years,” said Mason School of Nursing assistant dean Charlene Douglas, a friend of Johnson-Brown’s who spoke at the Arlington ceremony. “Yet she went on to receive her bachelor’s from Villanova, her master’s from Columbia, and her PhD from Catholic University.” Johnson-Brown died in 2011 at the age of 83. Her accom plishments are highlighted at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Wash ington, D.C., where her brigadier general’s uniform is on display. —Rob Riordan

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A DVA N C I N G MA S O N

Paying It Forward TO F E L LO W V E T E R A N S

“I hope we will have more and more graduates, and that they will come together to form a Patriot Scholarship alumni chapter, dedicating itself to supporting the veterans who follow them at Mason,” Jones says. “That would make me very proud.”

wo hundred forty-six dollars a month was a lot of money to Chris Jones, MA ’99, in 1974. That was the amount of the veterans’ stipend he received when he enrolled in college after finishing a six-year stint in the U.S. Army. Just as important was the fact that the college, San Jose State, gave him a three-month advance to cover living expenses while he started classes. “I remembered that,” Jones says. “It made me realize that if I could, I should help other veterans in the same way those folks helped me.” Two decades later, now in mid-career, Jones returned to school, earning a master’s degree from Mason’s School of Public Policy (now the Schar School of Policy and Government). In 2001 he founded ERPi, a company that provides consulting services to federal clients in the military and health sectors. A service-disabled veteran himself, Jones committed to hire other veterans and assist their transition to the private sector. As Fairfax-based ERPi’s business grew, Jones was ready to do more. In 2012 he established the ERPi Patriot Scholarship fund at Mason, dedicated to helping fellow veterans, especially service-disabled, and their families. Many veterans juggle education with obligations to work and family. Supplementing the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Patriot Scholarship offers $2,500 per semester for educational expenses, along with the offer of a paid internship at ERPi. Initially, only Schar School students, undergraduate and graduate, were eligible. This year, Jones expanded the scholarship opportunity to nursing and other students at the College of Health and Human Services. For spring 2018, more than 20 students in all will receive support. Inspired by the students he has met, Jones now has another ambitious idea. He is challenging the current crop of scholarship recipients to “pay it forward,” just as he has, by helping future Mason veterans. The need is great: 1 out of every 10 Mason students—about 3,500 in all—is a veteran or current military service member, or the dependent of one.

CHRIS JONES: Changing lives by giving to Mason Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 5

MASON

Go Green, Go Gold: A History of Mason Mascots

ans of Mason’s sports teams have seen the Patriot mascot evolve from a man dressed in colonial garb to large-headed fuzzy cartoon characters with crazy socks to a dapper, almost superhero Patriot. The early history of Mason’s mascots is a little fuzzy itself. Perhaps the strangest of all the mascots appeared at the first annual bonfire in 1985—the Mason Maniak, an unidentified animal character with a huge head and a t-shirt bearing the words, “Mason Maniak,” complete with lightning bolt. This furry character wore bright striped pants and was often seen dancing to the cheers of spectators. George Malenich, a university Physical Plant trades technician, played the Mason mascot for more than 10 years as several different characters, including a patriot, a gorilla, and good old furry Gunston. “It was the only time I could ask other women to dance and not get in trouble with my wife,” he says with a laugh. In the early 1990s, Malenich wore the Patriot mascot costume, which had a cartoon head with a two-foot tall hat. That mascot was retired in 1993 when George Johnson, then president of the university, decided that a white male mascot did not fully represent the diversity of the

university. Because Coach Paul Westhead, the men’s basketball coach at the time, liked his players to be fast and strong, Malenich says a search was on for a new mascot that was fast and strong. The result was a short-lived gorilla mascot. The Green Mask, a mascot based on the Jim Carrey movie The Mask, cheered on Mason sports teams during the 1995–96 academic year. Malenich not only played the Green Mask for the Patriots’ games, he also used the costume for several Washington Capitals games, because the team’s goaltender that year was named Jim Carey. In late 1996, during a basketball game against Ohio State, the furry green Gunston made his first appear ance. Although Gunston’s look changed over the years, the name and concept remained the same. While no one was really sure what exactly Gunston was, he traveled with the men’s basketball team to the Final Four and even appeared on Good Morning America. Eventually Gunston retired from sports and went on to teach children about the Earth and energy conservation with the “Go Green with Gunston” program. The Patriot, the mascot we know today, arrived in time for the 2009-10 basketball season and has been inspiring Mason spirit for almost a decade.

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—Tara Laskowski, MFA ’05

MASON

FACULT Y MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Cynthia Lont

Doris Bitler Davis

Padmanabhan Seshalyer

Where Are They Now? Catching up with Faculty of the Year Award Winners

ach year Mason honors a dedicated professor whose commitment to students and the university is exemplary. Few people, other than those attending the Alumni Association’s annual Celebration of Distinction, get to see the full list of Faculty Member of the Year Award winners, so we thought 50 years of Mason alumni was a good time to share it. We also caught up with a few winners to find out what they’re up to now. Warren Decker, 1984 award, is still a Mason professor and debate team director. “I can’t imagine anywhere that I would have been happier and more fulfilled,” says the man who started Mason’s communication degree, built its top-ranked debate team, and helped expand the Communication Department and its offerings. Off campus, Decker spends lots of time babysitting his granddaughters. Doris Bitler Davis, 2003 award, continues as an associate psychology professor at Mason. An early adopter of classroom technology, she is now the Psychology Department’s online program coordinator. Her research has moved in the direction of understanding animal behavior by studying creatures like ducks, chickens, and dogs. In her spare time, she enjoys making soap and bath products. The 2005 award winner, Cindy Lont, started teaching in Mason’s Communication Department in 1984, thinking she would stay a year. Thirty-one years later, she retired and now stays busy renovating a 140-year-old home her parents bought in the Finger Lakes in the 1960s. Referring to the structure that originally had no heat, six bedrooms, and only one bath, Lont says, “When friends say, ‘Aren’t you bored?’ I say, ‘Have you seen my house?’” And the 2014 award winner, math professor Padmanabhan Seshaiyer, says he admires how Mason “supports educators like me to become change agents to help students become better collaborators, communicators, critical thinkers, and creative problem solvers.” A global educator, Seshaiyer loves to travel and has enjoyed adventures from wildlife safaris in the Serengeti to ziplining in the Amazon. —Cathy Cruise, MFA ’93

The 2016 Faculty Member of the Year was Michael "Doc Nix" Nickens director of the Green Machine pep band.

2017 Richard Rubenstein 2016 Michael W. Nickens 2015 William B. Miller 2014 Padmanabhan Seshaiyer 2013 Marion F. Deshmukh 2012 Linda Apple Monson 2011 Don M. Boileau 2010 Todd B. Kashdan 2009 Peter J. Boettke 2008 Harold A. Geller 2007 Roger W. Wilkins 2006 Rick S. Davis 2005 Cynthia M. Lont 2004 James B. Young 2003 Doris A. Bitler 2002 Lloyd E. Duck 2001 Don E. Kash 2000 Stuart S. Malawer 1999 Karen K. Oates 1998 Toni-Michelle Travis 1997 Anthony J. Maiello 1996 Robert T. Hawkes 1995 Kenneth A. Kovach 1994 Roberta M. Conti 1993 Bruce B. Manchester 1992 Kevin A. Avruch 1991 Henry J. Bindel Jr. 1990 Mary C. Silva 1989 Sheryl A. Friedley 1988 Peter Klappert 1987 Brack Brown Lloyd de Boer 1986 Hale N. Tongren 1985 Walter E. Williams 1984 Warren D. Decker 1983 Michael R. Kelley 1982 Carol J. Sears 1981 Kenneth A. Kovach 1980 Kitty P. Smith 1979 Michael G. Emsley Bruce B. Manchester 1978 John A. Oppelt 1977 Hyman I. Feinstein 1976 John R. Linn 1975 Stephen T. Early Jr. 1974 Margaret C. Duffner Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 7

MASON

Mark your calendar for Giving Day!

D I D YO U K N O W…

MASON

GIVING

DAY 04/05/18

Atif Qarni, MA History ’09, is Virginia’s new secretary of education. Qarni, formerly a middle school teacher in Prince William County Public Schools, joined Governor Ralph Northam’s cabinet in January. He is the first teacher in more than a decade to go directly from the classroom into the cabinet, according to the Virginia Education Association.

OINT P OF PRIDE 159 Mason student-athletes made the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (a student record).

Finding Her Fashion Niche

ason marketing major Sana Mahmood remembers what it was like to grow up as a young Muslim American woman with limited apparel and accessory options. “It was really hard finding clothing that fit our needs and trend sense, and also that corresponded to our values and beliefs,” she says. To fill that niche and make a lasting difference, Mahmood founded Veiled Beaut in April 2016 with the hopes of designing affordable and high-quality apparel for young women like herself who sought to dress stylishly and professionally in accordance with their Islamic faith. Joining Mahmood on the Veiled Beaut team are three fellow Mason students: computer science major Ibrahim Ahmad, information systems and operations management major Anmol Azhar, and global affairs major Fatima Riaz. They were among the 26 Mason students who took part in the inaugural Mason Summer Entrepre neurship Accelerator (MSEA) program based on “lean startup” methodology. Mahmood and her team hope to take their fledgling company to the next level. Fortune estimates the Islamic fashion industry

will reach $484 billion in sales by 2019. There are approximately 3.3 million Muslims in the United States, nearly half of whom are women, according to the Pew Research Center. Nearly two-thirds of Muslims worldwide are younger than 30. Chief among the tenets for the MSEA program is intensive customer discovery, requiring each team to conduct at least 100 interviews to finetune their product-market fit and go-to-market strategy. During some of those interviews, the Veiled Beaut team discovered that potential customers sought active-wear hijabs to be worn during physical workouts. “Marketing is my field and I feel like I’ve learned so much more already,” Ahmad says. When the company began last year, it sold Kimono Islamic dresses and hijabs. As news of Veiled Beaut’s services spread through social media and word of mouth, business increased, and the company now offers an array of clothes and accessories. The company also fulfills special requests. “It’s a very lucrative market, and it’s fairly untapped in the West,” Mahmood says. Influenced by her parents about the importance of making a positive social difference, Mahmood traveled to Jordan last summer with a non profit group called Helping Hand and worked with Syrian and Palestinian refugees, including orphans. She decided to contribute 10 percent of Veiled Beaut’s profits to organizations that provide relief services to refugees. “It’s extremely important for us to use our platform to spread good, stand for justice, and extend a helping hand to others,” she wrote in her company’s MSEA application. “We want to be more than just another company selling products—we want to initiate a positive ripple effect of much-needed change.” —John Hollis

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MASON

The Making of a

Student Body President PHOTO BY RON AIRA

student body presidents

FUN FACTS about PAST SG PRESIDENTS

still reside in Virginia

ou can say this for David Kanos: He thinks big. He hopes to one day hold public office in Nigeria or become an ambassador. Originally from Jos, a city of about 900,000 in central Nigeria, Kanos discovered Mason in 2012 when he was a high school sophomore attending a Global Young Leaders conference in Washington, D.C., and in New York. He is the first international student at Mason to hold the position of student body president. “That’s a huge honor for me,” Kanos says. “It shows how far Mason has come that someone who wasn’t born here can come here and show they care about the Mason community. We preach and talk about diversity, but really implementing it, that’s what George Mason exemplifies. That’s what George Mason is all about.” Kanos’s involvement on Mason’s diverse campus exposed him to different kinds of people. He played club soccer and served as treasurer for the African Student Association and undersecretary for identity affairs for Student Government. “Mason has enabled me to meet new people who may not have the same ideological concepts as me, who don’t look like me, who don’t act like me, but who I can coexist and live with,” Kanos says. “We respect each other’s differences. Mason has really emphasized that for me. I got to know a lot of people and build great relationships.” Kanos’s platform includes working with the university administration to extend Fenwick Library’s hours during exams, expanding representation for cultural groups, and establishing a shuttle service between the Fairfax and Arlington Campuses.

12 majored in government and politics

Mason MBAs

pursued Mason law degrees

—Damian Cristodero

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From Dolly Parton to Megadeth: A Flickering Tribute to Mason’s Music Scene

ver the past 30+ years, Mason’s 10,000-seat arena has been a big part of

campus life and the Northern Virginia community. Since its 1985 opening, the Patriot Center (now EagleBank Arena) has been visited by more than

12 million patrons for more than 3,600 events that have ranged from ultimate fighting to the Harlem Globetrotters.

In 2010, Billboard magazine ranked the Patriot Center No. 8 nationwide and No. 18 worldwide among top-grossing venues with a capacity between 10,001 and 15,000. As the venue for both Disney On Ice and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, the arena has been the place where many area children saw their first circus or their favorite animated movie come to life. Many have graduated from high school and college there. Adults also have fond memories of their concerts. We recently asked a Fairfax, Virginia, group on Facebook to tell us about their favorite Patriot Center concert, and received 82 responses. The list of performers is long and diverse, running the gamut from Dolly Parton to Megadeth.

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WARNING: READING THIS LIST MIGHT MAKE YOU WANT TO RAISE YOUR LIGHTER IN MEMORY. Facebook mentions talked about Poison, Chicago, Tears for Fears, Green Day, The Cult, Lenny Kravitz, Ronnie Milsap, Sarah McLachlan, One Direction, George Jones, Mumford and Sons, Vanilla Ice, Beastie Boys, Randy Travis, The Wiggles, Phish, Dan Fogelberg, Kenny Rogers, Duran Duran, The Killers, the Moody Blues, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Prince, among others.

PHOTO BY CRAIG BISACRE

Ludacris headlined the 2014 Mason Day concert at the Patriot Center.

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MASON

Take the Mason Trivia Challenge

Think you know all there is to know about George Mason University? See how many of the following questions you can get right.

Mason’s student newspaper and news website are called Fourth Estate, a nod to the importance of the press in American history. But until 2013 the website was called Connect2Mason. What was the newspaper’s name? A. The Gunston Ledger C. Broadside B. Mason News D. Rabble Rouser BONUS: The newspaper was changed to that name in 1969. What was the campus paper called from its founding in 1963 to 1969?

The Mason law school changed its name in 2016 to the Antonin Scalia Law School. Before that it was the George Mason University School of Law. What was it called before it was acquired by Mason? A. International School of Law C. Arlington Law School B. Kann’s Department of Law D. University of Virginia’s Law School of Northern Virginia

Mason is described as a “young” university, and compared to some of our Virginia counterparts (William & Mary, established in 1693), we are still in our infancy. After all those short years, how many graduates are in the world sporting green and gold? A. 92,800 C. 200,500 B. 185,000 D. 375,000

Campus activities are an important part of student success, and music is often central to campus entertainment. Which of these bands has played on Mason’s Fairfax Campus (Patriot Center or EagleBank Arena don’t count)? A. Black Oak Arkansas C. Four Out of Five Doctors B. Nils Lofgren D. Red Hot Chili Peppers

What is the oldest men’s sport—varsity, club, or intramural—on Mason’s campuses?

A. Basketball B. Tennis

C. Football D. Rugby

If our university has a birthday, it’s the day George Mason College was officially separated from the University of Virginia by Governor Linwood Holton’s signature and became George Mason University. We cut the cake and blow out the candles to celebrate which independence day? A. May 14, 1971 C. September 24, 1973 B. April 7, 1972 D. July 4, 1972

You knew there had to be a Final Four question. Mason’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament’s ultimate championship round, the Final Four, took place in Indianapolis with seemingly the entire country rooting for the Cinderella underdog. What team brought the Patriots’ good time to an end? A. Syracuse C. Florida B. UCLA D. Louisiana State University BONUS: What was the painful final score?

Before it became the Science and Technology Campus, Mason’s presence in Prince William County started in an office in a strip mall while the campus was under construction. What was SciTech’s first name? A. Manassas Campus C. The Patriot Project B. Prince William Institute D. Mason in Manassas —Buzz McClain, BA ’77

ANSWERS: 1. (C) Bonus: (A), 2. (A), 3. (B), 4. (C, D), 5. (D), 6. (B), 7. (C) Bonus: 73-58, 8. (B) 12 | FA S T E R FA R T H E R : T H E C A M PA I G N F O R G E O R G E M A S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

MASON

M E E T T H E M A S O N N AT I O N

Saskia Clay-Rooks

Job: Executive Director, University Career Services

PHOTO BY EVAN CANTWELL

askia Clay-Rooks is passionate about improving the careermay be helpful to them is the most meaningful way she can contribute. readiness of Mason’s student body. Mason’s diversity, particularly “We are able to leverage Mason’s location to connect students with its number of first-generation students, is what attracted Claytheir dream employers through special events such as a tech demo, Rooks to the university more than five years ago. “Many first-generation intelligence analyst simulation activity, and lunch with foreign service students lack an understanding of the relationship between academic officers,” she says. and career planning, knowledge of business etiquette, or access to BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE: Job hunting? No matter how much a professional network,” she says. “My work is fulfilling because we experience and talent you might have, Clay- Rooks stresses that you provide the advice and resources that can help students attain greater must be able to communicate your abilities to employers in cover career outcomes and positively impact not only their lives, but the lives letters and in interviews. She recommends taking advantage of mock of their families as well.” interviews and resume clinics to get feedback. STAYING FRESH: Clay-Rooks is constantly updating the programs ALUMNI INTERACTIONS: More than 600 Mason alumni serve as and web resources offered to ensure they are timely and relevant to career mentors, participating in career fairs, mock interviews, and students in their career search. While plenty of resources are available resume workshops each year, but “it can be as easy as chatting with online, she looks to provide students and recent graduates with other students about your job and how to prepare for a similar one, or letting opportunities—the biggest of which are the connections her staff is them shadow you around your workplace for a few hours. It can make able to facilitate between students and employers, alumni, or faculty. a world of a difference for a Mason student,” she says. (Interested? Call More than 20,000 students and alumni take part in these programs 703-993-2370 for more information.) annually. BEST PART OF THE JOB: What you heard is true: Networking is important. Clay-Rooks says connecting students with others who

—Arthur Wesley, BA ’17

Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 13

YEARS

Along Our Path

1968

was a year to remember. In many ways, it was a time of revolution in American culture and politics. In the woods of Fairfax, Virginia, on the then-remote campus of the George Mason College of the University of Virginia, the graduating class of 52 students staged a small revolt of its own: Rather than join UVA’s alumni association, these graduates boldly started a new one. It was not until 1972 that George Mason became an independent university, but the template had already been set: Not for the last time, Mason grads would go their own way. In the 50 years since its founding, our Alumni Association has accomplished much, but what matters most isn’t our organization—it’s our alumni them selves. During my tenure as Alumni Association president, I have spoken with hundreds of my fellow Patriots about their Mason experience and their lives since graduation. What impresses me most is that, though we each make our own path, we all have a story worth hearing. And each of us has something to contribute to our shared community. Mason alumni make an exceptional impact, both here at the university and in the lives of others. Think of all that alumni do: • Meet and mentor students. • Volunteer and share their expertise to make Mason stronger. • Promote our alma mater and connect the university with the community. • Encourage young people to attend Mason. • Hire Mason graduates. • Build stronger, more prosperous communities. In this special issue of Spirit, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Alumni Association by looking back at memorable aspects of the Mason experience from each decade—starting with the 1960s and ending with the 2010s. Our story takes the perspective of the student experience in each era, and is told through the voices of both current students and many of our fellow graduates. I hope you’ll enjoy the memories, and even more importantly, be inspired to renew your connection with us and with your fellow members of Mason Nation. If you are ready to get more involved, visit alumni.gmu. edu to find an upcoming event near you, connect with your alumni chapter, or take advantage of career services and other alumni benefits. Take pride in being a Patriot, and add your voice to the story. Brian Jones, MA International Commerce and Policy ’06 President, George Mason University Alumni Association

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MILESTONES 1968—Alumni Association established as a nonprofit corporation 1975—Alumni awards ceremony, recognition of first Alumnus of the Year 1985—GMUAA awards the John C. and Louise P. Wood Undergraduate Scholarship 1986—Black Alumni Chapter formed 1996—GMUAA awards the Peter C. Forame Student Leader Scholarship 1999—Homecoming Block Party featuring basketball 2002—GMUAA establishes operations endowment, a vital funding source 2007—GMUAA awards its newly established Service Scholarship 2009—Lambda Alumni Chapter joins GMUAA 2009—Inaugural Alumni Weekend 2012—Latino Alumni Chapter joins GMUAA 2013—Black Alumni Chapter awards the Black Scholars Endowed Scholarship 2014—Office of Alumni Relations moves to current home in Northern Neck Building on the Fairfax Campus 2018—GMUAA establishes its 50th Anniversary Scholarship Endowment

Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 15

1960s

Chancellor Lorin A. Thompson

1964

Main Campus opens in Fairfax.

1965

Four-year status is authorized.

67 1966-Basketbal Men’s

Yup, that's a kilt.

. formed s i e g e oll ason C M e g or l at Ge

1968 fall enrollment is 1,445 with

175 out-of-state students.

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On February 3, 1965, UVA announces that Mason will be officially instituting a dress code. Men will be required to wear coats and ties on campus, while women will wear dresses or skirts and blouses. Faculty members are instructed to ask any student not conforming to the directive to leave the classroom. The initial reaction among Mason students is one of dismay. In a show of protest, some men wear kilts to class, while some women come dressed in sport coats and ties.

1968

First clas s

of 52 stu dents gra duates.

1970 fall enrollment is 2,134 undergraduates with

1971 First graduate degrees are awarded.

256 graduate students for a total of 2,390.

1972

1974

The university separates from UVA. (this can be longer and include date)

Tennis becomes first women’s sport.

The Office of Admissions hires Andrew (Andy) Evans, Mason’s first African American admissions officer. Evans is tasked with recruiting minority applicants.

Enrollment reaches 4,000. North Campus (Formerly Fairfax High School) is acquired.

1976

raduates. . s of nurses g World Series The first clas reaches NAIA am te l al eb Mason’s bas

1977

On-campus housing opens in the fall. Students move into the Student Apartments.

1978

George Johnson becomes president.

Mason moves to NCAA Division I (ECAC South).

1979

Mason receives doctoral status from the General Assembly—first doctoral programs are in education and public administration, then environmental biology and public policy, applied psychology, and economics. Mason acquires International School of Law in Arlington, which gets accreditation from the American Bar Association a year later. The Metro Campus opens in what was Kann’s Department Store, and becomes first law school with an escalator.

1970s

Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 17

1980 fall enrollment is 13,293 in 80 degree programs. International students represent

The Mason Medal

58 countries.

1981

Mason begins offering graduate classes on the Metro Campus (Arlington). Mason joins the NCAA.

1982

Mason receives funding for the university’s first endowed chair, the Holbert L. Harris Chair in Economics, which is currently held by Mason alumnus Tyler Cowen, BS Economics ’83.

1983

Plan for Alternative General Education program starts with the idea to bridge the divide between “general education and the contemporary world.”

James Buchanan and his Center for the Study of Public Choice move to Mason. The first Arts Gala, called Arts Explosion, is held. The university awards its first doctoral degree, a doctor of arts in education.

1984

Rob Muzzio (track and field) becomes Mason’s first NCAA Individual National Champion. He later places fifth in the decathlon at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Men’s Volleyball reaches NCAA Final Four for the first time.

1985

First Robinson Professors are hired.

First graduation is held in the Patriot Center. President Johnson promises the 1985 Commencement will take place in the new 10,000-seat arena “even if we all have to wear hard hats.” Men’s Basketball plays first game at the Patriot Center against Maryland. Women’s Soccer wins NCAA Division I National Championship. Mason becomes founding member of the Colonial Athletic Association.

1987 Prince William County approaches Mason to consider university presence in the county. First George Mason Medal is presented to John T. Hazel Jr.

1988 Early Identification Program begins.

1989

Men’s Basketball makes first NCAA appearance.

1986 uchanan wins Nobel Prize James B Sciences. in Economic

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1980s

1990s

1990 enrollment is 20,308. International

86 countries.

students represent

1990 The Center for the Arts opens with Marvin Hamlisch as host and Roberta Peters performing. General Assembly appropriates $25,000 for the Prince William Institute. Prince William County negotiates gift of 120 acres of land.

1991 Mason receives major bequest to establish the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study.

Law school makes U.S. News & World Report list of up-and-coming law schools.

1992

1993

Kraken, the first Komodo dragon born in captivity outside of Indonesia, is hatched in an incubator in Robinson Hall and quickly becomes a media star. Geoffrey Birchard of the Department of Biology is in charge of the top-secret dragon eggs that are the property of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Zero-base curriculum begins. It eventually becomes New Century College, which is now the School of Integrative Studies.

1996

Prince William Institute is officially named Prince William Campus.

Johnson Center opens. The building is the first of its kind on a university campus. Washington Post architecture critic Benjamin Forgey writes that it was too early to tell how the building will work, but “the mix is fascinating.”

1999

George Mason Statue is dedicated on April 12, 1996. Created by Wendy M. Ross, the seven-and-a-half-foot statue shows George Mason presenting his first draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was later the basis for the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

Dedication of Freedom Aquatics and Fitness Center and GTE (now Verizon) Auditorium takes place.

1997

Prince W il

liam Cam

pus open

s for clas

ses. Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 19

2000s 2000

Prince William Campus buildings PW I, II, and III renamed Occoquan Building, Bull Run Hall, and Discovery Hall.

2002

University Libraries hits 1 million volumes.

Vernon Smith wins the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

2004

28,750

With an enrollment of Mason becomes the largest public university in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

2005

Volgenau School of Engineering named in recognition of gift from Ernst and Sara Volgenau. Mason's first comprehensive campaign ends, raising $142 million in private support.

2006 Men’s Basketball reaches NCAA Final Four.

2007

Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program is established.

2009

Engineering building is named in honor of gift from Long and Kimmy Nguyen..

23,408. Mason sees its largest incoming freshman class in history 2,169.

2000 enrollment hits

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32,562 with 99 degree programs and students from 127 countries.

2010 enrollment hits

2010

Grand opening is held for Hylton Performing Arts Center, named for a lead gift from the Hylton family.

The de Laski Performing Arts Building is dedicated, honoring philanthropists Don and Nancy de Laski.

The Bio m labs in edical Resea the co rch La b, one untry, Techn opens o ology on the f 13 biosafe Camp ty-3 Scienc us. e and

2011

After years of planning and fundraising, a new state-of-the-art Ritchey Chretien telescope is installed in the Research Hall observatory.

Mason researcher Alessandra Luchini is named to Popular Science’s Brilliant 10, which is a list of the top scientists in the country under the age of 40. Mason joins the statewide initiative 4VA, a collaboration with James Madison University, University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech tasked with increasing student access to science, technology, engineering, and math courses.

2012

On June 30, President Alan Merten steps down as president after a 16-year tenure. Ángel Cabrera is named Mason’s sixth president.

2013 Mason joins Atlantic 10 Conference.

2015

Prince William Campus is renamed Science and Technology Campus. Public launch of the $500 million Faster Farther fundraising campaign. Patriot Center becomes EagleBank Arena through a partnership between George Mason and EagleBank.

2016 Mason is designated as an R-1 research institution The law school is renamed the Antonin Scalia Law School, in honor of the late Supreme Court justice, after landmark gifts from the Charles Koch Foundation and an anonymous donor.

2010s

Schar School of Policy and Government named in recognition of generous gift from philanthropist Dwight Schar.

Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 21

PHOTO BY ALEXIS GLENN

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Ch-Ch-Changes

In October, the North Plaza was named for the late Robinson Professor Roger Wilkins, who was an inspiration to students over his 20-year career at Mason. This popular meeting spot will see some changes in 2018 as Robinson Hall gets a major makeover. Details to come.

Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 23

From Jackets and Ties to T-shirts and Jeans…

…1968 meets 2018

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To celebrate 50 years of Mason alumni, we arranged for a member of that very first class to meet with a member of the current graduating class, take a tour of the campus, and share their experiences.

ason English major Lindsay Bernhards met Mason alumnus Jeff Cawley, BA Business and Public Administration ’68, in front of the Finley Building, which is one of the university’s four original buildings.

[Entering Finley Building]

JC [indicating the lobby]: Right here for the longest time, there used to be a layout of the pro posed buildings. It was a schematic of what the buildings would look like and where they would be. LB: The dream campus. JC: The funny thing was that over the years, when I would come back to campus for a variety of things, the proposed buildings had become the actual buildings. I mean, it was the best plan you’d ever seen. [indicating the original quad] Because we had an Honor Code we could take our exams and walk outside, sit in the Quad, and take them. There was also a coat and tie requirement.

N UM B E R O F BU I LD I N GS

1968

|6 2018 |148* * Includes all campuses

LB: Seriously? JC: See, we didn’t have a George Mason handbook. There was a UVA handbook called George Mason College of the University of Virginia—and that’s what my [class] ring says. So the require ments in the UVA handbook said coat and ties. LB: They actually had a full dress code? JC: Yeah, I don’t remember if that still existed by the time I was a senior, but it existed when I was a freshman. LB: Now we have a different sort of dress code. On Fridays you’re supposed to wear the George Mason colors. And you can wear them with jeans—it’s totally casual. So what made you decide to stay at Mason rather than go to UVA? JC: I lived in the area so it was less expensive. LB: Did you know people that went to this school? Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 25

G R AD UATI N G CL A SS

1968

| 52

LB: Did you live on campus or off?

LB: And the cafeteria was in the South Building?

JC: There weren’t any dorms, but there were a lot of places in the city where people would share housing.

JC: Yeah, that was called The Ordinary. As I recall it was called that because that’s what UVA called it. The first year I was here, everybody played bridge. I didn’t play bridge, but it seemed like everyone else did. I remember once I was taking an economics course at 8 a.m. twice a week, and the coffee machine wasn’t working. So, independently, almost everyone in the class decided we couldn’t do an economics class at eight in the morning without coffee. So we didn’t go, but then we realized that [nearly the whole] class was sitting in The Ordinary, and the professor, Dan Skelly, he just came down, walked to where most of us were sitting, and started lecturing. And those who weren’t in econ were looking around like “What’s going on?”

LB: What kind of car did you have? JC: Let’s see, what did I have...? I think it was a Ford Falcon. LB: That’s an awesome car. JC: It was not one of my better cars. LB: How long was your commute to campus? JC: Just a few minutes. LB: How was parking?

1968

|4 2018 |210

LB: They still do that some. It more or less works. But people still walk on the grass. So, are the road names still all the same?

JC: Sure. There were some shops on Main Street, but not that many. There weren’t a lot of us. [Mason] only had about 500 students when we first started.

JC: I drove.

O F D EG R E E S

|8,000+

JC: Well, we all started the same year. Some of them had gone to the building at Bailey’s Crossroads, which is what we called the old Arlington County elementary school. In fact, that’s where you had to go to apply. I remember thinking there was not a lot of room to do anything over in that facility. Some friends of mine like Ted McCord had gone there, but I never did. I applied there, but I only took classes on the Fairfax Campus.

LB: Did you have a car or did you bike here?

N UM B E R

2018

JC: It was a breeze, although we didn’t think so because of the hill [he points to a spot near Merten Hall] and so that’s where we parked. Or along the road right out front. In fact, if you had to park at the top of the hill, you’d think, “Wow, what a walk,” as I’m sure the students today would. But there was no parking fee or anything. LB: There were no parking fees? Wow, that’s a dream. JC: And there weren’t sidewalks, just paths. They waited a while to see where students actually walked, then they put in the sidewalks.

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JC: No. University Drive stopped here at the four buildings. It did not go out to [Route] 123. LB: Oh, interesting. So did you have Main Street or any thing like that?

LB: That’s awesome. What did this branch campus of UVA mean to you? Did you feel at home here? JC: Well, this was the only branch at the time. The mayor of the then Town of Fairfax had secured a bond issue for $150,000 to buy 150 acres in Northern Virginia and try to entice the University of Virginia to establish their branch college on the southern border of the city. Later on, other localities in the area came up with money for the other 450 acres for a total of almost 600 acres. When I graduated, there were only these four buildings—North, South, East, and West—a library, and the Lecture Hall that had just opened. LB: These buildings have all been renovated fairly recently and the library has had a big makeover. So what do you think now when you see Peterson Family Health Sciences Hall and all of the residence halls?

S TU D E NT S LI V I N G O N C A M PUS

1968

| 0

2018

|6,200

JC: Oh, it’s stunning. I mean, there were 52 people when I graduated. My daughter graduated 25 years later and I think 5,000 people graduated with her. It increased by a hundredfold. LB: Your daughter is an alum? JC: Yes. Oh, I have a bunch of relatives who went here. A younger brother, two younger sisters, and at least four nieces and nephews that did their undergraduate, graduate, or both here. But I was the first. LB: What did you end up majoring in? JC: Business and public administration. LB: From what I was able to find, there were basically four degrees then. You could do English, biology, business, or history. Did you have any stereotypes about Mason? Like any jokes about it? JC: No, I don’t think so. It was brand new so it was con stantly changing. And that’s continued to this day. LB: Yeah, we always joke about the constant construction because there’s always something going on. JC: I grew up in Fairfax. It was rural then. I’d say there were probably more cows than people, so it’s changed dramati cally. It grew after the Second World War. LB: The Mason statue wasn’t here then, but it’s like an icon on campus now. JC: Oh, I know. I was here when it was dedicated. LB:That’s awesome. They have this superstition now where if you step on the plaque, you won’t graduate in four years. And you actually have to rub George’s toe for good luck. JC: I was on the [George Mason University Foundation] board when they built the Johnson Center. I took some tours while it was still under construction. LB: When was it that you were on the Foundation’s Board of Trustees? JC: From 1972 to 1996. After college, I worked for the National Bank of Fairfax, which was the building at Route 123 on Main Street, across from the courthouse. I was

there for two years and then worked in the [City of Fairfax] for 30. LB: What did you do for the City of Fairfax? JC: First I was the assistant treasurer and then I became the controller, and later became director of finance. My respon sibilities kept changing. LB:: What were some of your favorite experiences here at Mason? JC: Oh, one of them is silly. It has nothing to do with aca demics. There was a stream that used to run through the campus, I think it’s somewhere over near the Center for the Arts. That was all trees, and they had a tug-of-war on George Mason Day with probably 50 people on each side, male and female, with the creek in the middle. It was not recommended that you wear your Sunday best. That went on for at least a few years. LB:: Did you guys ever lose? JC: Oh, sure. We ended up in the creek. LB: What was the culture back then? JC: Well, this school was probably more diverse than the public universities at large in Virginia because it was co-ed, and most of them were not. They started in the late 1960s to become co-ed. LB:: Do you think the morale here is a little different than it was when you were first here? JC: I think it’s probably the same. I think people seem to be particularly happy. LB: Yeah, they are for the most part. JC: I think schools change, but they get better, more people, more diversity. I know one of my nephews who came here. He’d gone to high school in India, the American school in New Delhi, and he was on Mason’s campus 10 minutes his first day and he runs into a classmate from New Delhi. LB: Oh, nice. JC: A lot has changed since I first came here 53 years ago. This is a special place. Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 27

Celebrating 50 years of Mason alumni provides the perfect opportunity for learning more about the Mason student experience—from the very beginning. B Y C AT H Y C R U I S E , M FA ’ 93

ast fall students in two sections of Mason management professor Mandy O’Neill’s MGMT 413 Organizational Development and Management Consulting class learned how to contact subjects, conduct interviews, tran scribe notes, and analyze materials to create graphic representations of their findings, just like they do every semester. What was different this time was their interview subjects: Mason alumni.

When Chris Clark-Talley, Mason’s associate vice president for alumni relations, prepared to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mason Nation, it was important to her and the Alumni Association board members to connect current students with alumni from the past five decades to create a rich narrative based on their experiences at the university. The initiative started small, but with help from Mason professors, it grew into a significant learning experience for all. In addition to O’Neill’s class, students in Carl Botan’s COMM 331 Advanced Principles in Public Relations also interviewed alumni, current members of Student Government are talking to their predecessors, and Alumni Association board members and student volun teers are putting fresh batteries in their digital recorders and reaching out to alumni from across the decades.

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John Norville Gibson Finley, the first director of the UVA's Northern Virginia University Center (now George Mason University) and his assistant, Ruth Frank, prepare a classroom at the campus of Washington-Lee High School in Arlington (1953).

students get a history lesson while gathering alumni stories Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 29

THEN AND NOW Professor Feinstein's chemistry class at Bailey's Crossroads (1963) and a biology class in Planetary Hall. Opposite page: Mason Day today and in the 1990s.

ne of the biggest challenges for her students, O’Neill says, was the uncertainty of the assign ment. “Anything that’s not plug-and-play can cause anxiety,” she says. “I tell them, folks, that’s the consulting world. You’re going to have to work with real clients. They’re going to change their minds, and the scope is going to be different at the beginning than it is in the middle. There are no templates for everything they’re going to experi ence on the job.”

To see the students’ 50th anniversary video, visit bit.ly/50videogmu.

Another student in MGMT 413, management major Golda Hector, first started taking classes at Mason in 1991 and recently returned to finish her degree. Hector says she could easily relate to the 1995 alumnus she interviewed. From the more recent graduates she spoke to, she saw how the “life of a commuter student is pretty much the same. The 2016 and 2017 alumni lived as I did as a commuter [student], living at home with parents and working part time, leaving almost no time to engage in on-campus activities.” As for Hector herself, as a native of Ghana, she found the expanded diversity of Mason’s student body over the decades a welcome sight.

One of O’Neill’s students, management major Braeden Rustici, practically grew up at Mason. His father, Thomas Rustici, is an economics professor here and several family members Botan’s public relations class proved the perfect fit to create attended Mason as well. “This has been one of the best manage a full marketing campaign for Clark-Talley, giving her the ment classes and experiences I’ve had at George Mason,” he information she needed while affording Botan’s students says, adding that the most important takeaway is that “people the chance to do some real-world PR work. are complex with many factors that drive their behavior “I saw Chris, from our opening discussion, would clearly be and values. This is why, when you need to create solutions an outstanding mentor for students,” Botan says. “As students for organizations, you need to do your due diligence and go got more involved with her and with understanding what beyond the obvious.”

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the [Alumni Association] was trying to do, they got pretty “The video was so poignant and moving,” Clark-Talley says. carried away. Chris got enthused too, and that’s fine by me. “When they were done, they said, ‘One of the most meaning I encouraged that, and kind of stayed out of the way.” ful parts of this project was learning about our university’s history. Because we didn’t know any of this stuff.’” ClarkThe eight-student team created “A Lifelong Connection: Alum Talley plans to address this gap through the Alumni Asso ni Association 50th Golden Anniversary Campaign Plan” with ciation. the intent to create a multi-pronged effort to reach alumni,

What’s Your Story?

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO SHARE YOUR MASON STORY. The more voices we capture, the better we will represent the story of how Mason has evolved from its first class of 52 students to an alumni community of more than 185,000 worldwide. Visit alumni.gmu.edu/ yourstory to share yours.

secure their participation in the upcoming celebration, raise “We should be responsible for teaching students about awareness of the anniversary among the Mason community, Mason’s history,” she says, adding that she hopes to have and identify 50 noteworthy alumni exemplars. the association play a role in the orientation of new students. Communication major Chelseah Mesa was a part of the “As a university focused on the future, we sometimes run the team, and calls Botan’s course “one of the most challenging risk of not taking really important milestone moments to classes I’ve taken, but also the most rewarding.” Mesa says recognize history,” she says. “The original intention was to the biggest challenge of the campaign was “determining create a narrative that links 50 years of alumni experiences. how we could translate the needs of our clients into physical, The takeaway from this has been much greater, and will tangible materials that we could present to them.” have life way beyond this process.”

To see snippets from some of the interviews, go to page 3.

Mesa’s team also created a video based on the materials they gathered and laid out an analysis of what this project would be like going forward. Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 31

INQUIRING MINDS

‘Annoying Noise’ Is Music to Auto Makers’ Ears

t’s been called “the most annoying noise in the world,” but the designer, Mason psychology professor Carryl Baldwin, disagrees. “It is totally not the most annoying noise in the world,” she says. “We’ve got way more annoying ones than that one.” The sound in question is called GMU Prime, and it was designed for automotive companies to install in their con nected vehicles to alert passengers of imminent collisions. GMU Prime is actually a collection of sound parameters developed by using a suite of existing sounds. Human subjects helped narrow the parameters to those most effective for getting their attention and then took part in driving simulator studies to verify they work.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will use this work to develop a set of design recommen dations that automakers can use to create forward collision warnings that alert drivers and passengers. For example, drivers would be warned when their vehicle is likely to collide with another vehicle that’s statistically incapable of stopping at a traffic stop, or when encountering a stopped vehicle on the other side of a hill. Baldwin leads the Auditory Research Group in Mason’s Human Factors and Applied Cognition Program. Her primary research interests are in the area of applied auditory cognition. —Buzz McClain, BA ’77

Can Social Media Improve Hurricane Prediction Accuracy?

P O I N T O F P R I D E GOLD AGAIN—AND GREEN Mason achieved a gold rating for a second time in the international Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Mason earned its first gold rating in 2014.

ach year Americans along the eastern seaboard anxiously watch the paths of hurricanes as they move toward the coast. Chaowei Yang, director of the NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center at Mason, is working to find new information in satellite data and on social media that could help better predict the intensification of such storms. To do that, he is developing a platform that will be integrated within a suite of software using advanced hybrid cloud computing. Once developed, it will provide improved data management and computing technology that will help researchers mine information and learn knowledge from big data. “The idea is to pull out new information and knowledge that is significant to practitioners—

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information that is actionable for them,” says Yang. Beyond just obtaining the information, though, Yang aims to make the processing of that data more efficient, an improvement that could enhance disaster response and, ultimately, save lives. Yang is working with several collaborators here at Mason—Long Chiu of the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences, Ruixin Yang and Matt Rice of the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science, and student researchers—as well as researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, which is funding this research. —Elizabeth Grisham, BA ’02, MA ’12

RESEARCH

Quantifying Resilience of Critical Infrastructure

ealth care systems, school districts, and local government are all composed of interdepen dent buildings that together serve a community function. They rely upon a network of critical lifelines, including water, power, cyber, trans portation, and wastewater, to conduct the work they do. A $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant (nearly $1.1 million for Mason) is aimed at determining how these critical infrastructure-based societal systems withstand and recover from disasters. What the researchers learn from complex analysis and modeling techniques will help improve, build, and maintain resilient communities.

Elise Miller-Hooks, the Bill and Eleanor Hazel Endowed Chair in Infrastructure Engineering, is the principal investigator. Her team is looking specifically at how disasters would impact a health care system. But this project is different from other disaster resilience work: It looks at multiple hazard types and incorporates public policy, organizational policy, emergent organizational behaviors, and risk communication into a broader quantitative assessment. Areas of study include how organizational behaviors emerge and evolve as a disaster unfolds and how cyber systems become more vulnerable to follow-on attacks and how to prevent them. Miller-Hooks, who brought the collaborative project with her from the University of Maryland, is working with principal investigator Judy Mitrani-Reiser of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The grant also includes education and outreach aimed at strengthening the pipelines of women in STEM fields. It wraps up in August 2018. —Michele McDonald

Study Says Failure Should Always Be an Option

f Mason management professor Matt Cronin could give CEOs a piece of advice, he would tell them that, sometimes, failure is good. “Failure is the first attempt in learning,” says Cronin. “A project or product that is very influential is sometimes decades in the making with a lot of mess-ups.” In short, people should have permission to fail, he says. That is the conclusion of a study called “Cultivating the Confidence Cycle.” Working with Georgetown University professors Catherine Tinsley and Jason Schloetzer, Cronin was part of the research team for the project, which was presented at the 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Funded and executed by a large multinational company, the two-year study tracked workers from the United States, Brazil,

and South Africa. Researchers found that when an organization’s culture shifted workers’ beliefs about failure—making it okay to fail—employees, on average, were 30 percent more confident and made similar gains in performance. Confident workers also are optimistic about the future, more likely to be innovative at work, and more likely to overcome work place challenges, the study said. “Best practices assumes we already know the best way to do something, and it leaves no room to try and fail,” he says. “Anytime you think about getting beyond where you can get by just following the rules, you are likely to be wrong. You either say, ‘I was wrong, I failed—the end,’ or ‘What did I do incorrectly there? What should I change?’” —Damian Cristodero Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 33

INQUIRING MINDS

New Test Could Lead to Early TB Detection

ason scientists have developed a nanotechnology that for the first time can measure a sugar molecule in urine that identifies tuberculosis with high sensitivity and specificity, setting the stage for a rapid, highly accurate and far less-invasive urine test of the disease that could potentially prove to be the difference between life and death in many underdeveloped parts of the world. The international team led by Mason researchers Alessandra Luchini and Lance Liotta report in Science Translational Medicine magazine that a sugar molecule called “LAM,” which comes from the surface of the tubercu losis bacteria, can be measured in the urine of all patients with active tuberculosis regardless of whether they have a simultaneous infection with another pathogen (e.g., HIV). The more severe the disease, the higher the sugar con centration in the urine, says Luchini. Current methods of detection—skin tests, blood tests, and chest X-rays—are often very

expensive and not always available in rural settings in lesser developed parts of the world. Urine is considered an ideal body fluid for a TB test because it can be easily and noninvasively collected. Once thought to be under control, TB is again on the rise around the globe. The World Health Organization estimates that TB kills 1.8 million people annually, most of whom might have lived if the highly commu nicable bacterial infection had been diagnosed sooner and treated. The Mason scientists, aided by a group of Mason students and scientists from Peru, Italy, and Johns Hopkins University, discovered that a special copper dye will bind and capture the TB LAM sugar with incredibly high affinity. “We showed that our technology could be used to measure several different kinds of markers for TB in the urine and could be configured as a rapid test similar to a preg nancy test,” Luchini says.

Their work, supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, served as the basis for the subsequent breakthrough by a group of Mason students in developing a cheap and less-invasive “dipstick” TB test. The Mason students will eventually head to Peru to begin testing their device with hundreds of patients for their research study. Mason partner Ceres Nanosciences will be commercializing the technology, with the aim of making the test available worldwide. —John Hollis

Tracking Infectious Disease Outbreaks

“I

nfectious diseases remain one of the main causes of death worldwide and a significant threat to national security,” says Mason infectious disease researcher Kylene Kehn-Hall. “In just the last five years, for example, epidemics of Ebola, Chikungunya, and Zika virus, usually restricted to tropical climates, have reached the United States.” Kehn-Hall is working with Tasso Inc., Ceres Nanosciences, and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) on a Defense Threat Reduction Agency program to develop a reliable, safe, and simple universal surveillance platform for infectious disease outbreaks. During this multiyear program, Ceres will integrate its Nanotrap® particle technology, which can capture, concentrate, and preserve pathogens and other biomolecules, into Tasso’s easy-to-use and painless HemoLink™ blood collection device. Tasso and Ceres will work in close collaboration with infectious disease experts, and with advanced biodefense laboratories at Mason and USAMRIID, to assess the ability of the combined Nanotrap® and HemoLink™ technologies to safely and reproducibly collect, preserve, and transport blood-borne pathogens. —Elizabeth Grisham, BA ’02, MA ’12

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RESEARCH Decline in Physical Activity Could Increase Sleep Disorder Risk

aving trouble falling asleep? Finding it difficult to perform daily tasks like walking up 10 stairs, stooping, crouching, or kneeling? The two problems may be related. Jeffrey Herrick of the Department of Rehabilitation Science and his team of faculty and doctoral student researchers recently completed a 10-year analysis that found that limitations in physical function can increase your risk for developing a sleep disorder. The effect was especially apparent in adult males. The study used data from a sample of 9,618 adults between ages 20 and 83 who completed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The research team assessed physical function by selfreported difficulty in performing a selection of 10 activi

Safety in Appalachia

hat does safety mean to residents of Appalachian Kentucky? This is the question Charlotte Gill, deputy director of Mason’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, is trying to answer. In particular, Gill is examining how these individuals define safety in relation to crime, drug abuse, negative stereotypes others hold about residents of the region, and the sense of community that exists in rural areas. She also wants to know how people in rural communities unite to protect themselves against problems. The study is important, Gill says, because while much is known about how urban residents make these distinctions and interact to support each other, information about citizens in rural communities is sparser. Interviews with residents of the region will be conducted with an eye toward assessing the applicability of existing theory, research, and prevention initiatives to rural areas. Gill has developed the interview questions; local cultural researchers will conduct the interviews. Gill will then complete the data analysis, examining whether relationships among collective efficacy, social cohesion, and crime differ compared to urban areas. Gill received $200,000 from the Carnegie Corporation for this project. —Elizabeth Grisham, BA ’02, MA ’12

ties of daily living. The team found that adults with a self-reported limitation have 41 percent higher odds of having a physician-diagnosed sleep disorder. While females were 27 percent less likely to have a sleep dis order than males, researchers suspect that sleep disorders in women are underdiagnosed. Herrick explains there are some limitations to the study. “Unfortunately the NHANES study did not allow us to determine which came first—the decline in physical function or the sleep disorders—so we were not able to show causation,” he says. Herrick and his colleagues see this work as a steppingstone for future studies exploring the influence of reha bilitation interventions on physical functioning and sleep disorders. —Danielle Hawkins Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 35

SHELF LIFE

Recently published works by Mason faculty

Real Estate Law: Fundamentals for the Development Process Peter E. Smirniotopoulos, adjunct professor, School of Business This graduate-level book (Routledge, November 2016) focuses on “The Develop ment Process” as a frame work for how the U.S. legal system regulates, facilitates, and generally impacts real estate transactions and their outcomes. The book contains a practical under standing of real estate as process rather than a collection of specific legal issues to provide a holistic view of the practice.

The Code Economy: A Forty-ThousandYear History Philip Auerswald, associate professor, Schar School of Policy and Government The Code Economy (Oxford University Press, February 2017) argues that the advance of code is the key driver of human history and has played a part in everything from the inven

tion of the alphabet to the advent of Blockchain. From Neolithic times to our modern economy, Auerswald’s new book details how the advance of code has shifted the structure of society and altered the nature of work and human experience.

tively. Organized into sections that focus on key aspects of public safety, the book identifies how to judge findings based on evidence, reviews the Evidence-Based Policing Matrix, and provides tools to help public safety offi cers use research in practice.

Cynthia Lum, professor, and Christopher S. Koper, associate professor, Criminology, Law and Society In her book, EvidenceBased Policing (Oxford University Press, March 2017), Lum addresses the need for research to help police officers aid their communities more effec

The Power of Objects in Eighteenth-Century British America Discovering the South: One Man’s Travels through a Changing America in the 1930s

Criminal Enterprises and Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean

Evidence-Based Policing: Translating Research into Practice

case studies, and thorough analyses on neighborhood security.

Desmond Arias, associate professor, Schar School of Policy and Government What effect does organized crime have on a city’s politics? Arias’s new book (Cambridge University Press, March 2017) chal lenges local and global politics in the context of how urban gangs influence policymaking in three major cities: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Medellín, Colombia; and Kingston, Jamaica. The book assesses the different types of organized crime and its influence on security, elections, and civil society with data,

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Jennifer Van Horn, assistant professor, History and Art History Over the course of the 18th century, AngloAmericans purchased a vast array of goods and products. This book (UNC Press, April 2017) investi gates these varied artifacts—from portraits and city views to grave stones, dressing furniture, and prosthetic devices— to explore how AngloAmerican consumers assembled objects to form a new civil society on the margins of the British Empire.

Jennifer Ritterhouse, associate professor, History and Art History In 1937, white southern liberal Jonathan Daniels, editor of the Raleigh News and Observer, set out on a six-week road trip across the southern United States to gather material for what would be a national bestseller, A Southerner Discovers the South. In Discovering the South (University of North Carolina Press, March 2017), Ritterhouse Catholics and U.S. pieces together Daniels’ Politics After the 2016 unpublished notes from Elections: his tour, along with his Understanding the published writings and a “Swing Vote” wealth of archival evi Mark J. Rozell, dean, dence, to put his journey Schar School of Policy through a South in transi and Government, with tion into a larger context. Marie Gayte and Blandine Chelini-Pont (Eds.)

Building a Mystery

In its third edition, this book (Palgrave/Macmillan Press, 2017) examines the evolution of the Catholic vote in the United States and the role of Catholics as the swing-vote component in the historic 2016 elec tions. It analyzes the ideo logical patterns in the politics of U.S. Catholics and looks at the 2016 presidential contest as an example of how the Catholic voters’ impression of both candidates helped shape the outcome of the election.

The Chance of Salvation: A History of Conversion in America Lincoln A. Mullen, assistant professor, History and Art History The Chance of Salvation (Harvard University Press,

August 2017) focuses on the issue of religious con version among young people in America and their willingness to change faiths. Mullen explores various historical con structs that formed the American idea that religion is a matter of personal choice rather than a familial expectation, including the diversity of values that each religion present in the United States incorpo rates into practice.

Handbook of Globalization and Development Ken Reinert, professor, Schar School of Policy and Government The handbook (Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2017) addresses all aspects of globalization and its role in an array of develop mental processes with contributions from major international researchers. It uses a multidisciplinary approach to seven key areas of globalism and comprehensive analysis of policy that go beyond standard economic lenses.

his fall Mason English professor Laura Ellen Scott, MFA ’93, saw the release of the second book, Crybaby Lane (Pandamoon Publishing, 2017) in her New Royal Mysteries trilogy. The books revolve around a university and its crime writing program in the fictional Ohio town of New Royal.

When did you realize/decide you were a mystery writer? I asked [English Department professor and colleague] Art Taylor to read a long story I’d written called “Murder Dog.” He gave me tips and edits on the draft, and I asked him, “But is it a mystery?” He said sure, and I never looked back. That story became the beginning of The Mean Bone in Her Body. What was the inspiration behind the trilogy? The night I finished reading Stephen Dobyn’s The Church of Dead Girls, I dreamed the opening and voice of Mean Bone, and set it in Ohio, where I’m from. My memories are full of colleges, prisons, and mental hospitals, so I came up with the town of New Royal, Ohio, where all those industries have overlapping interests—like the Crime Writing program, which I started writing about when we were building the BFA in Creative Writing here. New Royal is mash-up of the Ohio towns Kent, Athens, and Chillicothe. Are there any traces of Mason in your work? Ha! Mostly in the characters, and I’ll let the readers figure those out. Mason isn’t old enough to have a lot of crumbling, gothic spaces to write about, but I was thinking of Masonvale when I wrote about New Royal University’s little village of bachelor professors. You have some unusual characters in the trilogy. Which of your characters would you most like to hang out with? I think I’m the only person who likes Dr. Murgatroyd, the icy, amoral professor at the center of Mean Bone. I’m sure she has a lot more secrets to reveal. Everyone else prefers Crocus, the punk ex-con with anger issues, who takes over in Crybaby Lane. What scares you or keeps you up at night? Scares me: colonial days and horses. Keeps me up at night: imaginary arguments. How’s the third book going? My last three books came out nine months apart, so I’d like to take a break, but I’m definitely in the idea phase. The repercussions of Crybaby’s ending suggest a starting point for the next book, but the heart of it will be how an unsolved murder from the 1980s left its mark on Professor Alma Bell, now a memoirist in New Royal University’s Crime Writing program. I left a little clue about her past in Crybaby, and if anyone finds it, I’m happy to spill the beans. Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 37

ALUMNI IN PRINT Recently published works by Mason alumni

Second Chance Romance Jill Weatherholt, BIS ’94 Harlequin Love Inspired Books, March 2017 Jackson Daughtry’s jobs as paramedic and part-owner of a local café keep him busy—but the single dad’s number-one priority is raising his little girl with love and small-town values. When his business partner’s hotshot lawyer niece comes to town, planning to disrupt their lives by moving her aunt away, Daughtry dis covers it will take all his faith—and a hopeful 5-year-old—to show the city gal she’s already home. Weatherholt was raised in the suburbs of Washing ton, D.C., and now works for the City of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Living in the Weather of the World Richard Bausch, BA English ’74 Knopf, April 2017 Bausch plumbs the depths of familial and marital estrangement, the violence of suicide and despair, the gulfs between friends and lovers, the complexities of divorce and infidelity, the fragility and impermanence of love. Wherever he casts his gaze, he illuminates the darkest corners of human

experience with the bright light of wisdom and com passion, finding grace and redemption amidst sorrow and regret. Bausch was an English professor at Mason from 1980 to 2005. He is an award-winning author of 11 novels and eight story collections, and is currently a professor at Chapman University in Orange, California.

daughterrarium Sheila McMullin, MFA ’13 Cleveland State University Poetry Center, April 2017 Winner of the First Book Poetry Competition from the Cleveland State Univer sity Poetry Center, McMullin’s collection, daughterrarium, chronicles McMullin’s refusal to turn rage onto herself, explor ing the difficulty of locating what is hurting us, or why, and how to heal a wound that is constantly re-opened. In addition to writing poetry, McMullin is an intersectional feminist, youth ally, and organizer. She co-edited the collec tions Humans of Ballou and The Day Tajon Got Shot from Shout Mouse Press.

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Chimera: Four Stories and a Novelette Julian Mihdi, BA English ‘09 Amazon Digital Services, April 2017 Chimera takes its name from Greek mythology and, across five stories representing different points of modern crises, spins it into a metaphor for what our human experi ence is becoming. Mihdi was born and raised as a member of the Baha’i Faith in South Caro lina and moved to Virginia when he was still in grade school. He is a researcher, consultant, and primary content writer for the Digalator Teen app, which addresses gender identity, sexuality, parental issues, drugs, abuse, emotions, and decision-making.

Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves Marie Jenkins Schwartz, BA History ‘84, MA History ‘87 University of Chicago Press, April 2017 Ties That Bound closely examines the relationships that developed between the first ladies and their slaves in the households of the Founding Fathers from Virginia. In many cases, slaves were more constant

companions to the first ladies than were their hus bands and sons, who often traveled or were at war. By looking closely at the com plicated intimacy these women shared, Schwartz reveals how they negoti ated their roles, illumina ting much about the lives of slaves themselves, as well as class, race, and gender in early America. Schwartz is professor emeritus of history at the University of Rhode Island.

The Appointment Mike Maggio, MFA ’08 Vine Leaves Press, May 2017 When a terrifying gang goes on a rampage at a packed subway station, Professor Jeremy Withers is severely beaten and left for dead. After regaining consciousness, he continues his journey to campus, only to find his office empty: His life as an academic for 30 years has been completely erased. This is Maggio’s eighth book. He has published fiction, poetry, travel stories, and reviews in a number of publications. He is an assistant adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College and an associate editor at Potomac Review.

PAT R I O T P R O F I L E

Shaquib Chowdhury YEAR: Junior

PHOTO BY RON AIRA

MAJOR: Economics HOMETOWN: Dhaka, Bangladesh

rowing up in Bangladesh, Shaquib Chowdhury knows firsthand the effects of rising sea levels due to climate change. Bangladesh is a low-lying country prone to flooding, and citizens from coastal towns are constantly relocating to the capital, Dhaka, already one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Chowdhury has decided to do something about it.

Being the Change: Chowdhury designed a plan to create what he calls a rehabilitation center that will provide shelter, schooling for children, and job training for climate refugees. He calls his project Prottasha, a Bengali word that means hope. “There are a lot of people within the city who look at refugees negatively, but that can’t happen. They’re losing their homes, everything they own, but they’re not giving up on life. They’re starting from square one.” Lending a Hand: In October, Chowdhury had the opportunity to present his plan at the 10th annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) at Northeastern University in Boston. Each year, CGIU hosts a meeting where students, university representatives, topic experts, and celebrities come together to discuss and develop innovative solutions to pressing global challenges. Chowdhury was one of 11 Mason students traveling to the conference. Funding from Mason’s University Life and the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being helped with the students’ travel and supports the students’ projects. Implementing His Plan: Chowdhury has an associate in Bangladesh who will handle the logistics of setting up the center, provided Chowdhury can raise the $26,000 he believes is necessary to get things rolling for a center that can accommodate three or four families. He has set up a crowdsourcing page to raise the funds. Giving Credit: Chowdhury credits his professors and his time at Mason with helping him focus on critical thinking and problem resolution. “Professors have helped me think more deeply and logically,” he says. “This is an amazing environment for education. It feels like my second home.” —Damian Cristodero Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 39

PHOTO BY RON AIRA

CLASS NOTES

Seeing What Others Don’t

n an otherwise ordinary day near Springfield Mall in Northern Virginia, a car came to an abrupt stop on the side of the road. The driver jumped out, dragged his passenger outside, and threw her onto the curb. Then he got back in the car and sped away.

Luckily, Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco, BS Administration of Justice ’05; MA Justice, Law, and Crime Policy ’10; PhD Criminology, Law and Society ’12, was in her own car nearby, and saw the whole thing. Mehlman-Orozco is an expert in human trafficking. An accomplished survey methodologist, research scientist, and consultant on the subject, she has served numerous times as an expert witness for criminal cases. Her work has been published in books, journals, and magazines, and widely noted in the media. Mehlman-Orozco knew sex trafficking is concentrated up and down the I-95 corridor where the mall is located, and “the red flag was the driver of the vehicle had Massachusetts license plates,” she says. “Abandonment without money and transportation in unfamiliar cities and states is very common among trafficked situations.” When she offered assistance to the woman, she found the woman was actually being sex trafficked, and had been for nearly 20 years. Mehlman-Orozco was able to direct her to services that led her to a new life. Ultimately, she even helped her obtain two scholarships— one a full ride—that saw her through cosmetology school. It wasn’t the first time the Mason adjunct professor has stepped in to liberate someone. She’s also helped victims using information from commercial sex consumers online—but few cases end as happily.

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“Victims are rarely rescued, and offenders are infrequently held account able for their crimes,” Mehlman-Orozco says. “This isn’t the movie Taken. Liam Neeson isn’t going to show up to rescue his innocent-victim daughter. Sex trafficking across America is a clandestine activity, hidden within the commercial sex industry as well as in plain sight, under the veneer of legitimate businesses.” It was in a Mason graduate course with University Professor Louise Shelley that Mehlman-Orozco first encountered the topic. “I was shocked to learn that slavery still existed,” she says. “I became impassioned to combat this heinous crime through evidence-based research and policy.” Now the mother of four (one son’s middle name is Mason), MehlmanOrozco says the education and mentorship she received at her alma mater was “instrumental in guiding my career path. For someone like me, who needed to work full time while providing for my family, having a prestigious university within commuting distance from my home was life-changing.” Hidden in Plain Sight: America’s Slaves of the New Millennium, MehlmanOrozco’s first book, was released in October 2017, and partial proceeds will fund scholarships for human trafficking survivors and at-risk youth. Her next book, The Jihadi Next Door, will be released in fall 2018. —Cathy Cruise, MFA ’93

class notes 1970s

Timothy Summers, BA Business and Public Admin istration ’71, has been married to Lyn Summers since 1969. He retired from DuPont after 32 years in capital projects work in the engineering, finance, and sourcing departments. Both Tim and Lyn then worked eight years for the Monroe County, Florida, Property Appraiser’s Office and retired in 2014.

1980s

Gary Vosburg, BA Theatre ’80, MEd Education Admin istration/Supervision ’91, was named principal of the Delrey School, which provides services to children with multiple disabilities in central Maryland. John O’Connor, BS Biol ogy ’88, MA Psychology ’10, has been managing the band Cargo and the Heavy Lifters (CHL). CHL is performing some new

rock and blues music and a few of their hit songs at venues around Northern Virginia. CHL will be shoot ing rock videos produced by Audick Visual Media.

1990s

Susan Coryell, MAIS ’90, is the author of Overhome, the Southern Gothic/cozy mystery series set in fictional Moore Mountain Lake, Virginia, and published by the Wild Rose Press. With a history background, con temporary characters work through family sins, secrets and mysteries involving literal spirits of the past on their historic Overhome plantation. A Red, Red Rose is the first in the Overhome trilogy, followed by Beneath the Stones and Nobody Knows. She is also the author of the awardwinning YA anti-bullying novel Eaglebait. Dennis M. Fitzpatrick, BA English ’90, a Mason law school adjunct professor,

was chosen as one of the “2017 Leaders in Law” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Fitzpatrick is an assistant U.S. attorney, National Security and International Crime Unit, at the Depart ment of Justice. He has been with Mason since 2012. Mark F. DeSantis, PhD Public Policy ’93, is the CEO of RoadBotics, a road monitoring technology firm. He has co-founded several technology firms and serves as director to others. DeSantis is also an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University and has lectured at the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh and the Tuck School at Dartmouth. Kara (Urbanski) Arundel, BA Speech Communication ’94, has written her first book, Raising America’s Zoo—the true story of a family of gorillas at the National Zoo and the zoo’s modernization and con servation movement. The

book also tells the story of how her father-in-law, Arthur “Nick” Arundel, Mason’s first board chair, went to the French Congo in 1955 to get a pair of baby gorillas to donate to the National Zoo. Kara is a journalist who lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Tom, and two young sons. Raising Ameri ca’s Zoo is available at www.RaisingAmerica’sZoo. com, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com. Elaine C. Ehresmann, PhD Public Policy ’95, is a program manager in the Accessions Program at Navy Bureau of Medi cine and Surgery. Tanya Logan, BS Account ing ’96, earned an AAS degree in pastry arts at Stratford University in 2007 after working as an accountant for 10 years. She has opened her own bakery, Soul Cakes by Tanya, in Woodbridge, Virginia. (continued next page)

What’s New with You? We are interested in what you’ve been doing since you graduated. Have you moved? Gotten married? Had a baby? Landed a hot new job? Received an award? Met up with some Mason friends? Submit your class notes to alumni.gmu.edu/whatsnew. In your note, be sure to include your graduation year and degree. Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 41

Sandra Colareta, BA Foreign Languages ’97, was promoted to vice president of contracts and risk man agement at Billy Casper Golf.

Joe Little, BA Speech Communication ’98, won three regional Emmys for his work at KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego.

Troy Abel, PhD Public Policy ’98, is the academic program director of Huxley on the Peninsulas Program at Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment. He is also an associate professor of environmental policy and an affiliated faculty member of Huxley’s Spatial Institute.

2000s

Susan L. Aud, PhD Public Policy ’02, is vice president of research and evaluation for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, where she oversees data collection and analysis, carries out a rigorous research program, and keeps track of all charter school-related numbers.

Her daughter, Shannon, MPA ’17, is a recent Mason graduate. Niyati Dhokai, BA Music ’04, is a full-time staff mem ber at the Hylton Perform ing Arts Center, where she is program manager and research assistant professor. In this capacity, she helps design and implement the Veterans and the Arts Initiative’s offerings and connects the Hylton Center with regional, statewide, and national programs that serve veterans and service members.

Vivian Yoon Lee, BA Communication ’04, was featured in an episode of the new ABC drama Kevin (Probably) Saves the World. Lee has also appeared in HBO’s VEEP, Netflix’s House of Cards, and NBC’s Con stantine. Her film credits include roles in such box office hits as Furious 7 and Jason Bourne. Her next pro jects include The Lonesome Trail and The Substitutes. Cathy Elrod, PhD Public Policy ’05, is a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Marymount University.

Shaoming Cheng, PhD Public Policy ’06, is an associate professor and director of the master of public administration program at Florida Inter national University. Andrew (Andy) Hover man, BA Government and International Politics ’06, Montgomery Village attorney, formally filed his candidacy for Maryland’s House of Delegates with the State Board of Elec tions on October 10, 2017. Hoverman, a Democrat, has been an active figure in the community, volun

I T ’ S A FA M I LY A F FA I R When Carolyn Taylor, BSN ’78, MSN ’86, EMBA ’94, PhD ’14, first stepped onto Mason’s Fairfax Campus in the mid-1970s, she was an Army wife with three young daughters hoping her husband would be stationed in Northern Virginia long enough for her to complete a bachelor’s degree. She had no idea what the univer sity would come to mean to her family and vice versa. In addition to her years of service to Mason as an educator, College of Health and Human Services advisory board member, and philanthropist with her husband, Les, Taylor is the matriarch of one of Mason’s first three-generation families. Each of her three daughters—Tresha; Traci, MA New Professional Studies ’04; and Kelley, JD ’98—attended Mason at some point in their college careers. The eldest of her six grandchildren, Chrysta Wright, BS Global and Community Health ’15, was the family’s first thirdgeneration Patriot. Currently Chrysta’s younger sister, Kara, is a sophomore at Mason majoring in nursing. Left to right: in the back row Tresha R. Taylor, Carolyn Taylor, and Kelley R. Taylor and in the front row Chrysta L. Wright, Kara L. Wright, and Traci L. Taylor 42 | FA S T E R FA R T H E R : T H E C A M PA I G N F O R G E O R G E M A S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

—Colleen Kearney Rich, MFA ’95

CLASS NOTES

teering at the Gaithersburg and Germantown legal clinics. To learn more, visit andyhoverman.com, follow on Facebook (Facebook. com/AndyForDelegate), or follow on Twitter (@ AndyHoverman). Keith Reeves, MEd Cur riculum and Instruction ’06, was named a certified educational technology leader by the Consortium for School Networking. He serves as the educational technology administrator at Discovery Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, the largest zeroenergy elementary school ever built, and as president of the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. Monica (Arispe) Andrade, BA Sociology ’08, has proudly worked for Fairfax County Government for six years, serving the com munity and residents of the county. David Cheney, PhD Public Policy ’08, is the managing partner of Technology Policy International LLC, a consultancy focused on science, technology, and innovation policy, both in the United States and internationally. He also occasionally teaches as an adjunct professor at the Schar School. Sameeksha Desai, PhD Public Policy ’08, is an associate professor at

Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmen tal Affairs (SPEA), and associate director of the Institute for Development Strategies. She specializes in private-sector develop ment in conflict/post conflict recovery and political instability. She also serves as academic director for SPEA’s Rwanda study-abroad program and is the (U.S.) co-chair of the Transatlantic Policy Consortium. Elliot Kashner, BS Eco nomics ’08, acted in the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s rendition of A Christmas Carol, where he starred as Fred, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, the Waterman, and the Pianist. He is an institutional giv ing manager at Adventure Theatre MTC, company manager at Molotov Theatre Group, and an actor. Jeffrey S. Miller, BS Accounting ’08, CPA, was promoted to manager at Lanigan, Ryan, Malcolm & Doyle. Trevor Owens, MA History ’09, PhD Education ’14, recently became the first head of digital content management in Library Services at the Library of Congress. This role involves building and managing a staff of 17 in the execution of digital collections projects and programs.

BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER

s a practitioner in the peacebuilding field, Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah, MAIS ’96, PhD Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’06, helps clients ranging from the Fairfax County Public Schools system to the Security Council of the United Nations with conflict assessment studies, mediation, and training.

“Anything that has to do with the dynamics of people coming together,” says the founder of the award-winning conflict management consultancy Kommon Denominator. When she’s not globetrotting for Kommon Denominator—last year she traveled to the Philippines, Iraq, and Norway, among other places—Jadallah serves as the International Affairs representative for the Quakers in the Middle East. “And I’m not a Quaker,” she points out, “or Christian.” Nonetheless, she adheres to Quaker principles—particularly, commitment to peace, equality, and identifying nonviolent solutions to problems—which qualifies her for the position. Not only is she an active practitioner in the peacebuilding field, but “for years she has collaborated with our students and faculty, serving as a mentor and alumni leader,” says Maria Seniw, director of development at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR). In 2016 the school and Mason’s Alumni Association recognized Jadallah with the S-CAR Distinguished Alumni Award. Mason also runs in the family. When Jadallah and her husband arrived in the United States 28 years ago, they came with a toddler and infant twins, each of whom is now a Mason graduate: Jamil, BA Government and International Politics, MA International Commerce and Policy ’04; Laila, BA Integrative Studies ’07; and Diala, BA Integrative Studies ’07. “They got the best out of Mason,” Jadallah says. “They were well-equipped for the workplace. We love Mason.” —Buzz McClain, BA ’77

Fall 2018 2017 M Spring MA A SS O ON N SS P P II R R II TT | 43 | 43

CLASS NOTES EDITOR’S NOTE: Class Notes are submitted by alumni and are not verified by the editors. While we welcome alumni news, Mason Spirit is not responsible for information contained in Class Notes.

Zorayr Manukyan, PhD Statistical Science ’09, has been promoted to senior director of quantitative clinical science at Pfizer Clinical R&D Worldwide Research and Development. Manukyan is a clinical trials biostatistician working on new pharmaceuticals in autoimmune diseases.

2010s

Did you go to Mason when stacking parking stickers on your bumper was a thing? Visit alumni. gmu.edu/yourstory to share your memories.

Ghazia Aslam, PhD Public Policy ’10, is a social devel opment consultant with the World Bank and teaches as an adjunct professor at George Washington University.

Sean Gagnon, BS Earth Science ’10, CERB Environ mental Management ’10, was recently elected to the position of secretary for the Arlington-Fairfax Chap ter of the Izaak Walton League of America (AFCIWLA), located in Centreville, Virginia. The AFC-IWLA is an educational nonprofit that provides outdoor recreational facilities to its members, and conducts educational and charitable works within the surround ing areas. Jerry Holy, BA Integrative Studies ’10, was named Special Olympics Virginia Athlete of the Year for 2016.

He has competed in Special Olympics for more than 20 years in soccer, basketball, swimming, track and field, floor hockey, bowling, and bocce. Nicole (Jerome) Ouellette, BA Government and International Politics ’10, MPA ’13, and Michael Ouellette, who are both Mason staff members, welcomed their future Patriot Charlotte Grey Ouellette on October 3, 2017. Sherzod Abdukadirov, PhD Public Policy ’11, is a senior research analyst at America’s Health Insurance Plans.

David Bolduc, PhD Bio defense ’11, is a principal investigator at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute. Terri White, MA Arts Management ’11, was recognized by Pittsburgh magazine as a 2017 hon oree of the 40 Under 40 Awards. White was selected for her professional fund raising accomplishments and her efforts to promote diversity in American museums. Her museum career began nearly a decade ago at the Smith sonian National Air and

2 017 -18 G E O R G E M A S O N U N I V E R S I T Y A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT Brian Jones, MA International Commerce and Policy ’06 PRESIDENT-ELECT Jennifer Shelton, BS Public Administration ’94 VICE PRESIDENTS Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA ’94 Jeff Fissel, BS Information Technology ’06 TREASURER Scott Hine, BS Decision Science ’85 SECRETARY Andy Gibson, BA History ’92 AT-LARGE DIRECTORS Tyree Carlson, BS ’96 Kevin Christopher, MBA ’96 Mariana Cruz, BS ’11 Shayan Farazmand, BA ’04

Walter McLeod, MS ’94 Patrick Rooney, BA ’12

LAMBDA Aléjandro Asin, BA ’11

ALUMNI CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVES

ANTONIN SCALIA LAW SCHOOL Jesse Binnall, BA Communication ’01, JD ’09

BLACK ALUMNI Chantée Christian, BA Communication ’05 COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Anthony DeGregorio, BS Physical Education ’84, MS Physical Education ’89 COLLEGE OF VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS Shannon Baccaglini, MM Music ’06, MA Arts Management ’09 COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Betty Ann Duffy, MSN Nursing Administration ’08 VOLGENAU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING Mariana Cruz, BS Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ’11

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SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Jason Howell, BS Accounting ’97 SCHAR SCHOOL OF POLICY AND GOVERNMENT Kyle Green, MA International Commerce and Policy ’13 and MPA ’14 LATINO Adriana Bonilla, BA Government and Politics ’11 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE Tiffany Ha, BS Chemistry ’10, MS ’13 COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Gleason Rowe, BA Global Affairs ’11 GOLDEN QUILL Kushboo Bhatia, BA ’16

CLASS NOTES

Space Museum. At the time of her nomination, she served as assistant director of development at Carnegie Science Center. She is currently a full-time MBA student at the Uni versity of Pittsburgh on a full-tuition fellowship. Joshua Ambrose, MFA Creative Writing ’12, was named the new executive director of the Center for Experience and Opportu nity at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. William Desrosiers, MBA ’12, founded and opened Commonwealth Classics, LLC, a classic car importer and dealer of vehicles sourced from Europe and South America. Common wealth Classics is located in Marshall, Virginia, and opened in November 2017. Catherine Dines, BA Con flict Analysis and Resolu tion ’12, joined Berardi Immigration Law as an associate attorney. She has a wide range of experience in cross-border corporate relations and has earned a reputation as a proven attorney with a successful track record representing large corporations, part nerships, and individual entrepreneurs. Ashleigh Maggard, BFA Dance ’12, was hired as executive director at the Eastern Shore’s Own Arts Center, the oldest and

largest community arts center on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. William T. Lyon, BA Film and Video Studies ’13, has started his second year as program coordinator for the Grandin Theatre Stu dent Film Lab in Roanoke, Virginia. This past summer, a four-member group of his students won best picture for the film “When the Lights Go on Again” at the Clifton Film Festival in Northern Virginia. Mary Boardman, PhD Public Policy ’14, is a methodologist at Global ytica, LLC. She also teaches for Colorado Christian University, American Uni versity, and the University of South Florida. Reina Bolanos, BA English ’14, became a coordinator of international relations for the town of Otsuki in Kochi, Japan, through the JET Program. Bolanos’s concentration was in ling uistics, and she also double minored in Japanese language studies and electronic journalism. She now works translating and creating fliers and posters, writing news articles in both Japanese and English, and teaching English to the community during her free time. Sasidaran Gopalan, PhD Public Policy ’14, is a research fellow at the Asia

PICTURING PRINCE

ason alumnus Steve Parke came to campus during Alumni Weekend to share his experiences working with music icon Prince and sign copies of his new book, Picturing Prince (Octopus Books, 2017), for an enthusiastic crowd of the Purple One’s fans. Parke credits his time as a theater major at Mason in the 1980s for helping to equip him with skills he has used throughout his career. “Because it was a smaller college at the time, I had the opportunity to do things like posters for all the events. So I got practical application of my art, which was awesome,” he says. During his time at Mason, Parke had given up his acting aspirations, but still enjoyed working backstage. He often worked on sets for theater productions, and that helped him get his foot in the door at Paisley Park, Prince’s private estate and production facility in Chanhassen, Minnesota. One of the first projects he worked on was a set for Prince’s “Glam Slam” music video. For the next 14 years, Parke served as the on-site art director at Paisley Park, not only photographing Prince, but helping with design work. Parke designed the Graffiti Bridge album cover. He credits Prince’s management style with giving his staff the chance to grow professionally and take risks. Parke decided to step down from the position when his son was born. “It was hard because I’d been working for Prince for 14 years basically, and I realized I had a choice to make at that point.” Parke says Prince was one of the hardest working artists he has encountered, and when you work for someone with that kind of energy and drive, you have to be willing to work as hard as they do. In Prince’s world that involved long hours and Parke realized he wanted more time with his family. Parke was originally opposed to doing a book, but a number of individuals he worked with over the years convinced him. Picturing Prince showcases Parke’s never-before-seen images and behind-the-scenes stories of the star. —Saige MacLeod Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 45

CLASS NOTES

Competitiveness Institute, housed in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore. His current research assumes a heavy empirical and policy flavor and spans the broad fields of financing for develop ment and international financial policies in emerg ing and developing econ omies. Gopalan has three books to his credit along with several academic articles in refereed inter national journals.

Daniel Pedreira, MS Peace Operations ’14, was recently elected president of Cuban Cultural Heritage, a non profit organization that preserves Cuban culture and history. Pedreira is the youngest and first president born in the United States in the organization’s 23-year history. His term began on January 1, 2018. J. Chris Rieth, EMBA ’14, recently started a new job at Johns Hopkins Univer sity’s Center for Govern ment Excellence as a senior

implementation advisor, sharing best practices in data analysis, performance management, and innova tion initiatives with mayors and city managers across the United States. Jessica Simpkins, BS Mar keting ’15, started working full time in Falls Church, Virginia, for an event and association management firm running the day-today operations of several nonprofits. Benjamin Waters, BS Computer Science ’15,

THEN AND NOW

46 | FA S T E R FA R T H E R : T H E C A M PA I G N F O R G E O R G E M A S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

recently started as a security engineer at Forter.

response to cybersecurity system attacks.

Jonathan Gines, PhD Biodefense ’16, is a govern ment contractor and was promoted to systems architect of cybersecurity infrastructure and engi neering at General Dynam ics Information Technology in March 2017. Gines also received the GDIT Inclusion and Innovation in Action award for designing and deploying an enterprise solution that orchestrates endpoint detection and

Mason Pazhwak, BA Global Affairs ’16, received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Award to travel to Malaysia in 2018. There he will teach English, promote community engagement, and act as a cultural ambassador at a post assigned by the MalaysianAmerican Commission on Educational Exchange as part of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) Program.

CLASS NOTES

Obituaries

ALUMNI AND STUDENTS Carol Davenport, BA History ’71, d. July 22, 2017

Kathleen Fisher, BSN ’83, d. April 2, 2017

Thomas Garrett, BA History ’71, d. September 30, 2017

Doris Laprade, BA Philosophy ’83, MA English ’85, d. October 26, 2017

Deborah Sindler, BS Business Administration ’74, d. October 4, 2017 Helen Hammond Peterson, BSN ’76, MSN ’80, d. October 5, 2017 John Aguero, BA Government and Politics ’78, d. July 7, 2017

Robert Bjork, BIS ’84, d. August 5, 2017 John Lemen, MBA ’84, d. July 22, 2017 Linda D. Regenhardt, BS Marketing ’84, d. October 22, 2017 Bernard Plantz, JD ’85, d. March 28, 2017

Ronald Locke, JD ’80, d. August 24, 2017

John Ryan, BS Accounting ’85, d. June 27, 2017

Marilyn Betts, JD ’81, d. October 27, 2017

Rodger Belman, BA French ’86, d. October 11, 2017

Kent Pruefer, BA Psychology ’81, d. August 6, 2017

Shawn Mullaney, BA Government and Politics Sandra Parmelee, BSN ’82, ’86, d. August 11, 2017 d. September 30, 2017 Nette Schou, BA Chester S. Smerdzinski Jr., BS Business Administration ’82, d. August 16, 2017

International Studies ’86, d. October 9, 2017

Martha Moo, JD ’87, d. July 9, 2017 Austin Brodin, BS Finance ’88, d. July 29, 2017 Janet Inman, MEd Special Education ’89, d. August 5, 2017 Diane Wade, BS Marketing ’90, d. July 23, 2017 Kerry Rowe, MS Systems Engineering ’91, d. August 11, 2017 Alicia Duvall, BSEd Physical Education ’93, d. August 8, 2017 Seroun Wang, CerG Teaching English as a Foreign Language ’93, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’94, d. June 30, 2017 Edmund K. Daley, Jr., PhD Education ’94, d. October 24, 2017

William Deforest, BS Business Administration ’95, d. October 21, 2017 Robert Spencer, BS Biology ’95, d. August 14, 2017 Susan Hunn, MAIS ’96, d. October 14, 2017 Mildred Hill, MA Psychology ’97, d. July 17, 2017 Frances Armstrong, MA New Professional Studies ’98, d. July 24, 2017 Tyonna Smith, BS Management ’98, d. July 4, 2017 Lester P. Schoene, Jr., MS Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’99, d. October 17, 2017 Gloria Fontenot, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’01, d. October 28, 2017

Richard Woolson, MA New Professional Studies ’01, d. August 7, 2017 Pauline McAfee, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’02, d. October 6, 2017 Taylor Smithberger, BS Health, Fitness, and Recreation Resources ’02, d. July 25, 2017 Colleen Tinsley, BSN ’06, d. October 5, 2017 Catherine McDermott, BA Philosophy ’10, d. October 4, 2017 Edith “Gail” Johnson, MS Peace Operations and Advanced Skills ’12, CerG Advanced Skills ’13, d. August 24, 2017 Ryan Bowen, BS Mathematics ’17, d. September 24, 2017

Scott Wiggins, JD ’01, d. October 19, 2017

F A C U LT Y, S TA F F, A N D F R I E N D S Real estate developer Gerald “Jerry” T. Halpin died on August 14 at the age of 94. Halpin was the founder and former president and CEO of WEST*GROUP Management, LLC. He and his partners are credited with creating the West*Gate and West*Park areas of Tysons Corner and with developing more than 14 million square feet of space in Northern Virginia and Maryland. His $5 million gift to the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation in 2012 provided scholarships and support for curriculum development and faculty research; the residence hall and dining complex at the Front Royal, Virginia facility is named for him. Awarded the George Mason Medal in 2014, Halpin was an active volunteer leader at the university, having served on the George Mason University Foundation Board of Trustees and other advisory boards. Halpin is survived by his wife, three children, a sister, and seven grandchildren.

Lester P. Schoene Jr., MS Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’92, died October 17. He was 83. He was an engineer and manager for some three decades with IBM, then earned his master’s degree at Mason. He served on the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution’s advisory board and was active with Mason’s Alumni Association. He served as the association president in 1998-99. A lifelong leader and volunteer, he worked in a number of roles for Burgundy Farm Country Day School and was active in the Rotary Club. He is survived by his wife, Mary Branch Grove; sister, Molly Mercker; three children, Lavinia, Karl, and Philip; and two grandchildren, Adam and Mary.

Spring 2018 M A S O N S P I R I T | 47

4400 University Drive, MS 3B3 Fairfax, VA 22030

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY—More than 4,100 students from around the world earned degrees at Mason’s Winter Graduation ceremonies in December. The 2,625 students earning bachelor’s degrees hailed from 38 countries and 25 states, and more than one-third were the first in their families to earn a college degree. The 1,564 students earning master’s, law, and doctorate degrees were from 41 countries and 31 states. PHOTOS BY RON AIRA AND BETHANY CAMP