George Mason University, Washington DC

George Mason College began in 1964 with 350 students; now, George Mason University boasts more than 30,000 students on four regional campuses and one in the United Arab Emirates. It has two Nobel laureates and its Schools of Law and Public Policy are nationally ranked. Its international reputation was enhanced when in 2006 the Mason men’s basketball team reached the NCAA Final Four for the first time in the university’s history.

Mason’s proximity to the nation’s capital gives both students and faculty access to some of the most powerful institutions in the world. Mason’s innovative programs, partnerships, and strategic alliances add value and accelerate economic and community growth regionally, nationally, and globally. It is among the first to offer advanced degrees in bioinformatics, climate dynamics, information security, and neuroscience. Mason also has reciprocal relationships with universities in Korea, China, and Germany that foster international exchanges for faculty and students.

Scientific breakthroughs are a common occurrence at Mason. The Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine is currently developing groundbreaking cancer diagnostic tools. The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry’s Professor Abul Hussam received the Grainger Challenge Prize for his filter for removing arsenic from drinking water in developing countries. The Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study now has an MRI brain scanner and is one of two nonmedical schools with a cognitive neuroscience research institute to own functional imaging technology.

The Mason International School of Law, ranked in the top 40 nationally, was a pioneer in providing three core competencies often neglected at more traditional institutions: the legal application of economic tools and methods, intensive development of legal writing skills, and specialized substantive preparation for practice. Notably, the intellectual property law curriculum has gained national recognition.

The Mason Enterprise Center, administered by the School of Public Policy, is a university-based economic development enterprise that focuses the energy, skills, and intellectual capital of Mason on enterprise creation and expansion. Special business incubator programs include the Entrepreneurial Step Up Program™, International Business Development Program, Fairfax Innovation Center, the Virginia Small Business Development Center Network, Community Business Partnership, Mentor-Protégé Program, Procurement Technical Assistance Program, and telework and training centers. The self-supporting center has 37 locations and sponsors 320 business development events in the National Capital Region during the year.

The center specializes in small business services, government contracting, international business, entrepreneurship, technology ventures, and telework initiatives. It provides regional business owners access to faculty, students, alumni, researchers, information sources, inventions, and other resources required to help them expand their businesses, improve their organizations, and strengthen the regional economy. The center also offers a unique combination of programs, services, resources, and a broad array of activities including business counseling, seminars, publications, sponsored research programs, and information services.

The university extends its unique programs in a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution. During the Smithsonian-Mason Semester, students live onsite at the Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia, and study global-scale conservation issues.