George Mason University, also referred to by locals and students as simply "Mason" or "GMU," is an institution of higher learning in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with campuses in Arlington, Virginia, Fairfax, Virginia, and Prince William County, Virginia, all in the suburbs of Washington, DC. A fourth campus is scheduled to open in fall 2006 in Ras-Al-Khaimah, located in the United Arab Emirates. The university is named after American Revolutionary patriot and founding father George Mason.

The university traces its roots back to the 1950s when it was part of the University of Virginia system. It became an independent university (but still publicly funded) in 1972. Its faculty boasts Nobel Prize-winning economists James M. Buchanan (1986) and Vernon Smith (2002). Another economics professor, Walter Williams, is well-known as a syndicated columnist and occasional guest host of the Rush Limbaugh radio show. The law school is ranked among the top 50 in the United States.

While GMU is newly independent, it has been growing rapidly, with a 2003 enrollment of 28,246 students it is now the largest university in the Commonwealth. GMU serves mainly the Northern Virginia community and as such is a popular destination for returning students and part-time students. As a result, many students are older than 18-22. In 2003, about 76% of full-time GMU students were commuters[1].

The school's sports teams are called the Patriots. The university's men's and women's sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division I, and are in the Colonial Athletic Association. The school's colors are Green and Gold.

Academic Schools

GMU consists of ten schools and New Century College:

• College of Arts and Sciences
• School of Computational Sciences
• Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
• College of Education and Human Development
• School of Information Technology and Engineering
• School of Law [2]
• School of Management
• College of Nursing and Health Science
• School of Public Policy [3]
• College of Visual and Performing Arts
• New Century College-(NCC)

University learning

George Mason has been greatly expanding the scope of the University by hiring very well known and influential professors to work at the University. The University's economic department alone has three professors who have won the Nobel Prize. The school of journalism's professors include Roger Wilkins, who shared the Pulitzer Prize for Watergate with Woodward and Bernstein while he was working at the Washington Post.

The school is ranked by Princeton Review as the most culturally diverse university in the nation. The school has students from more than 135 countries and has recently opened a campus in the United Arab Emirates.

External links

• George Mason University
• Facts & Figures