Leadership

Mason's leaders exemplify how people of various backgrounds can come together to build something greater than they could alone.

Members of the Mason Nation come from many different backgrounds and many different places, and each brings something different to the table. It is these very contrasts that allow Mason's leadership to look beyond the expected as they share responsibility and commitment to the success of students in their academic, personal, and professional goals, careers, communities, and whatever other endeavors they may choose to pursue.

Mason graduates go on to become involved, caring, and contributing members of society, who seek to make a positive imprint. It’s the best lesson Mason teaches.

President Gregory Washington

University President Gregory Washington

George Mason University President Gregory Washington leads Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university into its second half-century.

What drew me to Mason was its mission to insist that excellence and inclusivity are not seen as merely compatible. In fact, each is required for the other to exist.
- President Gregory Washington

Since arriving at Mason in July 2020, Washington has strengthened Mason’s commitment to access by creating the Mason Virginia Promise (MVP), launched the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Task Force, restructured the university’s research enterprise, and established the President’s Innovation Advisory Council to form a regional innovation ecosystem with Mason at its hub.

Washington is the former engineering dean at Ohio State University and the University of California, Irvine. He earned bachelor’s (1989) and master’s degrees (1991) and his PhD (1994), all in mechanical engineering, at North Carolina State University.

 


 

Ken Walsh

Interim Provost and Executive Vice President

Ken Walsh

Ken Walsh is interim Provost and Executive Vice President of George Mason University. He holds a BSE, MS, and a PhD in civil engineering from Arizona State University. Prior to coming to Mason, he served as senior assistant dean and chief of staff at the Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He was also a professor and chair of civil engineering at San Diego State University (SDSU), where he held the AGC-Paul S. Roel Chair in Construction Engineering and Management. While at SDSU, he was the founding dean of San Diego State University-Georgia in Tbilisi.

Connect with the Office of the Provost

 


 

Partners and Champions

Whether they be Mason graduates, faculty, or staff members, there are so many in the Mason community who serve as leaders in their respective fields, achieve top levels in their careers, win prestigious awards, and make important contributions to our world.

 


 

Experts and Leaders from across the Mason Nation

On his Access to Excellence podcast, President Gregory Washington sits down with thought leaders, experts, and innovators to discuss the issues faced in the world.

Mason president Gregory Washington records podcast in the studio