George Mason University Provost and Executive Vice President Mark Ginsberg announced on Wednesday that Marie alice Arnold will serve as interim executive director of the Global Education Office (GEO). Currently associate director of GEO, Arnold will assume her new position later this month.
“I am excited that Marie alice has agreed to serve in this capacity and I am confident she is the right leader as we enter a new phase at GEO,” Ginsberg said. “Her experience in international learning will serve Mason well as we harness the potential of our students and global education partners to create opportunities for the future.”
Arnold succeeds Brian Gibson who on May 12 was named chief global officer at the University of Utah.
“It is an exciting time to be leading Education Abroad at Mason,” Arnold said. “In this difficult year, GEO discovered new opportunities that expanded our thinking of what is international learning. I look forward to building on that work as we head into a period of renewal and growth.”
In her new role, Arnold is responsible for the daily operations of GEO, as well as program management of study-abroad experiences and the implementation of new initiatives.
Arnold has 30 years of experience in international education, 13 of them at Mason. Prior to joining GEO, she worked at Skidmore College in the Office of Off-Campus Study and Exchange and spent more than a decade at the Council on International Educational Exchange. She holds a master’s degree in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, and bachelors’ degrees in Spanish and business from Skidmore College.