Retro Mason

George Mason College officially opened in Fairfax, Virginia, on Sept. 14, 1964. Then a branch campus of the University of Virginia, the college welcomed 356 registered students and had a faculty that included seven full-time and 18 part-time instructors.

George Mason alumnus and former track star Rob Muzzio, BS ’87, finished fifth in the decathlon competition during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He was one of 10 Patriots who qualified for the Summer Olympics that year.

From 1972 to 1983, George Mason operated a satellite campus, known as North Campus, in the former Fairfax High School building, located on Fairfax Boulevard between Fairfax Circle and the intersection of Routes 50 and 29.

Twenty years ago, in December 2002, Vernon L. Smith was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, recognizing his pioneering work in the field of experimental economics.

In 1995, Mason staff photographer Neil Adams took aerial photos of the Fairfax Campus from a Huey helicopter.

On September 23, 2011, Stephen King spoke at Mason’s Fall for the Book and accepted the Mason Prize for his extraordinary contributions to bringing literature to a wide reading public.

In 2006, George Mason University alum Anousheh Ansari, BS Computer and Electrical Engineering ’88, traveled to the International Space Station for an 11-day expedition and the first female private space explorer, first astronaut of Iranian descent, first Muslim woman in space, and fourth private explorer to visit space.

Mason's Science and Technology Campus in Prince William County was dedicated on September 24, 1997, with the opening of its first building, Colgan Hall (formerly the Occoquan Building).

Mason Korea launched in Songdo, South Korea, in March 2014, as part of the Incheon Global Campus, a national project established by the Korean government and Incheon Metropolitan City to innovate the Korean education system and nurture the next generation of global leaders.

The late Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was no stranger to George Mason University.