We’ve taken a look through our past to see how Mason, which began as a branch of the University of Virginia, became the largest public research university in the commonwealth.
Every week, we’ll share a historical image or photograph that tells a part of our amazing story.
September 14, 2024George 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.
August 5, 2024George 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.
July 25, 2024From 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.
December 1, 2022Twenty 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.
November 22, 2022In 1995, Mason staff photographer Neil Adams took aerial photos of the Fairfax Campus from a Huey helicopter.
October 7, 2022On 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.
September 30, 2022In 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.
September 16, 2022Mason'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).
September 9, 2022Mason 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.
August 31, 2022The late Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was no stranger to George Mason University.
August 26, 2022During Orientation 1992, incoming students were able to register for classes using a bank of touchtone phones in the ballroom of Student Union II (now The Hub) and walk away with a printout of their fall semester class schedule.
August 11, 2022In 1992, after incubating for 220 days in Robinson Hall on the Fairfax Campus, the very first Komodo dragon born in captivity outside of Indonesia hatched.