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.
July 14, 2022In September 2009, Smithsonian-Mason Semester students took a during a behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
July 6, 2022The Student Apartments, Mason's first on-campus housing, opened in October 1977 and housed 498 students.
June 29, 2022George Mason University was the first university to host the World Congress on Information Technology in June 21-24, 1998.
June 23, 2022After more than 10 years of fundraising and a few years of construction, the Center for the Arts Concert Hall opened on October 6, 1990, with award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch serving as host on opening night.
June 14, 2022In 2006, Robert DeNiro and Matt Damon came to George Mason University’s Center for the Arts to promote their film “The Good Shepherd” in a special taping of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews.
June 6, 2022Mason researcher Jenefir Isbister was awarded the university's first patent on August 27, 1996, for her invention of a test for microbial contamination.
May 31, 2022Mason’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), known as “The Patriot Battalion,” began in 1982 and frequently conducts training with other universities throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.
May 24, 2022Mason alumni John Whalan, Elaine "Chipper" Petersen, and Bob Veenstra built the university's first telescope and observatory with $200 in start-up funds from the Physics Department.
May 12, 2022Did you know that up until the 2004 Commencement George Mason University graduation gowns were black? The university moved to green gowns in 2004, thanks to the work of a Traditions Committee.
May 6, 2022On May 21, 1983, George Mason University awarded its first doctoral degree, a doctor of arts in education, to Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, a teacher at nearby West Springfield High School.
April 29, 2022On Nov. 24, 1985, George Mason University women's soccer defeated North Carolina 2-0 to claim the first-ever NCAA National Championship at Mason.
April 22, 2022The first Mason Day took place four years before the university’s first Commencement, and it’s been the event to look forward to ever since.