Gregory Washington Will Be the First African American President of George Mason University

The Board of Visitors of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, has announced the selection of Gregory Washington as the university’s eighth president. When he takes office on July 1, Dr. Washingon will be the first African American to lead the university.

George Mason University is a state-operated educational institution with more than 26,000 undergraduate students and more than 11,000 graduate students, according to the latest data supplied to the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 11 percent of the undergraduate student body.

“I am honored to accept this position and thrilled to lead Mason at this exciting time,” Dr. Washington said. “What attracted me to Mason was its reputation for having real impact, providing access and for its commitment to inclusive excellence. Those values are in direct alignment with how I operate as an academic leader. I look forward to helping continue to accelerate the trajectory of the institution.”

Dr. Washington currently serves as the dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He joined the faculty there in 2011. Earlier, he was director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment and interim dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University.

Dr. Washington holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering, all from North Carolina State Univerity

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Students at Three HBCUs in New Orleans to Participate in Power of Prosperity Initiative

The Power of Prosperity program will help remove barriers to students’ academic success by providing students and their families with free access to financial support and resources.

Yale University Scholar Wins Early Career Physics Award

Charles D. Brown II, an assistant professor of physics at Yale University, has been selected as the winner the Joseph A. Johnson Award for Excellence from the American Institute of Physics and the National Society of Black Physicists.

Three African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Posts at Universities

Arthur Lumzy Jr. is the new director of student career preparedness at Texas A&M University–Commerce. Sandra L. Barnes was named associate provost for undergraduate education and student success at Alcorn State University in Mississippi and Roberto Campos-Marquetti has been appointed assistant vice president for staff and labor relations at Duke University.

North Carolina A&T State University to Debut New Graduate Programs in Criminal Justice

The university's criminal justice master’s and doctoral programs are designed to provide high-quality graduate education and training in criminal justice with the four areas of specialization: investigative science, digital forensics, research methodology, and social justice.

Featured Jobs