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
