Masonat50

On April 7, 2022, George Mason University celebrated its 50th anniversary as an independent public university. That day and the week of events surrounding it illuminated Mason as a university that is altogether different.

Jim Trefil, a Mason physicist and Robinson Professor, explains the importance of a scientific worldview. The author of more than 50 books and one of the developers of the modern theories about quarks as a fundamental component of the universe, Trefil is helping pioneer a new way of teaching science.

George Mason University celebrated its 50th birthday Thursday, April 7, with a green and gold tribute to its accomplishments and a look ahead to the next 50 years.

George Mason University officially welcomed a new era in Arlington with Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony for Fuse at Mason Square, which will serve as a technological hub in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor connecting students, faculty, industry and government.

Several hundred people gathered on Wilkins Plaza on April 4 for the dedication of the Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial, which grew out of a student research project launched in the summer of 2017.

To reflect its stature as the new centerpiece of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, George Mason University’s Arlington Campus is being renamed Mason Square, an urban destination of learning, collaboration, and economic development.

George Mason University, Virginia’s largest public research university, turns 50 in 2022 and is celebrating an impressive array of stats it has racked up over the half-century. But Gregory Washington, the university’s first Black president, knows that George Mason might not have the same name recognition as other area universities — and that the competition for recognition is fierce.