Christopher M. Ackerman Sr. named George Mason’s Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer

George Mason University has selected Christopher M. Ackerman Sr. as its new vice president of human resources and chief human resource officer. He begins his new role Feb. 24.

Ackerman joins George Mason, the largest public research university in Virginia, from Stanford University, where for the past three-and-a-half years he was the head of HR Client Services at SLAC National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy facility formerly known as the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and operated by Stanford.

At SLAC, Ackerman led an HR team that serves a workforce of about 2,000 across 22 business units, overseeing HR client services, compensation, and HR business partners. He played a key role in shaping enterprise-level HR strategy, collaborating closely with the SLAC Board of Oversight, executive leadership, and university administrators. Among his notable achievements at SLAC were aligning compensation frameworks, enhancing performance management systems, and integrating strategic workforce planning to meet organizational objectives.

Stanford is one of four universities at which Ackerman has served in HR roles, along with positions at the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, San Francisco; and Howard University. Before joining SLAC, he served as the managing director of people operations at the Stanford Cancer Institute within the School of Medicine.

From 2015 to 2020, Ackerman was vice president of human resources at HCA Healthcare, a multicampus hospital and health care system in Northern Virginia. In this role, he served as the chief HR officer, significantly enhancing the attraction and retention of employees, establishing strategic partnerships, and implementing initiatives that improved organizational efficiency.

“Chris brings to George Mason extensive executive leadership in all aspects of human resources management and a proven track record of collaboration and achieving excellence in HR practices in environments that demand precision and innovation,” said Ken Walsh, George Mason’s executive vice president for strategic initiatives and chief of staff. “He specializes in envisioning, designing, and implementing modernized people programs and strategic HR frameworks to meet the evolving needs of the workforce of high-growth organizations like George Mason.”

According to the Washington Business Journal, George Mason is the 24th-largest employer in greater Washington, D.C., area, and the 13th-largest in Northern Virginia.

Ackerman earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Maryland and is pursuing a master’s degree in management and leadership from Western Governors University.

“Joining George Mason University as the vice president of human resources and chief human resource officer is both a professional honor and a deeply personal milestone,” Ackerman said. “As a Washington, D.C., native, leading HR at Virginia's largest public research university feels like coming home. I am proud to be part of Mason Nation and excited to collaborate with the George Mason community to create a people-first culture that empowers our diverse workforce and fosters an environment where talent thrives and innovation flourishes.”