Schar School Featured Stories

Catherine Read is the first woman and first Mason graduate (BA government and politics ’84) to be mayor of Fairfax City, Va., the university’s hometown, and she isn’t shy about touting a university she says helped teach her how to think critically. Want to know why it’s good to “disrupt the system,” why it’s important to get more women into policy-making decisions, and why our educational system doesn’t reward bold ideas? Read tells you.

Where do first-time elected leaders turn for learning the ropes of governing? The Schar School’s Regional Elected Leaders Initiative teaches them not only how to govern but how to unite for the greater public good.

Schar School junior Minh-Dy Pham and senior Kalkidan Zewdu received the Partnership for Public Service Award, recognizing young leaders in federal government.

A winter study-abroad trip focuses on the political meanings of the ancient art and structures of Athens and Rome. A highlight is a visit to a museum of Greek folklore that few have heard of.

She’s helped 450 young families achieve higher education goals since 2010. Now Nicole Lynn Lewis, MPP ’06, is Washingtonian of the Year.

Six whirlwind months as a visiting professor on a Fulbright fellowship at the Schar School helped sinologist Gundumella Venkat Raman teach, learn, and make connections in Washington, D.C.

Two Mason faculty members received year-long grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), part of 260 grants worth $33.8 million from the NEH this year for humanities projects across the country.

A new project, led by Schar School associate professor Jennifer Victor, aims to increase voter awareness and turnout at Mason.

A weekend-long conference near Washington, D.C., brought undergraduate students from several universities together to learn the art of policy communications. The sessions were taught by practitioners in an event hosted by the Schar School.

The big winners of a two-month-long competition to create innovative ways to combat counterfeiting were Mason students and alumni—and the world at large. See who won the thousands in prize money in the Bring Down Counterfeiting Hackathon 2023 and who helped sponsor it.