Office of the President

Washington elected to the National Academy of Engineering

Colleen Rich — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 02:12:13 +0000

Washington elected to the National Academy of Engineering Colleen Rich Wed, 02/08/2023 - 21:12

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George Mason University President Gregory Washington has been elected into the National Academy of Engineering, the highest engineering honor in the country, the academy announced Tuesday.

President Gregory Washington. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

Washington, who holds three mechanical engineering degrees, including his doctorate, from North Carolina State University, has held deanships at The Ohio State University and the University of California Irvine (UCI).

In electing Washington, the Washington, D.C.-based National Academy of Engineering cited his “advancement of technology at the interface of electromagnetics and materials, and dedicated leadership and service in engineering education.”

Washington was one of 106 new U.S. members elected to the academy Tuesday as announced by NAE President John L. Anderson. The newly elected class will be formally inducted at NAE’s annual meeting Oct. 1.

“I am tremendously honored to be elected into the National Academy of Engineering,” Washington said. “I proudly share this honor with the many mentors and colleagues at North Carolina State, Ohio State, UC Irvine and George Mason who have helped me along my journey.”

Among Washington’s main achievements in academia was extending the understanding of electromagnetic systems that incorporate smart materials and other active components in the emerging field of Smart Electromagnetic Structures (SEMS)—electromagnetic devices that are enhanced by the mechanical and electrical performance gains offered by smart materials. Washington is credited with one of the first uses of neural networks (machine learning) applied to electromagnetic systems.

As dean at UCI from 2011 to 2020, the first African American dean of engineering in the vast University of California system, Washington launched six research initiatives focused on helping faculty at all levels grow interdisciplinary research. These programs led to substantial growth in research expenditures and awards over a five-year period. Washington also led a multi-school team of faculty and administrators in establishing the Irvine Materials Research Institute, a $28 million research facility focused on materials characterization.

At both UCI and Ohio State, Washington instituted policies and procedures that led to the hiring of diverse faculty cohorts. Eight of 11 new hires at Ohio State and greater than 40% of his 58 new faculty hires at UCI were women or underrepresented minorities. Half of his department chairs at UCI were women and half of the associate deans were women or from underrepresented groups.

Washington developed global strategic relationships with key universities in Asia and U.S. multinational corporations and led in the establishment of a joint 3+2 program that allowed students from more than 14 universities to receive a BS from their institution and an MS from UCI simultaneously.

Washington founded and led the establishment of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Diversity Recognition Program, resulting in Inclusive Excellence Plans at institutions around the country. In addition, Washington established 17 new outreach and engagement initiatives for thousands of students and K-12 teachers in Southern California.

At both UCI and Ohio State, Washington developed and implemented initiatives to increase funded programs in interdisciplinary research. These included hiring of faculty along programmatic thrusts (not just departmental lines), hiring proposal coordinators, starting external proposal pre-submission review, and novel cost-share policies. He also led statewide economic development and engagement programs centered around advanced energy and manufacturing.

Washington has conducted research for National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, General Motors, Boeing, HRL, Eaton Corp, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the U.S. Army Research Office, among others and has served on many boards, including the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, NSF Engineering Advisory Committee, Institute for Defense Analyses, the Sandia National Laboratory’s Engineering Science Research Foundation, and the National NIH Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

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Campus News

Mason President

Office of the President

Strategic Direction

Gregory Washington

khanse2 — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 20:40:02 +0000

Gregory Washington khanse2 Wed, 07/22/2020 - 16:40

Contact Information

Phone: 703-993-8700
Campus: Fairfax
Building: Merten Hall
Mail Stop: MSN: 3A1

Office Hours: 8:30am - 5:00pm

Personal Websites

Office of the President

Biography

George Mason University President Gregory Washington leads Virginia's largest, most innovative, and most diverse public university, a top-tier research institution ranked among the top 30 public universities nationally by the Wall Street Journal and one that has rapidly emerged as a national leader in upward mobility for students of all backgrounds.

U.S. News & World Report ranks George Mason as the top public university in the state for innovation, upward mobility, and internships. The Wall Street Journal ranks George Mason tops in the state for value and upward mobility.

With university goals that align with the state’s higher education agenda, George Mason under Washington has helped Virginia be named the No. 1 state in the country for business and education by CNBC.

In fall 2024, George Mason welcomed the largest and most diverse freshman class in its history and its most academically prepared, with more than 70% of freshmen entering with a 3.5 GPA or higher. The year prior, George Mason became the first four-year public university in Virginia to enroll more than 40,000 students. The university’s 2024 graduating class featured the most degree earners in George Mason history, more than 10,000 students hailing from 114 countries and all 50 states.

Now just two years past its 50^th anniversary as an independent university, George Mason is ranked 30^th among U.S. public universities by the Wall Street Journal and the 52nd public university in the country in U.S. News’ Best Colleges 2025. In addition, the Wall Street Journal ranks George Mason as the 10^th public university nationally for salaries earned by graduates.

George Mason is a top 25 university nationwide for innovation and top 70 (#51 among publics) for veterans, as ranked by U.S. News. Under Washington’s leadership the university also is ranked in the Top 20 nationally for First Amendment observation from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), an indication of the university’s commitment to diversity of origin, identity, circumstance, and thought. George Mason is the only university in Virginia – and one of 30 nationally – to achieve Campus PRIDE’s “Best of the Best” distinction. George Mason also has earned Minority Serving Institution status.

Since launching his George Mason presidency in July 2020, Washington has formed new partnerships, created academic and entrepreneurial pathways, opened or broken ground on academic facilities on all three Virginia campuses across the university’s 848 acres, and has presided over the highest sponsored research expenditures in George Mason history. He has significantly increased mental health resources for students, including a 24/7 service.

In 2023, Washington announced “Mason Now: Power the Possible,” a one-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and sustainability.

Washington, the former engineering dean at Ohio State University (interim) and the University of California, Irvine, has strengthened George Mason’s commitment to access and opportunity by creating the Mason Virginia Promise (MVP), a pathway to a George Mason degree or help starting a business for any Virginian who aspires to either goal. MVP expands George Mason’s national award-winning ADVANCE Program Partnership with Northern Virginia Community College to select community colleges throughout the state. The Mason Virginia Promise Grant helps provide opportunities to students from low-income backgrounds. Under Washington, the university also has launched a direct admissions program and opened two lab schools by partnering with Virginia school divisions, including in Loudoun County.

Washington, George Mason’s eighth president, established the President’s Innovation Advisory Council to bring together industry, local government, K-12 education, and non-governmental organizations to form an innovation ecosystem with George Mason as its hub. On George Mason’s campus in Arlington, now known as Mason Square, Washington marshaled the largest public-private partnership in George Mason’s history, Fuse at Mason Square. Fuse will house faculty and students and their research and industry partners, and graduate programs from George Mason’s School of Computing, the first of its kind in Virginia.

Washington, annually named to the Virginia 500 Power List by Virginia Business, has established and expanded many partnerships for economic and social impact, including a partnership with Amazon and Amazon Web Services. EduRank named George Mason the No. 1 public university for research performance in entrepreneurship, and No. 2 overall nationally.

In November 2022 on the Fairfax Campus, George Mason established the first College of Public Health in Virginia to meet the critical growing need for skilled, interdisciplinary health professionals and research across the state, and in 2023 the university opened the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center to transform how artificial intelligence is taught and researched. In 2024, construction began on an Activities Community Wellness Building to enhance student life on the Fairfax Campus.

On the Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, the university developed partnerships to simultaneously break ground on the new Life Sciences and Engineering Building, which will open in spring 2025, and the Innovation Town Center and University Village at Innovation projects. A nanofabrication facility, Northern Virginia’s only academic/core clean room facility accessible for workforce training and research/development by faculty, staff, students, and external partners, opened on the SciTech Campus, where George Mason’s Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory, one of only 11 “body farms” of its type in the country, and the only one on the East Coast, is located.

In addition, Washington in 2024 helped Mason Korea mark its 10-year anniversary, the campus having grown from 34 students to over 1,000, expanding George Mason’s global presence in Asia.

Washington’s Mason Innovation Commission convenes many of the university’s most forward-thinking faculty, staff, and administrators to conceive strategic recommendations. This effort served as a precursor to a university-wide strategic planning effort, culminating in the release of George Mason’s Strategic Direction, “All Together Different,” in 2022. George Mason works with industry to create new programs, such as cybersecurity engineering, cloud computing, data center engineering and courses such as responsible artificial intelligence to provide graduates with the knowledge and skills that they – and employers – need to be successful. Some 73% of in-state George Mason graduates settle in Virginia, as do 29% of out-of-state graduates – 45% higher than the state average.

Washington, the first Black president in George Mason history, began his presidency during the pandemic. He guided what is now the 24^th-largest employer in the Greater Washington region, as determined by the Washington Business Journal, through the public health crisis by implementing a safety plan that included surveillance testing and rapid-return saliva testing developed by George Mason faculty for quick identification and isolation of positive cases. George Mason was one of the first universities to offer COVID-19 antibody research screening for students, faculty, and staff.

Prior to coming to George Mason, Washington served for nine years as dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Among his achievements there were significantly expanding enrollment in the engineering school, hiring more faculty and administrators from underrepresented groups, and implementing STEM outreach programs with the greater community.

Washington launched his academic career in 1995 as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering at Ohio State University. He became an associate professor in 2000 and a professor in 2004, earning several teaching awards. Washington began serving as the associate dean for research in 2005 and from 2008 to 2011 served as interim dean of the Ohio State engineering school, one of the largest in the country.

An accomplished researcher, Washington specializes in dynamic systems, with an emphasis in the modeling and control of smart material structures and systems. He has conducted research for the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, General Motors, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the U.S. Army Research Office, among others.

In fall 2023, Washington was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering.

Washington’s current board service includes S&P Global, Internet2, Engineering Science Research Foundation, Virginia Business Higher Education Council, Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, Northern Virginia Technology Council, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and Washington Gas. Previous board service includes the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, NSF Engineering Advisory Committee, and the Institute for Defense Analyses.

A first-generation college graduate, Washington is a New York City native who attended high school in North Carolina. He earned bachelor’s (1989) and master’s degrees (1991) and his PhD (1994), all in mechanical engineering, at North Carolina State University. Washington also hosts George Mason’s “Access to Excellence” podcast.