University President Alan Merten Named a Washingtonian of the Year

January 10, 2005
By: Darren Silvis

Each year, The Washingtonian magazine honors area leaders with the esteemed title of "Washingtonian of the Year" for their efforts in advancing the metropolitan region and making it "a better place." This year, university president Dr. Alan G. Merten was honored among 14 others who, according to the magazine, "make a difference" in the January 2005 edition.

Here is Dr. Merten's excerpt:

• "We need to be innovative and take advantage of the fact that we are in the nation's capital. That is the key to our success." George Mason used to be the underdog of Virginia universities. Not anymore. Since Alan Merten became president in 1996, George Mason has become the state's fastest-growing university, adding students, new buildings, and schools in computer science and the arts. Merten is proud to be called an "academic entrepreneur." He has brought top talent to Virginia--including wooing a whole economics team from Arizona headed by Vernon L. Smith in 2000. Two years later Smith won the Nobel Prize in economics. GMU boasts two Nobel Prize winners on its law and economics faculty. "The idea that lawyers should know something about economics was an innovation," Merten says. In 1996 George Mason added technology to its law-school curriculum. In 2003, George Mason's law school made the top tier in the U.S. News ratings. George Mason created Virginia's first doctoral program in bio-informatics and the nation's first doctoral program in conflict resolution. The university plans to build a biodefense-research facility and an arts center at its Prince William campus. Bigger doesn't always mean better on college campuses--particularly for undergraduates. Merten knows how daunting a college can be for students and their parents. He's on campus the day freshmen students move in every August, greeting each car. Merten sees boundless possibilities for GMU. Thanks to him, George Mason will keep growing stronger.

For more information, please call the Office of Alumni Affairs at (703) 993-8696.