| About
George Mason University
George
Mason University began as the Northern Virginia branch of
the University of Virginia in 1957. Eager to support the fledgling
institution, the Town (now City) of Fairfax purchased 150
acres in 1958 and donated it to the University of Virginia
for a permanent branch campus. In 1966, the General Assembly
authorized the expansion of George Mason College into a four-year,
degree-granting institution with the long-range mandate to
expand into a major regional university.
In 1972
George Mason University became an independent member of the
commonwealth's system of colleges and universities. Since
then, the university's development has been marked by rapid
growth and innovative planning. Employing the revolutionary
concept of the "distributed" university, George
Mason acquired the George Mason University School of Law and
a campus in Arlington in 1979. The Prince William Campus was
established in Prince William County in 1997.
George
Mason’s current total enrollment is approximately 27,000.
On a statewide level, George Mason was designated by state
leaders to be one of the top growth
institutions in Virginia with a projected increase of over
10,000 students over the next decade. George Mason has expressed
its commitment to meet the educational dreams of as many of
the commonwealth’s citizens—both high school graduates
and older adults—as possible, and reaffirms a commitment
to our students from over 120 countries.
Department
Offices
The offices
for the Undergraduate Biology Program of the Department of
Molecular and Microbiology are located in David King Hall
on the George Mason University Fairfax Campus. The Graduate
Program offices for the are located on George Mason University's
Prince William Campus.
About
the Fairfax Campus
The 150
acres that once was the entire George Mason University campus
has become the 677-acre Fairfax Campus. Along with the George
Mason University Administrative offices, the Fairfax campus
contains such facilities as the George W. Johnson Center,
the Center for the Arts complex, Patriot Center, a 113,900-square-foot
Recreation Sports Complex, and a 66,000-square-foot Aquatic
and Fitness Center.
About
the Prince William Campus
The Prince
William Campus--the third George Mason campus in Northern
Virginia--is an integral part of George Mason's distributed
University. The campus is located at Innovation @ Prince William,
which serves all of Northern Virginia and provides convenient
access to the university for citizens of Prince William, Fauquier,
and western Fairfax Counties; the cities of Manassas and Manassas
Park; and adjoining areas to the west and south.
The 124-acre
site of the Prince William Campus was donated by Prince William
County and local individuals. The proposed development for
the planned business district site, coined "Innovation@PrinceWilliam,"
includes a hotel convention center, several high-tech and
biotechnology business parks, residential areas, the Community
Performing Arts Center, the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center,
and 12 to 14 campus buildings serving approximately 8,000
students.
The MMB
department offices are located in Discovery Hall (formerly
called PW2). The building is home to the Life Sciences initiative
and includes research laboratories for the National Center for Biodefense & Infectious Diseases, the Center
for Biomedical Genomics and the Center
for the Study of Genomic Liver Diseases. The laboratories
are supported by the analytical equipment of the Shared
Research Instrumentation Facility.
The next
step for the Prince William Campus is the addition of a third
academic building. Construction has begun on a 100,000 square-foot
building which is the first phase of a 200,000 square-foot
building. This facilty will provide teaching laboratories
as well as faculty offices. Construction progress can be followed
via the PW3a Webcam.
The Freedom
Aquatic and Fitness Center, the result of a unique partnership
between George Mason University, Prince William County, and
the City of Manassas, opened in the fall of 1999, on Mason's
Prince William Campus. It features a 50-meter olympic-size,
10-lane competition pool, 7,000-square-foot leisure pool with
two-story, weight training room and workout arena, fitness
assessment labs, aerobics and cardiovascular fitness areas,
two basketball courts, elevated running/walking track, three
racquetball courts, and a day care center for infants and
toddlers
Map
/ Directions for the Prince William Campus
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