Since its founding in 1972, George Mason University has grown into a major educational force and developed an international reputation as an innovative, entrepreneurial institution. Located just minutes away from Washington, D.C., Mason is the largest of Virginia’s colleges and universities, boasts one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States, and maintains an exceptional faculty of highly skilled researchers and recognized scholars.

Mason’s total annual research expenditure is currently $65.9 million. With plans to grow this expenditure to $150 million by 2011, the university will be focusing on three areas that will bring great benefit to the region and to the nation: cancer biology and bioengineering, neurosciences and bioengineering, and the global biosphere. Other key areas of research at Mason range from public policy, education and health sciences to law, information technology and conflict resolution.