George Mason University

George Mason University (GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia near Washington, D.C. The university was originally founded as the Northern Virginia University Center of the University of Virginia in 1949 as an extension school and regional branch of the University of Virginia for mid-career working professionals and non-traditional students in Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area.

The university has since expanded into a residential college for traditional students with an emphasis on combining modern practice-based professional education with a comprehensive traditional liberal arts curriculum while maintaining its historic commuter student-inclusive environment at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The university operates four campuses in Virginia in Fairfax, Arlington, Front Royal, and Prince William Counties. It also operates a retreat and conference center in Lorton and an international campus in Incheon, South Korea. The university's flagship campus is in Fairfax, Virginia.

Named after Founding Father of the United States George Mason in 1959, it became an independent university in 1972. The school has since grown into the largest public university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." Two professors, James M. Buchanan in 1986 and Vernon L. Smith in 2002, were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics during their time at George Mason University.