The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is pleased to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Schmidt as director of the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship (MCSE). A visiting scholar to George Mason University, Schmidt will take the helm of a vibrant and active institution dedicated to identifying, preparing and launching the next generation of social entrepreneurs.
Schmidt comes to Mason from Vermont Law School, where she specialized in nonprofit law and the law of social and environmental enterprises. She also directed the school’s Board Fellows program, which placed students as non-voting members of nonprofit boards of directors. She has held teaching positions at the College of William and Mary Law School and Marlboro College’s MBA program in managing for sustainability.
In addition to teaching law, Schmidt has held legal and management positions at nonprofit organizations, and she has served as a nonprofit management consultant. She writes about nonprofit governance, accountability, policies, and ethics, as well as the emerging area of social and environmental enterprises. She is the author of the legal textbook, Nonprofit Law: The Life Cycle of a Charitable Organization.
“We are delighted that someone of Elizabeth’s caliber and experience will be leading the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship,” said Ángel Cabrera, President of George Mason University. “I am confident that she will propel the Center forward in the important sphere of social innovation and change.”
At Mason, Schmidt will teach two courses: PUAD 729/NCLC 595: The Life Cycle of a Nonprofit Organization: Management and Legal Issues Facing Public Charities and NCLC 595: Social and Environmental Enterprises. Both courses will be offered as hybrid distance learning courses to Mason students and students from other schools.
Professor Schmidt graduated from Princeton University, with magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors, and from Stanford University Law School, where she was note editor for the Stanford Law Review.
“I am delighted to join the talented community of students, scholars and entrepreneurs at the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship who are intent on addressing social and environmental issues through nonprofit and for-profit private enterprises,” Schmidt said. “There’s no limit to what we can accomplish when we put together the energy and idealism of Mason students, the scholarship and education offered at Mason, and the experiences that Mason alumni and other leaders from the greater Washington area offer.”