2017 Fall Recipients

African and African American Studies

Lewis E. Forrest II, BA '96 and MEd '05

What advice would you give to a current Mason student?

Really look around and be grateful for the opportunity to be in college and take advantage of all the people and resources this campus and region have to offer.

Lewis E. Forrest II graduated from Mason in 1996 with a bachelor of arts in English and a minor in African American Studies. He later earned his master’s degree in counseling and development, and was recognized by Mason’s College of Education and Human Development for outstanding achievement and academic excellence.

With years of experience as a professional school counselor in the Prince William County Public School system, Lewis is now an associate dean for University Life here at Mason. Within University Life, Lewis supervises three units and serves on several campus-wide committees and initiatives, many of which are specific to Well-Being and student engagement.

He previously served as the Executive Director of Mason’s Early Identification Program, which works to bring first generation college students successfully to and through the George Mason University experience.

Bachelor of Individualized Study

Matthew Shultz, BIS '16

What makes Mason special to you?

I received a great deal of support from my faculty mentor, Dr. David Foster, and I thoroughly enjoyed his Intelligence and Analysis course.

Matthew Shultz is an Information Security Specialist for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C. He holds GCIA, GRID, CISSP, and CRISC certifications, and performs research in various areas of cyber security, providing recommendations and position papers to aid senior leadership decision-making as well as guidance and recommendations to organizations on the reduction of cyber risk through the use of best practices.

From 2006 to 2016, he served as a program manager, senior program manager, and senior principal security analyst with General Dynamics Information Technology. Since 1999, he has also served his community at the Arcola Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Department, where he is now the Fire Battalion Chief.

Matthew graduated from Mason’s Bachelor of Individualized Studies program in 2016. His capstone project was an overview of the policy on personal use of social media and the use of personal electronic devices within the Loudoun County Fire Department. Not only was this project recognized with two departmental awards – the Outstanding Project in the Public Interest and the Robert T. Hawkes, Jr. Award for Outstanding BIS Project – but in February of this year he presented his work to the department, which has adopted it as official policy. This will affect nearly 2,000 members of the combined fire and rescue system, and it is now a resource for other agencies to use as a model policy.  

Communication

Rana Novack, BA '06

What advice would you give to a current Mason student?

First, discover your strengths. Learn about yourself and what your natural strengths are and put yourself in a position to leverage them. Second, find your passion. Don't settle - some of us have to work harder than others to figure out what we're passionate about, and sometimes it takes life experiences to lead us to our passion, and sometimes passions change. Finally, don't underestimate the resources you have access to as a student. Be curious and explore as much as you can. And when in doubt, listen to professor Rodger Smith: "Do what you love, the money will follow."

Rana Novack is the Leader of IBM’s Global Business Services North America Communications Strategy, Solution Owner of IBM’s Refugee and Migration Predictive Analytics Solution, and a Syrian American advocate for refugees and civilians in conflict. She is passionate about innovative, technology-based solutions and partnerships to solving global social challenges and is currently leading a global team from across her organization to develop a first-of-a-kind solution, leveraging machine learning and cognitive computing to enable government agencies and humanitarian aid organizations to better manage refugee and migration crises.

She has been published in the Wall Street Journal, WIRED magazine, and her work has been cited by Yale University and the Foreign Policy Initiative. She is a Non-Resident Scholar and Global Policy Center Affiliate of the University of Virginia’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, and recipient of the 2017 George Mason University Department of Communication Alumna of the Year Award.

Criminology, Law and Society

Maggie A. DeBoard, BS '86

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

Mason taught me the importance of teamwork and effective communication, two critical skills I have had to use everyday in my career, both in my interactions with the community and with my fellow officers.

Maggie DeBoard is a 31-year law enforcement professional  who spent the first 26 years of her career as a law enforcement officer with the Fairfax County Police Department, retiring as a Deputy Chief. She is currently serving as the Chief of Police for the Town of Herndon Police Department.

Maggie has held a multitude of leadership positions throughout her law enforcement career, including the command and supervision of the Helicopter Unit, Major Crimes Bureau, Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center, and Special Operations Division, where she commanded Fairfax County Police’s SWAT and Explosive Ordinance Disposal teams. She has developed innovative programs for law enforcement throughout her career, including a progressive Safety Officer Program, which was highlighted in Police Chief Magazine. She is certified as a master instructor for the Department of Homeland Security and has taught nationally on a variety of law enforcement related topics.

Maggie received her bachelors of science degree in criminology from Mason in 1986 and completed her master of arts degree in homeland security and defense from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2015. She is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Maggie is a board member for the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, and sits on several statewide committees.  She was recently appointed by Governor McAuliffe to serve as the law enforcement representative on the Virginia Forensic Science Board. She also continues to serve as the President of the Police Unity Tour – Chapter IV, a nonprofit organization that honors officers killed in the line of duty.

Creative Writing

Rion Amilcar Scott, MFA '08

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

Mason didn't make me a writer, it just reinforced to me how much work it would take to complete these books I was imagining. It taught me to continue working through everything: downtimes, anxiety, holidays, joyous moments, and busy times.

Rion Amilcar Scott’s work has been published in journals such as The Kenyon Review, Crab Orchard Review, PANK, The Rumpus, Fiction International, The Washington City Paper, The Toast, Akashic Books, Melville House, and Confrontation magazine, among others. He was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland and earned an MFA from George Mason University -- where he won both the Mary Roberts Rinehart award and a completion fellowship. 

His short story collection, Insurrections, was published in August 2016 and was chosen for The Rumpus's Book Club; it also won the PEN/Bingham prize for debut fiction. Presently, he teaches English at Bowie State University.

Cultural Studies

Jaafar Aksikas, PhD '05

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

My teaching, scholarship, and communal work contributes to cultural studies as well as to American studies, Middle Eastern Studies, post-colonial studies, and critical theory. Grounded in the Birmingham-inspired cultural studies training I received in the Ph.D. Cultural Studies Program here at Mason, my primary intellectual project is to produce useful knowledge about the relation between political economic processes, cultural forms, ideological phenomena, and social formations. This agenda is realized in all my work, with the notable exception of my first book, which I wrote well before I became interested in cultural studies. Given my work’s dual emphasis on contemporary American cultural studies and Middle Eastern Studies, it links a number of areas vital to contemporary scholarship and intellectual practice and it is quite varied and if anything too varied (which of course has both its advantages and disadvantages). But what I think brings everything together is the thread of cultural studies methodology and training I received at Mason and that I have committed myself to ever since.

Dr. Jaafar Aksikas is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and Humanities at Columbia College Chicago, where he has chaired both the Cultural Studies Program and the Humanities Division. From 2014 through 2016, he served as the president of the Cultural Studies Association, from 2014 through 2016. He holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from George Mason University and a master’s degree in the humanities from Al Akhawayne University in Ifrane, Morocco. He is the author or editor of numerous books and other publications, including, in 2016, Cultural Studies and the ‘Juridical Turn’: Culture, Law, and Legitimacy in the Era of Neoliberal Capitalism.

His articles have appeared in journals such as Cultural Studies, Reviews in Cultural Theory, Lateral, Mediterranean Politics, and Cultuur en Migratie. He is also Editor of the Cultural Studies and Marxism book series.

Jaafar has taught, researched, and published widely in the fields of cultural studies, critical ethnic studies, media and culture industry studies, critical legal and policy studies, American studies, and Middle Eastern studies. He also serves on the editorial boards of Cultural Studies and Lateral journals. He has received numerous awards, including the George Mason University VISION Award. He is a member of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars. He is the Founding and General Editor of Cultural Landscapes, the Founding Coordinator for Columbia College Chicago’s Cultural Studies Colloquium Series, and he serves as a member of the Illinois Network on Islam and Muslim Societies. He has also worked as a consultant for the legal community and the media on issues relating to Middle Eastern and North African cultures and politics.

Economics

William D. Hansen, BS '88

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

I was a non-traditional student starting at Mason in the late 70’s after graduating from Yorktown High School in Arlington in 1977.  I ping ponged back and forth between Idaho State University (my other home town) and GMU.  I married Kasi, my high school sweetheart, and we started our family at a very young age.  I worked full-time pretty much straight out of high school.  I loved my many years at Mason.  Most of them were at night school.  I finally earned my BS degree in Economics after nine years of evening and weekend commuting to campus.  I am grateful for the incredible faculty.  I was blessed to learn in the midst of Nobel Prize recipients.  The adjunct faculty who were day-job experts in their fields helped me see the real-life application to many of the subjects I studied.  This helped me become better at my various jobs and opened the doors of many opportunities.  I also took my education more seriously because my time was precious.  Ultimately having six children, busy jobs, and serving in my church and my community meant that I needed to be efficient with my schooling.  It has been an amazing journey where my education, my career, my family, my service, and my faith have all grown together with powerful synergies.

Since his time at George Mason University, Bill Hansen has devoted his career to leadership in kindergarten through postsecondary education. He has worked in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, shaping education policy at the highest levels.

Bill has served in a number of leadership roles in the U.S. Department of Education, including as the Deputy Secretary of Education and as the department’s chief operating officer, managing 5,000 employees and a 100-billion-dollar annual budget. He played a key role in developing and implementing legislation that enhanced accountability in education and helped the Education Department earn its first-ever independent clean financial audit.

His private sector experience includes service as chairman and CEO of the Washington, D.C., consulting firm Madison Education Group and as president and chairman of Scantron Corporation and Global Scholar. He also co-founded, with former U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige, an education-related consulting firm.

In his current role as CEO of Strada Education Network, Bill oversees a nonprofit organization that enhances student success in college — or other postsecondary programs — and connects graduates to rewarding careers.

He has served as a member of four state education commissions in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and was appointed as a commissioner on the National Commission on the Cost of Education. He has been a part of many advisory boards related to education, including the board of the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, Southern Virginia University, The Education Sector, Reading Is Fundamental, the National Guard Youth Foundation, and ThanksUSA. He currently serves on the board of the Forum for the Future of Higher Education, The National Urban League, Million Meal Movement, United Way of Central Indiana, Brigham Young University-Idaho, and the George W. Romney Institute of Public Management at BYU.

English

Jessica Kallista, MFA '02

What makes Mason special to you?

I came to Mason in 1997 specifically to study with Eric Pankey and Jennifer Atkinson—with whom I still have a wondrous relationship. I just collaborated with Jennifer on a call and response project currently on view at Watergate Gallery. I was invited to participate at the Watergate Gallery exhibition by Helen Frederick, a professor I met through professor Susan Tichy after Susan invited me to participate in the Fall for the Book call and response exhibition at Mason in 2014. I’ve had the pleasure of participating in the Fall for the Book call and response as both a poet and a visual artist.

Deb Shutika’s folklore class was both a miracle and a lightning rod—it gave me permission and realization that I could blend all of my creativity in visual art, poetry, myth, motherhood and move forward with immense creative energy.

Twenty years later, these five, as well as many other Mason professors, have been incredible cheerleaders of mine and I am humbled and in awe every time I am invited to work with them. They’re also on the top of my list when I have an opportunity to invite a writer or artist to work with me.

Jessica Kallista is an artist, teacher, and curator. She received her master of fine arts degree in creative writing, with a concentration in poetry, from George Mason University in 2002. In November 2014 she founded Olly Olly, an alternative art space, in Fairfax, Virginia, and she serves as a business representative on the City of Fairfax Commission on the Arts. Jessica has taught the technique of collage at the Corcoran School of Arts and Design at the George Washington University. She is gallery director of Buchanan Partners Art Gallery at Mason’s Hylton Performing Arts Center.

Through her work as a collage artist, teacher, and curator, Jessica seeks to disrupt the isolation of those living in suburbia and elsewhere by creating situations of surprise, play, and experimentation while instigating dialogue about gender, sexuality, feminism, embodiment, decolonization, commodity fetishism, and interconnectivity.

Jessica’s work has been shown at a variety of venues including Target Gallery in Alexandria; the Greater Reston Arts Center; The Fridge gallery in Washington, D.C.; Tempus Projects in Tampa, Florida; NoMüNoMü, a Washington, D.C.-based arts collective; Fenwick Gallery at Mason; and the Margaret W. and Joseph L. Fisher Art Gallery.

Global Affairs

Amina Derbi, BA '12 and MA '14

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

One of the benefits of Mason’s Global Affairs program is that the degrees offered are interdisciplinary and encourage students to examine pressing global issues from multiple angles. Taking challenging courses on a variety of complex topics honed my critical thinking, writing, and analytical abilities. Furthermore, the programs equipped me with a versatile skill set which I am able to apply on a daily basis in my current position.

Amina Derbi is an import policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Her responsibilities include research, written analysis, and outreach to United States industries participating in the global market.

After graduating from the Global Affairs accelerated master’s program in 2014, Amina launched her own suspense-thriller book series, the first book of which – The Storyteller and the Terrorist in our Newsfeeds – is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Amina uses her platform as an author to raise funds for humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees through Stories for Syria, a CrowdRise donor page benefiting USA for UNHCR, the non-profit fundraising arm of the United Nations Refugee Agency. Most recently, she also served as a member of the Volunteer Host Committee for the 2017 DC Gaza 5K race. This charity event helped raise over $120,000 for the Community Mental Health Programme, which helps children in Gaza receive the vital mental health services they need.

Amina is also continuing her education by taking graphic design classes part-time at Mason as she believes we are all lifelong students at heart!

Amidst all of these activities, she always finds time to give back to Global Affairs when called upon, and has played an especially important role in the program’s alumni career fair.

Higher Education

Barbara M. Glenn, DA '95

What advice would you give to a current Mason student?

I advise current Mason students to explore all opportunities offered by the university by opening their minds to the ideas and contemporary strategies for thinking in their perspective programs of study. They should also explore ways they can contribute to this environment rich for creative development. An example is the Contemporary Mural Arts Festival at Mason or, Murals at Mason, for short – a mural project conceived by sophomore, Fionnuala Fiske at the Schar School of Policy, being supported by Mason and opening in April 2018. 

Dr. Barbara Morris Glenn was born in Petersburg, Virginia.  She attended Petersburg Public Schools and Virginia State University with state scholarships awarded to her as valedictorian of her high school and undergraduate classes.  She has received the Ford Fellowship and Presidential Scholarship for graduate study at Atlanta University and the University of Virginia. She proudly holds the Doctorate of Arts in Teaching English in the Community College from George Mason University. She is also a certified reading specialist. She has been employed by the Portsmouth and Richmond Public Schools and on the English faculties of the University of North Alabama and Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Barbara is currently the Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Virginia. She chairs the Study Abroad Steering Committee and serves on the following committees: academic affairs, administrative affairs, curriculum, distance learning, educational resources taskforce, enrollment management council for completion, guided pathways task force, learning communities team, professional development and renewal, and Reynolds Leadership Council.  She has also served as chair of the Virginia’s Community Colleges Council of Deans and on its Professional Development Committee. Her most recent years in the classroom were spent training faculty and teaching distance learning courses as faculty-in-residence with the Center for Technology and Distance Learning. She has presented at national and regional conferences on instructional technology and is a certified Quality Matters Reviewer of online courses.

Barbara’s involvement in her Richmond community is extensive. Currently, she serves on the Emeriti Board of Directors for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and is an elder in First Presbyterian Church. She has been active in the cultural arts community, serving on the Council of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Board of Trustees and Advisory Board of Virginia Repertoire Theatre, Vice President for Audience Development and Board of Directors of the Richmond Symphony, and member of the Richmond Choral Society. She has also served on the Advisory Board for BB&T Bank, and has served several terms on the Boards of Governors for St. Catherine’s School and The United Way. She is an alumna of Leadership Metro Richmond and a past president of the Richmond Links, Incorporated. She has performed in several musicals and sings in the choir at First Presbyterian Church.

Barbara and her husband, James Vernon Glenn, are being honored in November by the Virginia Repertoire Theatre at an event launching the Barbara and Vernon Glenn Fund to enable low-income children to attend theatrical performances. The Glenns have two adult children, and are the grandparents of five grandsons, two of whom are freshmen at Harvard University and University of the Redlands.

History and Art History

Sharon Deane, MA '10

What advice would you give to a current Mason student?

My advice to any student is to make the most of your education by pursuing excellence in your studies, and complete an internship in your area of interest while investing in friendships.  It can be one of the most rewarding and memorable chapters in your life.  Also, cultivate a professional network, continue learning, mentor others, and strive to make your skills relevant with the ever-changing marketplace.

Sharon Deane received her master’s degree in history, magna cum laude, from Mason in 2010, complementing a career that has included work in interior design, project management, facilities management, and museum education. She currently works for the Department of Defense, in a dual role as an exhibit project manager and education specialist at the United States 50^th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemoration.

Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Sharon grew up in different parts of the world as her father, Lt. Col. William L. Deane, served in the U.S. Army, including two tours in Vietnam. Lt. Col. Deane was declared Missing In Action after his helicopter was shot down in the Quang Tri province in 1973, and Sharon’s family endured 27 years of uncertainty until some of his remains were recovered and interred at Arlington National Cemetery in 2000. As a Gold Star Daughter, Sharon finds great meaning in the opportunity to serve those who have served and have sacrificed.

Recently, Sharon and her project team received the 2017 John Wesley Powell Prize for excellence in historic preservation and display for their permanent exhibit, “The Vietnam War,” which occupies an extensive portion of a corridor in the Pentagon. The display, ironically, is located in one of the same portions of the building where, after September 11, 2001, Sharon helped manage the Pentagon’s multi-million dollar renovation.

After earning her history degree, Sharon served as Director of Education at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the organization that manages the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and worked on early design and development efforts for the Education Center at the Wall on the National Mall. In her current position at DOD, Sharon supports the Commemoration’s mission of thanking and honoring Vietnam veterans through pinning ceremonies and promoting education on Vietnam throughout the United States.  She has encouraged many POW-MIA and Gold Star families as they seek closure for their losses, and she has volunteered her time and talents for the Girl Scouts, her church, and her local community.

Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies

Kim D. Stryker, BA '05 and MAIS '14

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

When I returned to finish my undergrad in 2001, I wanted to study Physical Anthropology. At that time, Folklore classes were cross listed between English and Anthropology. If that hadn’t been the case, I may have never taken a Folklore class and I would have missed out on being a Folklorist, which is what I was born to do.

Kim D. Stryker is an independent folklorist living in Falls Church, Virginia, in a modern farmhouse with her husband, two big dogs, an old cat, and three chickens. Her master of arts in interdisciplinary studies, with its concentration in folklore, has launched her impressive track record of applied folklore research, advocacy, and community engagement. Her work was recently recognized with a major national award, the Archie Green Fellowship, awarded by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. The Fellowship is intended to support new research in the culture and traditions of American workers and to generate significant digital collections to be made available to researchers and the public. Kim is examining the work lives of people in the rapidly expanding Virginia wine industry. The project builds on the research that Kim conducted for her master’s thesis, a long-term ethnographic study of “pick-your-own” farmers in the Virginia Piedmont.  

Kim is a dedicated participant in and advocate for public folklore initiatives that communicate folklore research and practice to the broader public. This summer, she co-organized the 50^th Anniversary Celebration for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., and in September she hosted the North Carolina Traditions music stage at Greensboro’s National Folk Festival. Her longstanding involvement with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival—first as a volunteer and later as an Education and Family Activities Coordinator—led her to found the Save the Smithsonian Folklife Festival campaign in 2014. In the face of new National Park Service regulations that threatened to oust the Festival from its location on the National Mall, Kim used social media, alliances with like-minded groups, a successful online petition and letter-writing campaign, and volunteer efforts to build a campaign that garnered significant national and local media attention and promoted a compromise agreement between the National Park Service and the Festival leadership.

Kim has taught a section of Mason’s introductory undergraduate course, Folklore and Folklife, each semester since fall 2016. She fosters public engagement by organizing guest presentations and film screenings by visiting folklorists in her classes and opening them up to the wider community. Kim is a financial supporter of the Delaplane Strawberry Festival, and is a member of several professional and community organizations, including the American Folklore Society, the Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County, the Fauquier County Historical Society, and the Northern Virginia Beekeepers Association.

Modern and Classical Languages

Charlotte M. Calobrisi, BA '81 and MA '84

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

As a graduate student in the master’s degree program, I was given the marvelous opportunity to teach introductory French classes as a teaching fellow. This experience affirmed my love for teaching and opened doors for me to continue my education at Georgetown University. 

Charlotte Calobrisi holds a bachelor of arts in French and a master of arts in foreign languages from Mason; a Master of Science in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University, and she has completed Ph.D. coursework in Applied Linguistics, also at Georgetown.

She has worked in various roles at Northern Virginia Community College since 1989, beginning as a faculty member teaching English as a Second Language and French, and has served the college in various leadership roles, including as assistant dean of English as a Second Language and American Sign Language, special assistant for dual enrollment, and special assistant for NOVA’s reaffirmation of accreditation. Charlotte became dean of the Division of Languages and Literature in 2011, a position she held until taking the role of interim provost of the Annandale Campus in February 2015. In July 2016, she took on the role of associate vice president of human resources and equity and diversity. During her tenure at the college, Charlotte has also served on multiple college and state committees and participated in community activities. 

Philosophy

Dr. Daw-Nay R. Evans, BA '99

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

Everything from being a resident assistant in Commonwealth Hall to working at the Black Peer Counseling Center under the tutelage of Dr. Benson Cooke has had a profound impact on my life and career.  My love of learning was deepened and broadened during my years at GMU. Without the philosophy department and professors such as Martin De Nys, Rose Cherubin, Wayne Froman, Ted Kinnaman, Debra Bergoffen, Gilbert NMO Morris, and Emmett Holman, I would never have pursued graduate study in philosophy.  

Dr. Daw-Nay Evans earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Mason in 1999. Since then, he has earned a master’s in philosophy from Virginia Tech and received his PhD in philosophy from DePaul University.

Currently, he is an assistant professor of philosophy and African American Studies at Lake Forest College, in Illinois, where he was recently named the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Assistant Professor of Humanities. In the spring of 2017 he was the winner of the William L. Dunn Award for Teaching and Scholarly Excellence. Daw-Nay's first book, Nietzsche and Classical Greek Philosophy: Beautiful and Diseased, was published in December, 2016, by Lexington Books.

Psychology

Michelle Marks, MA '93 and PhD '98

What advice would you give to a current Mason student?

Get to know your professors. They are amazing people who chose their careers because they wanted to be educators and to share what they know with students. Ask them questions that interest you about careers, your educational journey, your questions about class. Tell them something about yourself and let them get to know you too!

Dr. Michelle Marks is the Vice President for Academic Innovation and New Ventures at George Mason University. In this capacity, she is responsible for identifying, launching, and sustaining educational initiatives that fulfill George Mason’s strategic plan and generate financial resources to support students, faculty and the educational mission. Charged with creating accessible student pathways and bringing learning science innovations to campus, Michelle is leading university initiatives designed to deliver online programming at scale, create pathway programming for international students, and support adult degree completion through the establishment of strategic partnerships with businesses, government, and education institutions.

Michelle has been a champion for increasing higher education access and completion rates for Virginia’s students and is currently leading a joint initiative with Northern Virginia Community College that will launch a new student transfer model for community college students interested in pursuing a four-year degree. She oversees Mason Learning Solutions, the Office of Digital Learning, Academic Initiatives, and Services, and the Academic Ventures project management group.

Michelle has previously served as George Mason’s Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Associate Provost for Graduate Education. As a professor of management in Mason’s School of Business, she spent her career researching organizational leadership development and teamwork. She has published studies illustrating the dynamic nature of the collaborative processes used by organizational teams and the critical roles of team leaders. In 2006, she was honored with the George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award and was the recipient of the Executive MBA Professor of the Year award in 2008 and 2011.

Religious Studies

Andrew Pedry, BA '12 and MA '15

What makes Mason special to you?

I arrived at Mason after a ten year hiatus from school very unsure of my academic potential. The department advisor, the late Dr. Shiner, really listened to me when I told him about my experiences visiting Ur and Babylon and within twenty minutes of leaving his office I received an email from Dr. Burns inviting me to take a directed reading class on Ancient Mesopotamian religion with him. That class was incredibly challenging, deeply informative and very rewarding. The whole experience was incredibly responsive and positive, and with that encouragement I jumped in with both feet and graduated magna cum laude with a dual major three years later.

From the age of seven to fourteen, Andrew Pedry lived in the Soviet Union and France as an Embassy dependent. Having experienced the import of America’s presence for good in the world, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2000. Meritoriously promoted, he was deployed to the Pacific where he engaged in humanitarian operations in East Timor in 2001; he also commanded two Scout-Sniper teams during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He married his high school sweetheart, Mrs. Rachel Pedry, while in the Marines, and the two moved to the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area in 2005.

After four years’ work in the corporate world, Andrew came to Mason, where he majored in religious studies and history. He graduated magna cum laude in 2012 with honors in both degrees, and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship by the U.S. Department of State. He and his family spent the 2012-2013 academic year in Montenegro before he returned to Mason for graduate school.

Andrew graduated with his master’s degree in history in 2015 and accepted a position as a history teacher with the Riverside Military Academy of Gainesville, Georgia. Today he teaches middle and high school history classes, an elective course on Leadership, Manhood and Valor, and coaches the varsity fencing team and the airsoft team.

School of Integrative Studies

Alison Culhane, BA '14

How did your Mason Experience impact your career?

My career would have taken an entirely different path without my Mason experience.  When I was a student, I met and worked with a lot of the people that I work with now.  Entering the workforce and already having those connections proved to be very valuable.  The Environmental and Sustainability Studies program requires students to do a lot of experiential learning.  I conducted a service learning project, then completed an internship with FCPS Get2Green.  Since they had seen my work during my service learning project and internship, and I was already familiar with the Get2Green program, they hired me as a program assistant.  

Ali Culhane graduated from Mason in 2014 with a B.A. in environmental and sustainability studies. As a student, she conducted a service learning project with Fairfax County Public Schools' Get2Green program, documenting the environmental education initiatives underway in the district's schools. She now works as Get2Green's Environmental Stewardship Program Specialist. In this role, she serves as an in-house consultant for schools implementing environmental stewardship projects, collaborates with stakeholders to enhance resources and support, and continues to document the school district’s green initiatives. 

She stays connected to the Mason community by matching current students who seek service learning opportunities and internships with local schools that aspire to go green. Through her work with the nonprofit NoVA Outside, she works with Mason faculty and students on the annual School Environmental Action Showcase, which hosts hundreds of local students for a day of environmental education, networking, and fun each spring at the Center for the Arts. In June 2017, Fairfax County schools presented Ali with an Outstanding Employee Award in recognition of her service to the community and in appreciation of the national acclaim that her contributions have brought to the Get2Green program.

Sociology and Anthropology

Brian Estes, MA '08

What makes Mason special to you?

The intelligent, insightful faculty who genuinely care for their students.

Brian Estes received his master’s degree in anthropology from George Mason University in 2008, and has used his expertise to further a career in research. From Mason, he went to work at Westat Corporation, where he provided technical assistance and helped implement evaluations of programs sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation.

Brian is currently with Insight Policy Research, who describes him as an expert qualitative researcher with a thorough knowledge of program evaluation and research design. He has substantive experience directing projects; leading data collection efforts; and analyzing data obtained from key informant interviews, focus groups, and site visits. He has extensive experience working with a variety of groups, including health professionals, educators, state and federal grantees, low-income households, military personnel, and youth. He has provided qualitative research expertise for numerous agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Defense, Education, Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation.

He contributes to numerous studies in the fields of education, workforce development, and food and nutrition. He serves as project director for HUD’s Performance-Based Contract Administrators Customer Service Survey and is the qualitative lead for the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service’s SNAP Employment and Training Characteristics Study and the Evaluation of Demonstrations of National School Lunch Program/School Breakfast Program Direct Certification of Children Receiving Medicaid Benefits. He is an exceptionally versatile researcher skilled in all phases of the research process, from study design and task and project management to the writing and presentation of results.

Women and Gender Studies

Mary Ann Vega, BA '15

What advice would you give to a current Mason student?

If you live on campus, and especially if you live off campus, find a place to call home. My experience at Mason dramatically transformed for the better once I found the Women and Gender Studies Center. When you find a place where you can be authentic and be challenged and lay down to take a nap, it makes such a difference in your ability to succeed.

Mary Ann Vega graduated from George Mason University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and another in art history. She is currently a student in our Masters of Art in Interdisciplinary Studies program with a concentration in Women and Gender Studies. In addition to the MAIS, she is also pursuing a master’s degree in sociology at Mason and upon completion will be the first student to earn this degree combination. Her research focuses on higher education policy and campus climate with special attention to issues around domestic violence and sexual assault.

Mary Ann also serves as the graduate assistant in Women and Gender Studies. In this role, she coordinates course marketing and course presentations in classes, serves as a liaison to campus committees, and does most of the marketing and outreach work for the program’s University Life programming.

Mary Ann is a first generation college student who has often worked as many as three jobs at a time in order to fund her graduate school experience, all while taking a full course load and earning outstanding grades. Her achievements and dedication have been recognized through the Dean’s Challenge Award, which is earned by undergraduate and graduate students who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement despite challenging circumstances.