Dean's Blog

“Luck (or fortune) favors only the prepared mind.” These words, shared by esteemed scientist, Louis Pasteur more than a century ago, reference preparation’s important role in one’s success. This adage may hold true right now for one of our college’s flagship areas of expertise—climate change and its impacts.

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Last week I gave my first State of the College speech as Dean and leader of Mason’s science community. I was excited to share what I knew, what we had learned over the past year and where we hope to go in the short- and long-term future. Those who attended saw some of the data we are using to establish parameters for our priority efforts including compensation shifts, enrollment growth focus areas, and inclusive excellence opportunities.

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Ever since our early childhood days, we’ve been taught to share our toys and play well together. For many of us on a sports team, or in a musical band or orchestra, as Aristotle described, we learned the whole can be much greater than just the sum of its parts. 

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Did you know there are more than 11,000 graduate students at Mason? Last week, I had the opportunity to interact with many of our science-focused graduate students on the Fairfax and SciTech campuses during our ScienceConnect events. I also attended a Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA) organized luncheon to learn why some of these students chose to embark on a graduate education, and how they are connecting and performing research in our current COVID-19 state. The faculty and administrators who attended also shared suggestions to build their networks and to make the most of their time at Mason.

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