George Mason University

George Mason University (GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, in Northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C. The university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father of the United States.

The university was founded in 1949, and it became an independent university in 1972. The school has since grown into the largest public university by student enrollment in Virginia. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".

Originally founded as a branch of the University of Virginia, 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.

The university's flagship campus is in Fairfax, Virginia. Its other three campuses are in Arlington, Front Royal, and Prince William County. It also operates a retreat and conference center in Lorton and an international campus in Incheon, South Korea.

Since the university's founding, two of its economics professors, James M. Buchanan in 1986 and Vernon L. Smith in 2002, have been awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. Provided by Wikipedia