List of George Mason University people

This list includes alumni and faculty of George Mason University.

Notable faculty

James M. Buchanan, Nobel Prize-winning economist

Nobel laureates

Vernon L. Smith, Nobel Prize-winning economist

• James M. Buchanan, Nobel Prize-winning economist (1986)
• Vernon L. Smith, Nobel Prize-winning economist (2002)

Pulitzer Prize winners

• Steven Pearlstein, Pulitzer Prize winner for Commentary in 2008
• Martin Sherwin, Pulitzer Prize winner for his biography of Robert Oppenheimer
• Roger Wilkins, Pulitzer Prize winner for coverage of the Watergate scandal (along with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein) while he was working at The Washington Post; retired

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

• William Sims Bainbridge
• Shaul Bakhash, scholar of Persian studies; husband of Haleh Esfandiari
• Mary Catherine Bateson, former Clarence J. Robinson Professor in Anthropology and English; Professor Emerita
• Robert Bausch, novelist
• Rei Berroa, poet
• Andrés Boiarsky
• Courtney Angela Brkic, poet
• Alan Cheuse, novelist
• Arthur W. Chickering
• Wilfrid Desan
• Bùi Diễm, South Vietnam's Ambassador to the United States
• Robert J. Elder, Jr, Air Force Commander
• Marita Golden, novelist
• Gerald L. Gordon
• Joshua Greenberg
• Hugh Gusterson
• Helon Habila
• Deanna Hammond
• Frances V. Harbour
• Hugh Heclo, professor of American politics and winner of John Gaus award
• Carma Hinton, documentary filmmaker, The Gate of Heavenly Peace
• Susan Hirsch, legal and linguistic anthropologist
• Anthony P. Hyde, journalist, Chicago Bulls
• Mark N. Katz
• Peter Klappert, poet
• Gary L Kreps
• Thelma Z. Lavine, philosopher
• Suzannah Lessard, writer
• Lawrence W. Levine, historian
• Samuel Robert Lichter, former professor at Princeton University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Yale, and Columbia University
• Peter Mandaville, professor of international affairs and scholar of political Islam
• Nadine Meyer, poet
• Robert Nadeau, English professor
• Eric Pankey, poet
• Roy Rosenzweig
• Richard E. Rubenstein
• Clare Shore
• Susan Shreve
• Richard Norton Smith, presidential historian; former director of five presidential libraries
• Rod Smith, poet
• Peter Stearns, American historian and former provost
• Lev Vekker, psychologist
• Rex A. Wade, professor of Russian history
• Margaret R. Yocom
• Mary Kay Zuravleff, novelist
• Jeremy Crampton, cartographer

Department of Economics

Gordon Tullock, developed the public choice theory

• Peter Boettke
• Donald J. Boudreaux
• Henry N. Butler
• Bryan Caplan
• Tyler Cowen
• Christopher Coyne
• Richard H. Fink, Executive Vice President of the Koch Industries
• Joseph L. Fisher, U.S. Congressman from Virginia
• Jack A. Goldstone
• Wendy Lee Gramm
• Robin Hanson
• Laurence Iannaccone
• Manuel H. Johnson, former Vice Governor of the Federal Reserve
• Daniel B. Klein
• Arnold Kling
• Don Lavoie
• Peter T. Leeson
• Kevin McCabe
• Maurice McTigue, former Minister for Labor in New Zealand
• James C. Miller III, Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan
• Jennifer Roback Morse
• Russ Roberts, host of EconTalk
• George Selgin
• Alex Tabarrok
• Robert Tollison
• Gordon Tullock, developed the public choice theory
• Richard E. Wagner
• Lawrence H. White
• Walter E. Williams, John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics
• Bart Wilson
• Bruce Yandle, Executive Director of the Federal Trade Commission

School of Art

• Chawky Frenn

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

• Kevin Avruch, Henry Hart Rice Professor of Conflict Resolution and Professor of Anthropology and Dean of S-CAR
• Marc Gopin, James H. Laue Professor of World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution
• Susan Hirsch, Professor of Conflict Resolution and Anthropology
• Richard E. Rubenstein, University Professor of Conflict Resolution and Public Affairs

Schar School of Policy and Government

Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA

United States Ambassador to Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Zoltan Acs
• David S. Alberts, Director of Research for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense.
• Kenneth Button
• Thomas M. Davis, former U.S. Congressman from Virginia.
• Robert Deitz, former Chief Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.
• Desmond Dinan
• Richard Florida
• William Conrad Gibbons
• Marc Gopin
• Stephen Haseler
• Michael Hayden, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.
• Ellen Laipson, former CEO of The Stimson Center.
• Seymour Martin Lipset
• Andrew McCabe, former acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
• Patrick Mendis, American diplomat and expert on Sino-American relations.
• Patrick Michaels, climatologist.
• Thomas J. Miller, former United States Ambassador to Greece, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Michael Morell, former acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
• Saskia Popescu, infectious disease epidemiologist
• Bill Schneider, Los Angeles Times contributor and former CNN senior political analyst.
• Jeremy Shearmur
• Louise Shelley
• Richard Norton Smith
• John N. Warfield

College of Science

• Yakir Aharonov (Professor from 2006 to 2008), physicist, known for Aharonov–Bohm effect, winner of National Medal of Science (2009)
• David Albright
• Ken Alibek, Colonel in the Soviet Union in charge of biodefense
• Robert Axtell
• Peter J. Denning
• Genevieve Grotjan Feinstein, mathematician and cryptanalyst.
• Klaus Fischer, mathematician.
• Peter A. Freeman
• Rebecca Goldin, mathematician.
• Robert Hazen, Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science; author.
• Abul Hussam, inventor of the Sono arsenic filter, for which he received the 2007 sustainability prize awarded by the National Academy of Engineering.
• Thomas Lovejoy
• Angela Orebaugh
• Suresh V. Shenoy
• Jagdish Shukla, meteorologist
• Fred Singer
• John P. Snyder, cartographer
• James Trefil, physicist, and author
• Ernst Volgenau, chairman and founder of SRA International
• Edward Wegman, statistician
• Boris Willis

School of Systems Biology

• Valery Soyfer

Donald G. Costello College of Business

• Ajay Vinze, dean of the School of Business
• Anthony Sanders, Distinguished Professor of Real Estate Finance

Antonin Scalia Law School

• Jonathan H. Adler, legal commentator and law professor
• Peter Berkowitz
• David Bernstein
• Lawrence J. Block, Federal Judge
• Frank H. Buckley
• Henry N. Butler, Republican candidate for member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 11th congressional district
• Segun Toyin Dawodu – Attorney and Physician
• Susan Dudley, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President George W. Bush
• Victoria Espinel, United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator
• Adrian S. Fisher, lawyer, diplomat, and politician during the 1960s and 1970s
• Sandra Froman, President of the National Rifle Association of America
• Sigrid Fry-Revere, founder and president of Center for Ethical Solutions
• Ernest Gellhorn
• Douglas H. Ginsburg, judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Ronald Reagan's nominee to the United States Supreme Court
• Neil Gorsuch, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Brett Kavanaugh, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• William Kovacic, former member of the Federal Trade Commission
• Michael I. Krauss, former Commissioner for Québec's Human Rights Commission
• William H. Lash, former United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce
• James LeMunyon, former United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce
• Robert A. Levy, chairman of the Cato Institute
• Leonard Liggio, Vice President of Atlas Economic Research Foundation
• Deborah Platt Majoras, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
• Henry Manne
• James C. Miller III, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission; Budget Director for President Ronald Reagan
• John Warwick Montgomery
• Timothy Muris, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
• Paul F. Nichols, former delegate to the Virginia General Assembly
• Raymond O'Brien
• Daniel D. Polsby, Dean of Law
• Jeremy A. Rabkin
• Steve Ricchetti, served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Clinton administration; counselor to Vice President Joe Biden
• Chuck Robb, former Governor of Virginia; former U.S. Senator
• Kyndra Miller Rotunda, Army JAG officer
• Hans-Bernd Schäfer
• Loren A. Smith, Federal Judge
• Clarence Thomas, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Michael Uhlmann
• Clay T. Whitehead, former director of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy
• Todd Zywicki, former Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission

School of Recreation, Health, and Tourism

• Steve Baumann, Chief Executive of the National Soccer Hall of Fame
• Charley Casserly, General Manager of the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans
• Craig Esherick, former head coach of the Georgetown basketball team

Notable alumni

Corporate/non-profit

• Muna Abu-Sulayman, Secretary General and Executive Director, Alwaleed Philanthropies
• Erden Eruç, President, CEO, Around-n-Over
• Zainab Salbi, President, Women for Women International
• Will Seippel, executive
• Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director, American Humanist Association
• Martin Andrew Taylor, former Senior Executive Corporate VP of Windows Live and MSN

Government, politics, and economics

Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, President of Somalia

Anna Cabral Treasurer of the United States

Kathleen Casey Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

• Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, President of Puntland and former Prime Minister of Somalia
• David Bobzien, member of the Nevada Assembly
• Denise Bode, energy expert, member of President George W. Bush's Energy Transition Advisory Team
• Anna E. Cabral, Treasurer of the United States under President George W. Bush
• John Cobin, American-born Chilean economist and politician, former U.S. Libertarian Party candidate, and founder of the Galt’s Gulch Libertarian Compound in Chile. Known for his involvement in the 2019 Reñaca shooting during the 2019–2021 Chilean protests
• Kathleen L. Casey, Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Sandra Cauffman, NASA
• Sean Connaughton, Virginia Secretary of Transportation and former U.S. Maritime Administrator
• Garrison Courtney, Chief Public Affairs of the Drug Enforcement Administration
• Ken Cuccinelli, Attorney General of Virginia
• Bob Deuell, Texas State Senator
• Christine Fox, former acting U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense
• Michael Frey, member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
• Nancy Garland, member of the Ohio house of representatives
• Juleanna Glover, press secretary to Vice President Dick Cheney
• Bethany Hall-Long, Lieutenant Governor of Delaware
• William D. Hansen, US Deputy Secretary of Education under President George W. Bush
• Charniele Herring, former Majority Leader Virginia House of Delegates
• Deborah Hersman, National Transportation Safety Board
• Cathy Hudgins, member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
• David Jolly, member of the United States House of Representatives
• Mohammad Khazaee, Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN
• Kaye Kory, Virginia House Delegate
• Sherri Kraham, deputy VP at the Millennium Challenge Corporation
• Nathan Larson, former politician, arrested in Denver, Colorado and faces child kidnapping and child pornography charges
• Patrick Lechleitner, acting Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• Mark B. Madsen, Utah State Senator
• Mike Mazzei, Oklahoma State Senator
• William W. Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana
• John Morlu, Liberian presidential candidate
• Liam O'Grady, United States federal judge
• Paul F. Nichols, Virginia House Delegate
• Nancy Pfotenhauer, adviser to the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign
• David Ramadan, member of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Steve Ricchetti, former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton
• Denise Turner Roth, former Administrator of the GSA
• James M. Scott, Virginia House Delegate
• William P. Winfree, NASA
• Richard L. Young, United States federal judge
• Chris Wood, director of the Central Intelligence Agency's Counterterrorism Center
• Harold T. Martin III, National Security Agency contractor convicted of theft of classified information

Literary and media

• Richard Bausch, novelist
• Robert Bausch, novelist
• David Michael Conner, author
• Stuart Cosgrove, Scottish journalist, broadcaster and television executive
• Sharon Creech, novelist
• Chad Ford, sports journalist and founder of ESPN Insider
• Angie Goff, news anchor, NBC 4 Washington WRC-TV
• Hala Gorani, news anchor, CNN International
• Brian Krebs, journalist
• Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Poet Laureate of Virginia
• J. Michael Martinez, poet
• Nadine Meyer, poet
• Stephen Moore, journalist, policy analyst, The Wall Street Journal and Fox News
• Evan Oakley, poet
• Nancy K. Pearson, poet
• Susan Rook, news anchor, CNN
• Clayton Swisher, journalist, Al Jazeera English
• Rebecca Wee, poet
• Mark Winegardner, author

Sports and entertainment

• Julius Achon, Ugandan distance runner, 800m American collegiate record holder
• Joe Addo, soccer player
• Mark Adickes, football player
• Murielle Ahouré, NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships All-American in the 60-meter dash
• Jorge Andres, Anchor & NFL Analyst for NBC Universal, Former Sportscenter Anchor for ESPN
• Negar Assari, artist
• Abdi Bile, Olympic runner
• Justin Bour, baseball player, Miami Marlins
• Brent Brockman, soccer player
• Bill Brown, George Mason baseball coach
• Lamar Butler, basketball player
• Shawn Camp, baseball player, Toronto Blue Jays
• Folarin Campbell, basketball player
• Rebecca Cardon, actress
• Terri Dendy, Olympic track and field athlete
• Jennifer Derevjanik, basketball player
• Ben Dogra, sports agent
• John Driscoll, actor
• Chad Dukes, radio host, WJFK-FM
• Jerry Dunn, basketball coach
• Ryan Ellis, NASCAR driver
• George Evans, basketball player
• Denis Hamlett, soccer coach
• Luke Hancock, former George Mason basketball player; current Louisville basketball player
• Richard Hatch, winner of the first season of Survivor
• Nikki Hornsby, Grammy voting singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, founder of CJP-NHRecords
• Jake Kalish, baseball player
• King Kamali, Iranian bodybuilder
• Archie Kao, actor
• Joelle Khoury, musician (pianist and composer)
• Sarah Kozer, television personality, appeared on Joe Millionaire
• Jim Larranaga, Mason's head men's basketball coach from 1997-2011
• Jai Lewis, basketball player
• Bob Lilley, soccer player and head coach
• Tamir Linhart, soccer player
• Jason Miskiri, former NBA basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets
• Dayton Moore, general manager, senior VP, Kansas City Royals
• Mike Morrison, basketball player
• Paige Moss, actress
• Rob Muzzio, decathlon champion, Olympic athlete
• Anthony Noreiga, soccer player
• Gabe Norwood, Philippine Basketball Association player
• Ryan Pearson, basketball player
• Richard Phillips, Jamaican sprinter; competed in the 110 metres hurdles at the 2004, 2008, and the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Jennifer Pitts, Miss Virginia, Miss Virginia USA
• Mark Pulisic, soccer player
• Charlie Raphael, soccer player
• Rob Rose, former NBA basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers
• Dianna Russini, ESPN anchor
• Kenny Sanders, basketball player
• Rhea Seehorn, actress
• Ritch Shydner, comedian
• Tony Skinn, basketball player
• Tommy Steenberg, ice skater
• Shawn Stiffler, college baseball coach at VCU
• Will Thomas, basketball player
• David Verburg, 400m sprinter; won the gold medal in the 2013 World Championship 4 × 400 m relay
• Alan Webb, American record holder in the mile
• Chris Widger, former MLB baseball player
• Aimee Willard, lacrosse player
• Ricky Wilson, former NBA basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs and the New Jersey Nets
• Carlos Yates, basketball player
• Jesse Young, basketball player; member of the Canada national team that participated in the 1999 and 2003 Pan American Games
• Kate Ziegler, world record distance swimmer

Other

• Amir Ansari, venture capitalist
• Anousheh Ansari, space tourist
• Sandy Antunes, astronomer
• Randall C. Berg, Jr., lawyer
• M. Brian Blake, professor
• Mark A. Calabria, Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute
• Alan M. Davis, engineer and businessman
• Chris DiBona, Google Public Sector Director
• Taylor Edgar, stand-up comic and musician
• Sibel Edmonds, former Federal Bureau of Investigation translator
• Fred E. Foldvary, economist
• Graham Foust, professor and poet
• Steven Horwitz, economist
• Raynard Jackson, Republican political consultant
• Matt Kibbe, President and CEO of FreedomWorks
• Jonathan Klick, professor
• Robert A. Levy, Chairman of the Cato Institute
• Jeb Livingood, professor and writer
• Daniel Mann, lawyer
• George Michael, professor
• Kendrick Moxon, lawyer and Scientologist
• Sareh Nouri, Luxury Bridal Designer
• Angela Orebaugh, cyber security technologist and professor
• Mark Perry, professor
• Brad Pfaff, USDA Wisconsin Farm Service Agency executive director
• David Prychitko, economist
• Jose Rodriguez, political activist
• Stephen Slivinski, economist for the Goldwater Institute
• Victoria Stiles, makeup artist
• Edward Stringham, professor
• Jeffery Taubenberger, virologist
• Deborah Willis, photographer and professor
• Ali al-Tamimi, convicted terrorist