Schar School News for June 2024

George Mason to Launch Nation’s First Center for Small Business AI Innovation with $1M Grant

Andrew J Schappert — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 14:40:17 +0000

George Mason to Launch Nation’s First Center for Small Business AI Innovation with $1M Grant Andrew J Schappert Fri, 06/28/2024 - 10:40

In a groundbreaking move set to bolster the economic competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Virginia, ��AV has been awarded a $1 million grant to establish the nation’s first Center for AI Innovation for Economic Competitiveness (CAIIEC).

J.P. Singh: ‘Small and medium enterprises are the backbone of the U.S. economy at the local level.’ Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

This pioneering initiative aims to place Virginia at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption among SMEs, which often fly under the radar in discussions dominated by federal and big-tech AI advancements.

The $1 million grant, which was sponsored by Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, is directed through the U.S. Small Business Administration. The center will draw expertise from several George Mason colleges, including the Schar School of Policy and Government, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Engineering and Computing.

“Small and medium enterprises are the backbone of the U.S. economy at the local level,” said the Schar School’s J.P. Singh, the Distinguished University Professor serving as principal investigator. “We will work with SMEs to strengthen their efforts in AI adoption all over Virginia and learn from global cases such as Germany, where its famed SMEs have been called ‘the hidden champions.’”

“I'm excited George Mason’s Center for AI Innovation for Economic Competitiveness is receiving $1 million in federal funding, which I was proud to have helped secure in the recent government funding bill,” said Senator Kaine. “This will help prepare small businesses and Virginians to harness AI and lead to new opportunities for economic growth and jobs in the commonwealth.”

The new center promises to provide much-needed leadership, support, and training to these enterprises, ensuring they do not get left behind in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. George Mason’s interdisciplinary team, comprising computer scientists, public policy experts, economists, environmental and medical scientists, and ethicists, is uniquely positioned to drive this initiative.

“I am proud to have helped secure funding for the Center for AI Innovation for Economic Competitiveness at George Mason,” said Senator Warner in a statement. “This investment will help position Virginia as a leader in AI development by creating programs to help small businesses and communities thrive in the digital market, marking a huge win for Virginians across the commonwealth.”

The university has long been a leader in AI research, and the center aims to extend this expertise beyond academia to make a tangible impact on local businesses.

Amarda Shehu: ‘This is much needed to better position industry in an innovative and competitive environment.’ Photo by Office of University Branding

“Here is another great example of how George Mason continues to deliver on our commitment to access and community-engaged technology diffusion, partnering with diverse communities in new and innovated ways,” said Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact Andre Marshall. “What better way to broadly support our local and national economy by providing our small businesses with the disruptive tech and best practices that will shape our future?”

The center will both train and encourage students at George Mason to work with SMEs in Virginia, Singh added, highlighting the initiative’s educational component.

Co-principal investigator Amarda Shehu, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and a longtime AI researcher, emphasized the practical benefits the center will offer.

“As an AI researcher, I see firsthand how fast AI is moving,” said Shehu, who is also associate dean for AI Innovation in the College of Engineering and Computing and associate vice president for research at George Mason's Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA). “I also get to see through my various interactions with industry that such a pace can be challenging, particularly for small businesses. So, we thought about how Research 1 universities, such as George Mason, can unlock the power of AI for small and medium enterprises.”

This center will do that, she said.

“To respond to AI technologies and regulatory requirements moving rapidly, the center will develop an AI toolkit to help small and medium enterprises capture and operationalize the value of AI for the enterprise,” she said. “This is much needed to better position industry in an innovative and competitive environment.”

The center is a collaboration between the Schar School, IDIA, the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, and the Center for Regional Analysis (CRA). These four entities will leverage their existing collaborative connections to jointly oversee and manage the project.

Project leaders include Singh, who is also codirector of George Mason’s Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnership and a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow with the Robert Bosch Academy, Berlin; Shehu; Terry Clower, CRA director; Naoru Koizumi, Schar School professor and associate dean of research and grants; and Jesse Kirkpatrick, research associate professor and codirector of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center.

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Rona Jobe, MPP ’13, Named Rising Star by National Association of Women Business Owners

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 20:19:22 +0000

Rona Jobe, MPP ’13, Named Rising Star by National Association of Women Business Owners Andrew J Schappert Tue, 06/25/2024 - 16:19

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Rona Jobe, a 2013 graduate of the Schar School of Policy and Government’s Master of Public Policy Program at ��AV, has been presented the Deborah Farnell Rising Star Award by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), a nonprofit organization advocating for more than 10.6 million women entrepreneurs and business owners around the country.

Rona Jobe: The Master of Public Policy program ‘helped me understand the intersection of policy and business practices.’ Photo provided

“The award recognizes entrepreneurs who excel at strategy, operations, finances, problem solving, innovating, overcoming adversity, and giving back to her community,” NAWBO said in the announcement.

Jobe is the CEO of LVL-Up Strategies, a consulting firm based in Arlington, Virginia, that works to help women-owned enterprises reach the next level of success. As a first-generation immigrant from the Philippines and the wife of a U.S. Foreign Service employee, her company employs U.S. military spouses and Foreign Service spouses while partnering with minority-owned businesses. It helps that she’s fluent in Tagalog, Kapampangan, and Brazilian Portuguese.

While at the Schar School, Jobe worked as a management consultant with a focus on policy implementation. Her work involved technology, data governance, and assisting health practitioners in transitioning to electronic records.

With such a varied client portfolio of widely varied goals and needs, LVL-Up Strategies needs to be tactical and calculated in how they achieve success for their clientele. That’s where the Master of Public Policy degree comes in, she said.

“The program helped me understand the intersection of policy and business practices,” she said. “It gave me a deep understanding of how policies impact business practices. Courses in tech-based policy, statistics, and survey methodologies were instrumental in developing goal-oriented metrics.”

The program also taught her how to “guide and manage projects effectively, even without being the expert in every detail,” which she said is a crucial skill as a consultant. “And the practical project management advice from professors was invaluable in shaping business strategies,” she said.

As for the Rising Star award, Rona said, “This award is a validation that we, foreign service and military spouses, have the support of fellow women leaders as we pursue our own career and business and personal development.”

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First Cohort of NEW Leadership Virginia Wraps Up Weeklong Visits with Women Leaders

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:48:02 +0000

First Cohort of NEW Leadership Virginia Wraps Up Weeklong Visits with Women Leaders Andrew J Schappert Tue, 06/25/2024 - 12:48

While some college undergraduates enjoyed downtime during the summer break, 16 students from universities in Virginia skipped the beach and spent six days in June meeting business, social, and political leaders in and around Washington, D.C., with a focus on women’s leadership in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is surrounded in her office by the NEW Leadership Virginia cohort. Photo by Xavier Jimenez/Schar School of Policy and Government

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer makes a point during his meeting with the NEW Leadership students. Virginia House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, the NEW Leadership Virginia Faculty in Residence, is in green. Photo by Xavier Jimenez/Schar School of Policy and Government.

The weeklong residential summer program was the pilot edition of NEW Leadership Virginia, a program designed to engage students from Virginia colleges and universities with women in prominent leadership roles and allies as they shared their experiences and insights, learn about women’s participation in American policy, politics and public life, and develop and practice leadership skills. The program, the only one of its kind in Virginia, was hosted by the Gender and Policy (GAP) Center at ��AV’s Schar School of Policy and Government in partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).

"NEW Leadership Virginia is a unique opportunity for undergraduate students in Virginia pursuing a range of academic majors to gain a sense of the possible in the public sphere,” said codirector Jill Deering, senior assistant dean for student and academic affairs at the Schar School. "This week is about building leadership skills, networks, and a supportive cohort that will serve the participants for years to come."

The cohort included students from George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC), James Madison University, the University of Virginia, the College of William & Mary, and Norfolk State University. Two participants were spring graduates while the remainder were undergraduates. Events took place from June 9 to 14.

The recipients of the ‘Women Who Mind the GAP’ Leadership Awards stand with Bonnie Stabile, second from left: From left, Doorways CEO Diana Ortiz, Director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Civil Rights Center Naomi Barry-Perez, and President of the Consumer Technology Association Kinsey Fabrizio.

The program included an “action project” in which faculty and Schar School interns helped students research a public-facing issue, imitate a legislative hearing, and defend their team's position, with the idea being to develop public speaking and communication proficiencies, among other skills.

A highlight of the week took place on Thursday, June 13, when the program descended on Capitol Hill to speak to visit the offices of U.S. Reps. Jen Kiggans (R), Abigail Spanberger (D), Jennifer McClellan (D), and Don Beyer (D), who is also a George Mason student. While the students met in person with Spanberger, McClellan, and Beyer, they were hosted by Kiggans’ professional staff in her place.

For government and international politics major Ella Duncan-High, the week was exactly what she was hoping for. “I was looking for ways to specifically get involved and gain experience and training outside of the school year, so the summer was the perfect opportunity,” she said. “And I feel like I’m learning a lot even though I’m technically not in school right now.”

Duncan-High said her favorite part of the week was “the session where we get to role-play a press conference and judiciary hearing. I really am enjoying the hands-on experience of being able to work with not only the professors and the assistants who have real work experience with these scenarios, but also getting to work with people my age and similar interests.”

Zateya Jackson, a rising senior at VCU studying political science with a civil rights concentration, said highlights for her were meeting Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan “and my favorite speaker was Charniele Herring, the Virginia House Majority Leader and NEW Leadership Virginia Faculty in Residence, because of their backgrounds as Black women,” she said. “They encourage me to run for office and show that women of color can overcome adversity.” (Herring, who accompanied the students on their visits, is a 1993 George Mason alum in economics.)

U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan meets the NEW Leadership members on the steps of the Capitol. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

“My favorite was Abigail Spanberger,” said NVCC second-year business management student Karen Blanco. "When talking about confidence, Spanberger advised, ‘Don't think about it twice, just say it, and don't worry about what others would say.’ Since English is my second language, I often debate if I should speak up, but never do. So that inspired me.”

The insights offered to the students applied to many fields, not just politics. GAP Director and Schar School professor Bonnie Stabile, who accompanied the NEW Leadership students every step of the way for the week, made that point clear. “You don't have to be elected to office to exhibit leadership and make a difference,” she said. “Many industries need similar skills.”

That idea was on display during a dinner and networking event on June 12 featuring the three “Women Who Mind the GAP” Leadership awardees: U.S. Department of Labor’s Civil Rights Center Director Naomi Barry-Perez; Doorways CEO Diana Ortiz; and Consumer Technology Association President Kinsey Fabrizio, a 2003 George Mason alumna in government and international politics and Spanish.

During the NEW Leadership program, students quickly used their new skills to pursue their political interests. Ayman Habib, a rising George Mason global affairs junior is the director of administration and logistics for No Lost Generation. She thanked Beyer for supporting Virginia refugees and invited the congressman to meet the three refugee students who will be on George Mason’s Fairfax Campus this fall through the State Department’s Welcome Corps.

NEW @ Mason: There’s no question about where the NEW Leadership Virginia program took place. Photo by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

“I wanted to gain clarity at the policy level for our cause and expand our outreach so refugees will have federal support,” she said following the meeting with Beyer. “How fantastic would caring congresspeople be for our students?”

At the end of the week, students shared their future plans, whether academic, personal or professional, and connected on all manner of social medias with the new people they met.

The 2025 edition of the New Leadership Program Virginia takes place in June and Samantha Mendoza-Hernandez, a political science and international studies major at VCU, encourages anyone with a similar ambition to polish resumés and professional skills to apply next year.

“I think it's definitely worth it,” she said. “The program has covered ground that a lot of professionals sometimes overlook and helps with foundations like networking, rhetoric, mannerisms in the workplace, and other details. And really helps with fine-tuning and confidence going into the workforce.”

The biggest takeaway from the week for the Schar School’s Duncan-High “has been meeting people from all different backgrounds,” she said. “Everyone here has very different interests, majoring in different things that aren’t just policy and government related, and everyone is here because they all hope to be a woman in leadership in the future.

“Being surrounded by women who have big aspirations in various fields is so inspiring and is an experience I wouldn't have been able to have otherwise.”

Additional reporting by Buzz McClain

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Earning a master’s degree and graduate certificate online worked perfectly for neurosurgeon Nick Marko

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 16:59:27 +0000

Earning a master’s degree and graduate certificate online worked perfectly for neurosurgeon Nick Marko Andrew J Schappert Mon, 06/24/2024 - 12:59

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There are lifelong learners and then there are individuals like Nick Marko, who recently graduated with a Master of Biodefense and a graduate certificate in illicit trade analysis from the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV.

Before earning his degree in May, Nick Marko (left) received the Outstanding Biodefense Student Award. Pictured here with his advisor Gregory Koblentz. Photo by John Boal Photography

Marko also happens to be a board-certified neurosurgeon who currently serves as director of neurosurgery for LewisGale Health System in Salem, Virginia.

“I am someone who has a hard time not continuing to learn,” he said.

Marko decided to pursue a master’s in biodefense at the Schar School because of an interest in the history of biological and chemical weapons development, proliferation, and use, including both the science and the policy/political dimensions.

“I had read as much as I could on my own in my spare time, but there is always the situation of ‘You don’t know what you don’t know,’” he said.

Marko was familiar with George Mason’s reputation, having attended college and medical school at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and was aware of the school’s online offerings.

“I knew that George Mason had one of the first departments in this [biodefense] space and that it had a great faculty,” he said. “Also, the ability to do the work online was a big plus for me, because I have a full-time day job and had to do coursework on nights and weekends in a bit of a protracted fashion. Ultimately the fit was perfect for my needs.”

Initially planning to earn a graduate certificate in biodefense, Marko’s coursework piqued his interest and led him to earn both the master’s degree and certificate.

“Things got a little bigger in scope than I had initially planned, but it was a great experience,” he said.

Because he completed his degree and certificate coursework completely online (with a few in-person campus visits), Marko appreciated the Schar School’s flexibility.

“The Dean's office was accommodating to my somewhat unique situation and was open to facilitating solutions that allowed me to pursue the degree,” he said. “I was grateful that such an opportunity was available because I couldn’t have made it work otherwise.”

He also praises his professors and advisors, Louise Shelley and Gregory Koblentz.

“They were absolutely terrific,” he said. “I met with them personally several times, and we traded a lot of emails. Both are incredibly knowledgeable and well-connected in their fields. I couldn’t have asked for a better pair of mentors.”

Before earning his degree in May, Marko earned the Outstanding Biodefense Student Award, a testament to his academic efforts and love of learning.

“I am proud of the work that I have done as part of the program,” he said. “I am fortunate to have the opportunity to explore some topics of personal interest at this stage of my life and my career, and the biodefense master's was an example of how I intend to keep doing that.”