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This Mason business major wasn’t shy about forging his path

Colleen Rich — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 20:33:56 +0000

This Mason business major wasn’t shy about forging his path Colleen Rich Tue, 04/30/2024 - 16:33

Teon Frazier said he will enjoy his May graduation from ��AV to the fullest.

Honors College student Teon Frazier has a job waiting for him post-graduation. Photo by Cristian Torres/Office of University Branding

After his high school graduation was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no way Frazier is going to miss the ceremony for those leaving the Costello College of Business or the larger university-wide ceremony at EagleBank Arena.

“It just feels so good to have a proper senior sendoff,” said Frazier, whose concentration is in management information systems and is a member of Mason’s Honors College. “It feels like the culmination of eight years, honestly.”

Frazier, from Capital Heights, Maryland, has much to celebrate, even beyond his graduation.

After two summer internships with J.P. Morgan Chase, Frazier has a job as a rotational HR analyst waiting for him with the company in Columbus, Ohio.

Frazier’s personal growth has been just as dramatic, as he transformed from what he called a “shy high-schooler” into the council president for the National Pan-Hellenic Council at Mason.

He is the president of the Rho Tau chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and was elected as the associate regional director for the fraternity, the highest regional position a collegiate member can attain.

“For two years, basically from Maine to Virginia, I was traveling, meeting more of my fellow collegiate brothers, hearing their struggles and being as much help as I could,” Frazier said. “From that, I was able to take a lot from them to bring back to Mason and to my own personal development.”

Glenda Cosby, assistant director for success coaching at George Mason, watched the transformation.

“I remember our first meeting, he was so nervous,” said Cosby, recalling how Frazier was concerned that one mistake would cause him to lose his scholarship and have to leave the university. “And just to see how much he’s grown, how much he has gotten involved. That fear, that lack of confidence, was completely out the window.”

Consider what Frazier accomplished at Chase, where he said he presented and helped implement a plan to increase the analytics and data retention in the HR department.

“I just looked at how I could start quantifying stuff, like how many cases that case managers were actually hearing or how many orders of a specific chair were being made because X-amount of employees had lumbar issues,” Frazier said. “So while other interns were pretty much just shadowing the whole time, I had a project I saw completed to the end.”

“Within six months or a year, he’ll be receiving a promotion or something like that,” Cosby said. “He’s that determined and that driven.”

It all started with his George Mason experience, Frazier said, in which he developed his inherent talents while showing the grit and audacity to overcome the shyness that had been a limitation.

“I loved Mason’s diversity, and I liked the campus’ potential for life,” he said. “I could tell the students here, those that are involved, are passionate about it. It taught me to really put myself out there. That’s a skill not a lot of people have.”

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For this graduate, Mason’s academic options were a career road map

Colleen Rich — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 15:29:09 +0000

For this graduate, Mason’s academic options were a career road map Colleen Rich Thu, 04/25/2024 - 11:29

For Ari Williams, her journey toward graduation at ��AV was anything but linear.

Photo by Cristian Torres/Office of University Branding

The CliffsNotes version is that of a criminology, law and society major who will graduate in May with an eye toward a career in government contracting.

The more complete story is how the options for a diversified education at George Mason—Williams’ major concentration is in homeland security and justice with minors in sociology and intelligence studies—helped prepare her for that career.

“My course load has been learning a lot about the government and its agencies and what they do, and that’s actually really applicable to government contracting,” Williams said. “There’s a lot to be said for being able to read scientific research and journals. That was really great practice for me to doing things such as market research.”

The road that brought Williams toward a government contracting career was winding.

When the Fredericksburg, Virginia, native came to Mason as a first-generation student and a member of the Honors College, she wanted to work in the federal government. She also considered being an FBI agent, a police officer, and joining the military.

She landed on government contracting by chance, she said, after a faculty member in Mason’s Costello College of Business recommended giving the career a look.

Once committed, Williams took things into her own hands, securing analyst internships with CACI International, Cambridge Associates, and PingWind.

“I’ve always been a bit of a determined person,” Williams said. “When I want something or have a plan for something, I always try to enact it because closed mouths don’t get fed, right? So that’s the mentality I’ve always had.”

It was the same for her pursuit of academics.

“I was hungry to learn,” Williams said. “That’s one of the reasons I decided to come to college, because I knew I was going to be interested in what I was learning.”

“Ari is one of the most impressive students I have had the pleasure of teaching at Mason,” said Marie Mele Thomas, associate professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Ari cares deeply about what she is learning, and her ability to think critically about complex issues and share her perspectives in insightful ways has been a joy to witness. I am confident she will continue to excel academically and professionally in whatever path she chooses.”

Continued learning is a big part of the plan for Williams, who said she plans to pursue an MBA after establishing herself in the workforce.

As for her time at George Mason, Williams said the great upsides are the opportunities to network, the quality of the faculty, and its proximity to Washington, D.C.

“All in all, in the last four years I’ve been able to get a lot of work experience. I’ve been able to make a lot of connections,” she said. “I’m as prepared as I can be.”

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Mason’s research is best in Virginia in multiple EduRank rankings

Sarah Holland — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 16:41:23 +0000

Mason’s research is best in Virginia in multiple EduRank rankings Sarah Holland Wed, 04/03/2024 - 12:41

Eighteen ��AV programs are ranked the best in Virginia in a new report by EduRank that focuses on performance in research.

Students enjoy the cherry blossoms on the Fairfax Campus. Photo by Eduardo de Souza/Office of University Branding.

Topping the list is Mason’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, which for the second consecutive year was ranked No. 1 among all public institutions and No. 2 among all institutions nationally.

Best-in-Virginia programs were spread across the university and included those from the Costello College of Business, the Schar School of Policy and Government, the College of Engineering and Computing, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Antonin Scalia Law School, the College of Education and Human Development, and the ROTC.

That research is supported by entities such as the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact, which has overall responsibility for Mason’s research enterprise and support of entrepreneurship and innovation. And Costello College’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship lets students dig into entrepreneurship, from the theoretical to the experimental.

Mason’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is anchored by the university and reaches out into the broader community. Mason Enterprise, a division of the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact, is a strategic collection of 24 programs that support entrepreneurs and small business owners across Virginia, and conducts more than 1,500 training programs and more than 30,000 hours of one-on-one counseling with entrepreneurs in the community and from universities each year.

It is that environment of research, discovery, and innovation, which is a main contributor to Mason’s R1 designation from the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education as one of the nation’s top research universities.

And though the EduRank rankings focus mainly on research performance, they are an indicator of the quality of the programs from which that research is produced.

“Mason is committed to accelerating the translation of research into practice by leveraging university talent, infrastructure, and partnerships to create solutions for societies’ toughest challenges at speed and scale,” said Andre Marshall, Mason’s vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact. “It is a credit to our faculty and students that Mason is a place where we can put theory into practice.”

Added Paula Sorrell, Mason’s associate vice president of innovation and economic development, “Mason was originally created by the business community to serve its needs, and for 50 years it has been doing just that. In the past four years, we’ve significantly amped up our tech entrepreneurship to support and mirror the rapidly growing tech economy, adding 16 new programs and counting.”

Research is the bedrock of entrepreneurship, Costello College dean Ajay Vinzé said.

The university’s top rankings “are in many ways reflective of our approach to business education and the business of higher education,” he said. “Our approach—built on the foundation of a rich university-wide entrepreneurial ecosystem, powered by a growing body of faculty research across multiple fields of study—is changing the arc of higher education expectation and delivery as we prepare the next generation of leaders.”

Costello College is a contributor to the top entrepreneurship ranking, along with the Schar School and the Mercatus Center, all of which produce volumes of research, articles, and papers for an abundance of publications.

Schar School dean Mark J. Rozell called entrepreneurship research “a very distinguishing feature for a public policy and government school.”

Its research at the Center for Micro-Economic Policy Research (CMEPR), for example, is focused on diversity and disadvantaged groups among entrepreneurs, especially those who are Black, immigrants, and female. It also looks at job creation by minority entrepreneurs in minority and low-income communities.

“The center brings an unusual contribution to research on entrepreneurship by focusing on these issues,” said John Earle, the center’s director and a Distinguished University Professor, who has published more than 60 articles and scholarly papers. “While the typical focus for entrepreneurship studies is for performance, especially for firms receiving venture-capital support, CMEPR research analyzes a much broader range of businesses, and how public policies affect the entry, growth, and survival of those owned by minority entrepreneurs.”

At the College of Engineering and Computing, Dean Ken Ball noted that CEC faculty garnered more than $119 million in research awards in 2023.

Dean Alpaslan Ozerdem's Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution class. Photo by: Ron Aira/Office of University Branding.

“I’m proud that our research has informed and strengthened our academic programs and led to innovation and economic growth that benefits society,” Ball said. “Mason has consistently been a national leader in cybersecurity, data analytics, software engineering, aviation, and web development. These rankings reflect the impact CEC researchers have in areas of engineering and computing that are relevant to everyone, as well as our leadership position among Virginia’s public universities.”

CHSS dean Ann Ardis said her college’s contributions to research in best-of-Virginia areas such as criminology, broadcasting, law enforcement, journalism, and political economy “are a testament to the scholarly excellence of our faculty. We take immense pride in our researchers’ contributions to Mason’s growing reputation nationally as a comprehensive R1 institution with strengths across a range of research areas.”

For Alpaslan Özerdem, dean of the Carter School, the ranking in conflict resolution “fuels our dedication to shaping a more peaceful and understanding world.”

Özerdem noted that the school has been at the forefront of teaching, researching, and implementing conflict resolution for four decades.

“So being recognized as the premier institution for conflict resolution in Virginia deepens our pride and reaffirms our vital role within the broader conflict resolution ecosystem of the commonwealth,” he said.

Here are the programs ranked the best in Virginia, with ranking among public institutions and overall national ranking; best in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland (DMV) where noted:

Aviation: 8, 11 (best in the DMV)

Broadcast Journalism: 40, 58

Cinematography: 29, 48 (best in the DMV)

Conflict Resolution: 15, 28

Criminology: 19, 26

Cybersecurity: 21, 33

Data Administration: 19, 29

Entrepreneurship: 1, 2 (best in the DMV)

Human Rights Law: 9, 28 (best in the DMV)

Intellectual Property Law: 6, 18 (best in the DMV)

Law Enforcement: 5, 10 (best in the DMV)

Military Science: 33, 47

Political Economy: 14, 28

Public Policy Administration: 17, 29 (best in the DMV)

Radio & TV Broadcasting: 37, 55

Remote Sensing: 29, 39

Software Engineering: 11, 15

Web Development: 12, 18

See EduRank’s methodology here.

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Her time at Mason is going swimmingly

Colleen Rich — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:34:58 +0000

Her time at Mason is going swimmingly Colleen Rich Thu, 03/21/2024 - 13:34

Ali Tyler is all about television crime shows. They are, she said, her go-to form of entertainment.

Photo by Cristian Torres/Office of University Branding

At the same time, she is well aware they aren’t to be taken seriously.

Tyler is a junior forensic science major at ��AV, and, as she said of Hollywood’s fast-track crime solving, “It’s not at all how it happens in real life. It’s a three-month process versus a two-second process.”

Tyler, from Cheshire, Connecticut, picked Mason because of its well-regarded Forensic Science Program and proximity to Washington, D.C., a choice that put her on her preferred career path and also allowed her to flourish as one of the Atlantic 10’s best all-around swimmers.

Tyler is a three-time conference champion in the 100-yard backstroke, a three-time champion in the 50 freestyle, and a two-time champion in the 200 backstroke. At this year’s conference championship meet, Tyler set a conference meet record of 48.84 seconds in the 100 freestyle to go along with her overall conference record of 22.29 seconds in the 50 freestyle, set in the 2021-22 season. That’s nine individual events entered, nine gold medals.

She also has been part of four relay teams that won gold, three of which set conference records, and is a member of Mason's Honors College.

“It’s been awesome to watch,” said Jamie Greenwood, interim coach of Mason’s swimming and diving team. “She’s elite in our conference, not to mention leading while staying humble. She is the athlete that every coach wants to work with.”

“I’m very glad I made the decision I did,” Tyler said of attending Mason. “I’m very satisfied with how I performed athletically. And I’m so glad I chose the forensics [program] here. The professors and everyone are fantastic.”

Still, it’s not the easiest road.

It means 5:30 a.m. wake-ups during the competitive season to get to the first of two-a-day workouts. It means working around class schedules, which Tyler said caused her on several occasions to miss practices and swim on her own to make up the time.

It means working with faculty who Tyler said have been understanding of the demands on her time and flexible when it comes to assignment deadlines.

The payoff has been both athletic and academic, as Tyler in her first two years at Mason made the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, which acknowledges student-athletes with at least a 3.0 grade-point average.

“What is amazing about her is her ability to maintain such high grades along with a rigorous aquatic training schedule,” said Steven Burmeister, an associate professor in the Forensic Science Program. “This balance demonstrates great discipline and maturity.”

Burmeister should know. He worked with Tyler last summer on a project that revealed LiDAR sensors that can be used to acquire digital crime scene data were most effective at a height of 60 feet.

“Without question, Ali has a bright future ahead of her,” Burmeister said, “and I am sure many accomplishments yet to come.”

Tyler said she is on track to graduate in Spring 2025. And because she has only five classes left for her undergraduate degree, she likely will begin an accelerated masters, also in forensic science.

From there, she said, she could pursue a career in toxicology or with a law enforcement agency.

It also makes sense that a field of study based on investigation would appeal to someone who likes puzzles.

Tyler said she loves brain teasers, disentanglement puzzles, and jigsaw puzzles. In fact, she said she just started a jigsaw puzzle with cherry blossoms.

She also appreciates the way Mason has made her feel at home, in and out of the pool.

“I like how the school is so connected, very community-based,” Tyler said. “But so many people come here from other places. I got a mix of small school and big school all in one.”

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For Mason professors, NEH grants are personal

Colleen Rich — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 15:47:19 +0000

For Mason professors, NEH grants are personal Colleen Rich Mon, 02/12/2024 - 10:47

Two ��AV faculty members received year-long grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), part of 260 grants worth $33.8 million from the NEH this year for humanities projects across the country.

Jo-Marie Burt. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

Jo-Marie Burt, an associate professor in the Schar School for Policy and Government, was awarded a $60,000 fellowship to further her research for a book she will write that examines four war crimes trials that took place in Guatemala between 2013 and 2022.

Arthur Romano, an associate professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, was awarded $148,022 for the recovery of documentation and to collect oral histories of racial violence in Forsyth County, Georgia, for the purpose of creating educational materials, a video library, and an online viewing portal.

“Very happily surprised,” Romano said of the grant.

Said Burt, “I jumped up and down for quite a long time.”

Though their research of consequence is focused on different parts of the world, Burt and Romano will investigate something similar: accountability.

For Romano, it is an opportunity to hear the voices and recollections of those whose families were part of a Black community outside Atlanta, and were driven out by terrorizing White mobs in 1912.

For Burt, who previously wrote a book about political violence and authoritarianism in Peru, it is a chance for another deep dive into a Latin American country besieged by internal armed conflict, with the military, she said, primarily responsible for the violence.

“I believe that impunity, in other words the failure to investigate or prosecute those responsible for those abuses, erodes democracy,” Burt said. “It erodes the social contract. It perpetuates the idea that some people are less citizens, are less worthy than others.”

It’s not so much about relitigating the past, Romano said, as it is, in the case of Forsyth, Georgia, about giving voice to descendants of the victims. Romano's co-principal investigator is Margarita Tadevosyan, executive director of Mason's Center for Peacemaking Practice. The stories they record will be housed at the Truth Telling Project, which, among other things, helps document the impacts violence has on families and communities.

Arthur Romano. Photo by Cristian Torres/Office of University Branding

While there has been some reporting about what went on in Forsyth, Romano said the incident has been under-researched. He said his inquiry will provide descendants “the space to grieve and share their experiences without a media spotlight on it, where people can just share about the ways they are hurting and what they’re hoping for in the future.”

Romano is the founder of the Carter School’s Program on Urban Peacebuilding, and his book Racial Justice and Nonviolence Education is about ways to disrupt cycles of violence by recognizing that people impacted by violence can be effective educators.

For me, that’s a big part of what this is all about,” he said. “Not only understanding past harms, but what are the echoes of that and how it affects who we are today. It’s part of building a framework of repair and reconciliation for us to be able to function better and be better together and actually live out the values we hope to build.”

Burt said she has been interested in human rights violations in Latin America since college. Her book Silencing Civil Society: Political Violence and the Authoritarian State in Peru came out in 2007, the same year former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori went on trial for corruption and human rights abuses committed from 1990 to 2000.

Burt attended the first week of the Fujimori trial with the help of a Mason grant. She then secured a grant from the Open Society Foundation to monitor the trial in its entirety. Fujimori was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison, an outcome regarded as a historic ruling for international justice.

Her research in Guatemala will include the trial of retired army general Jose Efraín Ríos Montt, who came to power in a military coup in March 1982. Human rights organizations estimate 10,000 people were killed in the first three months of his government, which remained in power until August 1983. Ríos Montt was convicted of genocide and sentenced to 80 years in prison, though higher courts nullified the proceeding.

“These are crimes that occurred many years ago, but they’re not in the past,” Burt said. “Especially for the victims, they are very much in the present.”

And also, in a way, for Burt.

I just got hooked into this dynamic of searching for justice, for accountability, for mass atrocity crimes,” she said. “Can trials, which normally focus on perpetrators’ needs, take into account the victims’ needs, perspectives, and rights? Over the years, I began to think about trial monitoring not just as a research tool but as a tool to support and advocate on the behalf of victims.”

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NSF rankings show Mason ahead of research funding goals

Colleen Rich — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 19:04:05 +0000

NSF rankings show Mason ahead of research funding goals Colleen Rich Mon, 01/29/2024 - 14:04

Mason in top 25 in social, computer, and information science research funding

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

��AV’s $230 million in research funding in fiscal year 2022 was a 7% increase from 2021, putting the university three years ahead of its goal of $225 million by 2025.

“We’re ahead of schedule and that is a testament to faculty, students, and staff researchers and those who support them who continue to drive discoveries with real-world impacts that make a difference in our communities,” said Andre Marshall, Mason’s vice president of research, innovation, and economic development. “The scholarship and community partnerships that thrive in our multidisciplinary and collaborative culture are a testament to the university’s commitment to research of consequence.”

The latest figures released by the National Science Foundation (NSF) show Mason’s research funding in the top 25 nationally in the areas of:

Social sciences: 10th among all universities (best in the Washington, D.C., area) and seventh among public universities.
Computer and informational science: 21st among all universities and 13th among public universities in federally funded research.
Engineering continued its impressive gains by moving up five places to 73rd nationally among all universities (rising 69 places since 2018), and advancing four spots to No. 52 among public institutions.

Overall, Mason’s research and development funding was 75th among public institutions and 60th among public institutions without medical schools.

“These rankings are a testament to the commitment of our remarkable social sciences faculty to lead impactful research that drives action that addresses the interconnected needs and priorities of our regional, national, and global communities,” Ann Ardis, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), said.

Added Ken Ball, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC): “The groundbreaking work in our college demonstrates our continued strength and substantial contribution to Mason’s overall research portfolio. For decades, Mason has proudly and consistently been a national leader in computer science. I’m proud that our research has lasting impacts across society.”

Some of the long-term projects either funded or ongoing in FY 2022 that have positioned Mason as a leader in research of consequence include:

An interdisciplinary team from CEC and the College of Science (COS) studying underwater explosions and their effects on civil engineering infrastructure.
A study on health equity and the impact of Medicaid telehealth policy from the CHSS and the College of Public Health.
Research in machine learning, cloud security, and hardware security led by CEC assistant professor Khaled N. Khasawneh.
Helping military personnel fight hemorrhagic diseases through research led by COS professor Aarthi Narayanan.
Identifying natural mechanisms to boost the immune process through research by COS associate professor Ramin Hakami.
Brain research by the CEC professor Giorgio Ascoli.
The researchers are from Mason’s Center for Ocean Land Atmospheric Studies updating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s drought forecasting system.
Establishing the Virginia Climate Center, an effort is led by faculty from the COS, CEC, and CHSS.
A team from the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy working to enhance research and practice in police encounters of individuals in mental health crisis.

Funding for the Virginia Climate Center was made possible through the efforts of Congressman Gerry Connolly (VA-11). Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine were the primary sponsors of the project to help police in encounters with individuals in mental health crisis.

In the social sciences, which includes CHSS, the College of Public Health, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, the Schar School of Policy and Government, the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), and the Donald G. Costello College of Business, initiatives came in several forms.

"The Schar School is a proud contributor to Mason's social science research drawing from a deep pool of esteemed scholars and rising stars engaged in cutting edge interdisciplinary and disciplinary research," said Schar School Dean Mark J. Rozell.

Some examples:

Examining the human response to climate change during the last glacial period with CHSS’s Jamie Clark leading an international team.
Translating research into actionable guidelines to help probation officers support their clients to achieve better outcomes, a collaboration between the College of Public Health and the Schar School.
Exploring the intricacies and prevalence of the illicit trafficking of human kidneys. Headed by the Schar School with input from the CEC’s Systems Engineering and Operations Research Department.
Identifying ways to use human-robot teaming to open the field of construction to neurodiverse individuals, specifically those with attention deficit disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Teams are from the Schar School, CEC, and CEHD.
Examining whether school safety and security measures have negative, academic, behavioral, and social effects on low-income students and students of color. The effort is led by CEHD.
A team from the Schar School, led by Louise Shelley and CEC’s Edward Huang, is investigating how to disrupt illicit supply chains and influence policy.
Researchers in the College of Public Health and CEC are developing a machine learning approach to accurately identify the age of bruises.
Creating an interprofessional Learning Laboratory for Community Health that trains students to serve and improve health care for underserved communities. Led by professor of nursing Rebecca Sutter, the effort includes faculty from the College of Public Health and the Costello College of Business.
Developing accessible and culturally appropriate communications of new scientific findings to communities most affected by the opioid crisis. The research is led by Schar’s Faye Taxman and CHSS’s Xiaoquon Zhao.

The NSF collected its data from 900 universities in the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey, sponsored by the NSF’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics unit.

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Mason’s Evan Marie Lowder receives Outstanding Faculty Award from SCHEV

Colleen Rich — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:51:56 +0000

Mason’s Evan Marie Lowder receives Outstanding Faculty Award from SCHEV Colleen Rich Fri, 01/19/2024 - 09:51

��AV’s Evan Marie Lowder is among 12 state educators to be formally recognized by the State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV) with a 2024 Outstanding Faculty Award.

Evan Lowder. Photo by Office of University Branding

The assistant professor of Criminology Law, and Society will be honored as a “Rising Star,” a designation for faculty with two to six years of full-time experience, and is the 29th Mason faculty member to be celebrated since the awards began in 1987.

“I was very surprised,” said Lowder, who has been at Mason since 2019. “Overall, just very positive news.”

Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize faculty at Virginia public and private colleges and universities who exemplify the highest standards of research, teaching, and service. The award includes a $7,500 gift from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation to be presented at an in-person ceremony on March 7 in Richmond.

“Evan is an academic star in every sense,” said James Willis, chair of the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society, part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “She is an excellent researcher doing vital work, and an outstanding teacher and mentor who elevates her students and provides invaluable service to the department, college, and university. She is truly deserving this prestigious award.”

Lowder originally wanted to be a lawyer, a seed probably planted by her mother, she said.

It was not a random notion.

“I was a very curious, articulate, and kind of argumentative child,” Lowder said. “My mother always said, ‘You should be a lawyer because of your ability to care about issues and fight for justice.’ ”

But while Lowder was pursuing majors in psychology and political science at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, there came a revelation.

“I realized through the law you can impact people’s lives, but it’s kind of individually, one by one” Lowder said. “I became interested in this idea of how you can use research to further policy and practices that can help a larger group of people.”

Lowder’s research focuses on reducing justice-system contact and improving behavioral health outcomes among justice-involved adults.

Her Early Justice Strategies Lab examines ways to facilitate community release, supervision, and connection to services and supports for those who are justice-involved. Many projects focus on front-end legal processing such as community-, police-, and court-based interventions.

Lowder said she is most proud of helping to evaluate the state of Indiana’s pretrial risk assessment tool. Though the tool did well in predicting outcomes overall, she said, it did not do as well for Black defendants in general.

“So that motivated this whole conversation about looking at other places in the system where we can help rectify some of those disparities,” Lowder said. “It launched a bigger conversation about race and the way it manifests in the criminal justice system. That has led to other projects working with Indiana government and local agencies to try to address some of those issues.”

“It’s rewarding to have that bi-directional relationship,” she added, “where we’re giving something back to the community, and we’re taking something that can help to advance the evidence base around a specific issue.”

It’s a sensibility that she began developing at a young age.

“Everything was a negotiation where I thought, ‘Oh, that doesn’t make sense and why does it have to be that way?’ ” Lowder said. “You’re curious, you want answers and you want to be logical. But the world doesn’t work that way. That’s hard to understand when you’re little. But when you grow up and get the chance to apply evidence-based thinking to your work and your life, that’s very rewarding.”

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AI infrastructures are a national security and human safety issue, Mason professor says

Colleen Rich — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 16:16:03 +0000

AI infrastructures are a national security and human safety issue, Mason professor says Colleen Rich Mon, 01/08/2024 - 11:16

A team of ��AV researchers, led by Distinguished University Professor J.P. Singh, has received a $1.4 million grant from the Department of Defense to examine the way countries are implementing their national artificial intelligence infrastructure strategies.

Specifically, said Singh, who works out of Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government, his Minerva Project wants to understand “how preferences or interests from society, business, or other government actors shape policy in terms of what countries are doing with their national AI infrastructures.”

“Many countries have official national AI strategies, and they’re usually announced by the government,” Singh said. “But it’s unclear at whose behest those policies arise.”

Why is this research important?

AI systems at the ground level are built on data and the way these data are collected, because a machine can only learn from the data that goes in. The question is, whose data? If this is facial recognition, whose data went into it? Women may be excluded. If it’s mostly men’s data, certain ethnicities might be excluded. If we’re going to have an AI system that detects breast cancer, whose regional data went into that, what kind of groups? That’s why there’s that famous saying about garbage in, garbage out.

Why is this a national security issue?

“At the end of the day, whatever we do as human beings relates to how secure we are, so the way AI infrastructures evolve in a country can enhance security because you are able to surveil populations around the world and also stop intrusions on cyber infrastructures. That’s very much related to military-type security. But we are also examining security at a different level. What does it mean to be secure as a human being?

What does it mean to have human security?

Let’s imagine Society A. Militarily they might be secure, but people who belong to groups who, in practice, have fewer rights are not so secure. In India’s case, these may be lower-caste groups. In several Middle East countries, these may be women. In the United States, unfortunately, it may be minority groups. So we’re thinking about what security means for these groups. What does it mean for them to be represented through data, which would then be run on these machine-learning systems, because security in an AI sense would mean they are also represented.

What are the consequences for being in groups whose data is not being represented?

There may be people in the developing world with tropical diseases. But the sophisticated health systems being developed in the Global North may not have enough data about the diseases in the Global South, which may be about blindness from smoke—because people have no choice but to burn wood or coal, or diarrhea, or tuberculosis, or smallpox.

Yet you also call this data repository a double-edge sword.

You may not want your data to be out there. The consequence is that we need governance systems that guard against people’s data being exchanged freely. Right now, there’s a huge battle between the U.S. and the European Union about how data that sits on the cloud can be exchanged. In the U.S., by and large, the person who collects the data can then exchange it, as long as you have the informed consent of the person when the data was collected. The European Union position has been that every time the data gets exchanged, an additional set of constraints must be met.

What is your bottom line?

Humanities travel through several roads. We may have done ships, we may have done railways, we may have done roads. In the 21st century, our road is an artificial intelligence infrastructure. It’s very important to know if we can travel down that road. Just as in the past, people may not have the ability to get on a train, even if it passed through their village, we have to now figure if everybody is on the train of an artificial intelligence infrastructure, and if it is safe for them to do so.

J.P. Singh is researching AI and how we can build a better world together.

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A cancer diagnosis helped this Mason grad find her career path

Damian Cristodero — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 18:27:18 +0000

A cancer diagnosis helped this Mason grad find her career path Damian Cristodero Fri, 12/08/2023 - 13:27

Dulcce Valenzuela wasn’t going to say she would want to go through it again. But of her diagnosis, fight, and success beating back cancer as a teenager, she said, “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

That’s because the ��AV senior, who will graduate this month with a bioengineering degree, used the episode as a foundation for her life’s purpose.

“How can I help other people?” she said. “How can I leverage my skills to help somebody else?”

For Valenzuela, 30, from Stafford, Virginia, and a transfer student from Germanna Community College, that means medical school, a career in aerospace medicine, perhaps in the Air Force, and building off her research in Mason’s Applied Biosensing Laboratory.

There, under the mentorship of associate professor Parag Chitnis, Valenzuela is part of an effort to develop wearable ultrasound technology for the quantitative assessment of musculoskeletal injuries in military service members.

At the same time, Valenzuela is working part-time for Inova Health System as a rehabilitation technician. She previously worked part-time for Mary Washington Healthcare as a patient safety attendant.

"Dulcce is an exemplar student who not only achieved high academic standing in our classes but also made the most of the diverse research opportunities Mason Bioengineering has to offer for our undergrads," Chitnis said. "In my lab, she independently developed a method for characterizing the performance of novel, wearable ultrasound sensors, which has now become part of our standard protocol. This was an impressive accomplishment considering that she had no prior experience in this area."

“Once you’re out of the waters with something like cancer, your body is very much in fight or flight mode, and you’re just kind of surviving for a little bit,” said Valenzuela, who underwent two years of treatment to overcome Ewing sarcoma, which began in the soft tissue and bones of her shoulder and spread to her lungs. “Now I’m doing things with intention.”

It is that grit—including coming to the United States at 13 with her mother and sister from their native Honduras for her cancer treatments—that defines Valenzuela as a Mason student, said Shani Ross, associate chair of undergraduate programs in the Bioengineering Department.

“She is a good citizen of Mason,” Ross said. “From a diverse background, a transfer student, a good human being. And through her own struggles, really wants to help people.”

Added Claudia Borke, an academic advisor in the Bioengineering Department: “She exemplifies the best in a Mason student.”

Valenzuela said Mason helped pull the best out of her.

She said she immediately felt at home at the university during a field trip to the Fairfax Campus with other Germanna students. She appreciates the university’s diversity and the “tons of opportunities” for research with faculty who are “very open to having students in their labs so we can get some experience.”

“I feel I’m coming out with good relationships, good connections,” Valenzuela said. “I feel pretty ready to take my next steps.”

That includes beginning an accelerated master’s program at Mason in Spring 2024, continuing her research in the Applied Biosensing Lab, studying for the MCAT, and eventually applying to medical schools.

“I’m so excited,” Valenzuela said about graduating. “It is such an accomplishment to do that and give that to my mom and let her enjoy that, too.”

Learn more about the 2023 Winter Commencement Ceremonies

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Carter School is No. 1 for conflict analysis and resolution

Colleen Rich — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 16:43:12 +0000

Carter School is No. 1 for conflict analysis and resolution Colleen Rich Tue, 11/21/2023 - 11:43

��AV’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution is ranked No. 1 nationally among public institutions for its overall performance, and No. 1 among all institutions for its online offerings, according to a new report by Authority.org.

Carter School students in the classroom. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

The website’s methodology can be found here.

“This recognition is really important to us,” Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem said. “Having this recognition by a third party and based on the merits, it gives me the confidence that the quality of education we provide our students, in person and online, is significant.”

“And with COVID, we learned to offer the full MS degree program in the online format, sharing the unique program that has developed over 40 years with people near and far,” said Susan Allen, the Carter School’s director of graduate programs.

For Özerdem, the Carter School’s uniqueness begins with its status as a standalone college within Mason. An important distinction, he said, because it showcases the significance the university places on the subject matter.

That subject matter is explored with a dynamic combination of academic pursuits and experiential learning in the form of centers and Peace Labs.

At the centers, students study all aspects of conflict analysis and resolution and put them into practice in the field. The Peace Labs develop and test tools and processes to assist governments, educational institutions, peacebuilding organizations, and communities to assess the root causes of conflict, preventing violence, and creating a more inclusive and just society.

Members of the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation at a United States Institute of Peace workshop. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“When it comes to what our professors teach us, it goes beyond right and wrong, or good and bad,” said Simi Kumar, a conflict analysis and resolution major who expects to graduate in 2025. “They take an approach that encompasses other lenses, other perspectives. We’re taught to seek those out and effectively utilize them, which is what I love most about our academic environment.”

Added Özerdem: “We encourage students to be part of these activities and research, so, as part of learning, they have the opportunity to engage with real-world challenges.”

A prime example is the Carter School’s recently announced agreement with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations. With a select number of other universities, the Carter School will be a partner in the State Department’s Academic Center of Conflict Anticipation and Prevention.

Developed under the supervision of Özerdem, Allen, and Professor Karina Korostelina, the partnership will allow Carter School students to contribute to international peacebuilding with actionable research.

Point of View in Mason Neck, Virginia, is a space for peacebuilding, practice, teaching, and research. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The Carter School helped facilitate the signing of a historic peace accord in the Democratic Republic of Congo, using a community-centered approach the school developed in which local leaders led the negotiations. The school’s peacemaking skills and expertise nurtured the process rather than dominating it, giving the stakeholders a sense of ownership.

The school also is holding events on the Israel-Palestine conflict, including dialogue sessions, roundtable discussions, and workshops.

“With all the conflicts in different parts of the world, we need more and more peacemakers and peacebuilders,” Özerdem said. “We need people who are able to respond to these challenges effectively.”

For Kumar, that means learning “cultivating the ability to engage with and comprehend people at the forefront, which is a foundational pursuit that establishes a great base for collaboration and understanding across diverse fields and situations. That’s just one of the facets that makes the Carter School special.”

Academically, the Carter School is expanding its footprint with minors in the Costello College of Business and the College of Education and Human Development. Another will be in the College of Engineering and Computing in the next academic year.

“The goal,” Özerdem said, “is that no matter what you study here at Mason, you should be able to gain conflict analysis and resolution skills. That way every graduate can say that in addition to their expertise they are also able to do conflict analysis and resolution. That is a huge added value.”

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