List of George Mason University people

This list includes alumni and faculty of George Mason University.

Nobel laureates

 * 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
 * Jeremy Crampton, cartographer
 * 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
 * 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

Department of Economics

 * Peter Boettke
 * Donald J. Boudreaux
 * Henry N. Butler
 * Bryan Caplan
 * Tyler Cowen
 * Christopher Coyne
 * Richard H. Fink, executive vice president of 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

 * 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, 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 2006–2008), 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

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

Antonin Scalia Law School

 * Jonathan H. Adler, legal commentator and law professor
 * Peter Berkowitz
 * David Bernstein
 * Lawrence J. Block, federal j
 * Frank H. Buckley
 * Henry N. Butler, Republican candidate for member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 11th congressional district
 * 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

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 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
 * Kathleen L. Casey, Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
 * Sandra Cauffman, NASA
 * 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
 * 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
 * Harold T. Martin III, National Security Agency contractor convicted of theft of classified information
 * Mike Mazzei, Oklahoma State Senator
 * William W. Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana
 * John Morlu, Liberian presidential candidate
 * Paul F. Nichols, Virginia House Delegate
 * Liam O'Grady, United States federal judge
 * 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

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 and 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
 * Keri Chaconas, basketball player
 * 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 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

 * Ali al-Tamimi, convicted terrorist
 * 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, fashion 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