Access to Excellence Podcast

Drawing on our roots as the university that overcame adversity to become the nation's youngest-ever R1 institution—and one whose sponsored research funding has grown 64 percent since 2020—George Mason University is launching a university-wide strategy to sharpen our focus on humanity's most pressing issues while maximizing our competitiveness for external research funding: the Grand Challenge Initiative. For this episode of Access to Excellence, Andre Marshall, vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact at George Mason, joins President Gregory Washington to discuss this new initiative and how it will shape the future of our university.  

George Mason has a long history of supporting the arts on campus and in the community. With seven academic programs, seven galleries, six community arts programs, two major venues, and the digital venue Mason Arts Amplified, Mason Arts continues to create a thriving artistic community right here in Northern Virginia.  On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington is joined by Rick Davis, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason and the executive director of the Hylton Performing Arts Center. An accomplished director, author, professor, and George Mason baseball cap collector, Davis and President Washington discuss the history of the arts at George Mason, and the critical role the arts play in creating and maintain community.  

The December 2024 conflict index by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data initiative reported that global conflicts have doubled over the past five years. Now more than ever, we need experts in conflict analysis and peacebuilding. And George Mason University is ready to meet that call.   On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington is joined by Marc Gopin, the James H. Laue Professor of World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in George Mason's Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, to discuss the challenges of building peace and how to bridge the growing divides between groups.   

In his essay, "As Much Truth as One Can Bear," James Baldwin writes, "not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." It's a timeless quote, one that feels as relevant now in 2025 as it did in 1962. On this episode of Access to Excellence Distinguished Professor Keith Clark joins President Gregory Washington to discuss Baldwin's legacy, the powerful lessons found in Black literature, and the importance of bearing witness to the past in order to make a better future.

In 2024, artificial intelligence dominated conversations across the globe from copyright lawsuits against AI art generators to developing legislation for artificial intelligence regulation. On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington and George Mason's inaugural vice president and chief AI officer Amarda Shehu discuss the research possibilities of AI and the role of higher education in AI training and development.  

Another presidential election has come and gone. Reactions to the reelection of Donald Trump are wide and varied. And we're facing a growing divide across our nation as we transition, once again, from one party in control to another. How did we get here? Are these truly unprecedented times? On this riveting episode of Access to Excellence, President Washington is joined by two experts on the political process—Jeremy Mayer and Jennifer Victor, associate professors of political science in the Schar School—to discuss the impacts of polls, economic perceptions, and more on the 2024 presidential election.     

Since putting the first man on the Moon in 1969, scientists have continued to push our knowledge and understanding of life and existence in vast unknown frontiers of space. Whether through Mars colonies or alien life forms, we're all wondering what and who can survive beyond Earth's atmospheres. In this episode of Access to Excellence, associate professor of computational and data sciences Anamaria Berea discusses her research on Mars settlements and Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon as she and President Gregory Washington debate the age-old question: What are the chances of intelligent life beyond Earth?  

Every day at George Mason University, faculty like assistant professor Jeffrey Moran develop innovative solutions to the world's grand challenges. And sometimes those grand challenges can have small solutions that come from the most unlikely of places. In this episode of Access to Excellence, join Moran and President Gregory Washington as they discuss the water-cleaning powers of spent coffee grounds, aerosol experiments on the International Space Station, and finding inspiration for innovation in jazz.  

Ten years ago, Mason Korea opened its doors at the Incheon Global Campus in Songdo, South Korea. Now, the campus offers degrees in six undergraduate and two graduate disciplines to students from around the world. To recognize this anniversary, President Gregory Washington is joined by former campus dean Robert Matz and associate professor Gyu Tag Lee to discuss the growth of Mason Korea, the influence of Korean pop on global culture, and the future of Mason at the Incheon Global Campus. 

Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute and assistant professor of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, knows better than anyone the growing threats to national security during these rapidly changing times. In this fast-paced episode of Access to Excellence, Jaffer and George Mason President Gregory Washington discuss the U.S.'s position on the global stage, the power of the American Dream, and what we as citizens can do to start solving some of the country's stickiest problems. 

Jeremy Campbell, associate director for strategic engagement in George Mason University's Institute for a Sustainable Earth, says that at its current pace the vast Amazon rainforest, in five to 10 years, could pass a tipping point in which it could transform into grasslands. That process, fueled by deforestation and climate change, is a threat to the biodiversity and socio-cultural aspects that define the region, and has global implications as well. In this fascinating conversation, Campbell explains to Mason President Gregory Washington the magnitude of what the loss of the Amazon rainforest would really mean.

Catherine Read is the first woman and first George Mason University alum to be mayor of Fairfax City, Va., the university's hometown, and she isn't shy about touting an institution she says helped teach her how to think critically. Want to know why it's good to “disrupt the system,” why it's important to get more women into policy-making decisions, and why our educational system doesn't reward bold ideas? Read tells you in this conversation with Mason President Gregory Washington. She also is adamant that “if we can't maintain democracy, if we can't preserve our country's rule of law, then all of these other things make zero difference.”

With oratory flair, Rev. Jeffrey Johnson, pastor at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfax, Virginia, and Dr. Vernon Walton, pastor at First Baptist Church in Vienna, Virginia, guide us through some of the history and aspirations of the Black community using the lens of Black and African American History Month, Dr. King's “I have a dream” speech, the dissolution of Black-only communities, and their perspectives as leaders of their parishes, which were founded by former slaves. George Mason University President Gregory Washington and the pastors also examine the unique, but intertwined, roles the university and churches can play to confront issues such as affordable housing, food insecurity, and healthcare.

Forensic research on human donors is not for the faint of heart, Mary Ellen O'Toole, director of the Forensic Science Program in George Mason University's College of Science, admitted to Mason President Gregory Washington. But the university's new outdoor research and training laboratory—or “body farm,” as O'Toole, a former FBI profiler, calls it—is a valuable addition to the study of human decomposition in various environmental conditions for the purpose of solving crimes. It also positions O'Toole's program as a national leader in forensic science and forensic anthropology.

Peter Becker, a professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department in George Mason University's College of Science, talks with Mason President Gregory Washington about how a predicted major increase in solar storm activity could be a prelude to an “internet apocalypse.” Can we prepare? What could be the consequences? What are the economic implications? A $14 million federal study Becker is leading with the Navy could provide better predictive capabilities and help us better understand exactly what's at stake.

Melissa Perry, dean of George Mason University's College of Public Health, is an ardent proponent of virtual reality and AI as tools to help solve the nation's health challenges. But, as she tells Mason President Gregory Washington, a technology overload has also helped create an “epidemic of loneliness” that has heightened the importance of a shared humanity and “being present for each other.” Perry also discusses her suicide attempt as a teenager that ultimately inspired her career in public health.

Karina Korostelina, a professor of conflict analysis and resolution in George Mason University's Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, conducts research with global implications that not only applies to countries and groups in conflict but societies as well. She tells Mason President Gregory Washington that Ukraine's war with Russia, at its end, will present enormous problems with the reconciliation of people and territories. A look behind the scenes at Korostelina's remarkable research and what it tells us about human nature and how we can find peace after conflict.

Nikyatu Jusu, an assistant professor of directing and screenwriting in George Mason University's College of Visual and Performing Arts, talks to Mason President Gregory Washington about her movie “Nanny,” which won the grand prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and why the horror genre is not all “jump scares.” Just as often, she says, the monster is a commentary on human nature and the way we treat each other and ourselves. A fascinating conversation with this gritty street filmmaker who went from studying biomedical engineering to putting non-traditional protagonists into fantastical worlds.

Andrew McCabe, the former deputy and acting director of the FBI, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Mason University, gives a masterclass on the indictment of Donald Trump under the Espionage Act, and goes deep with Mason President Gregory Washington into some of his career's most controversial and important moments. That includes his assessment of the investigation by Special Counsel John Durham into whether the FBI should have examined whether Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign coordinated with Russia. McCabe called Durham's report “flawed and politically motivated from the beginning.”  

What exactly is the metaverse? Some say it is the future of the internet — a broad shift in how we interact with technology, including new and more ways to collaborate in virtual worlds. Others say it creates even more infringements on privacy and creates chances for identity theft. Foteini Baldimtsi, an assistant professor in George Mason University's Department of Computer Science, and James Casey, an associate professor in Mason's Computer Game Design program talk to Mason President Gregory Washington about what the metaverse is, and could be, and how the volatile world of cryptocurrency fits in.

Business is at the heart of everything. So says Ajay Vinzé, dean of Mason's School of Business. In a conversation with George Mason University President Gregory Washington, Vinzé joined Paula Sorrell, associate VP for innovation and economic development at Mason, to celebrate National Small Business Week, and discuss how Mason Enterprise is an economic engine for Northern Virginia, and how the School of Business is changing the way business is taught.

Lawrence Jackson says colonialism brought an end to authentic African dance. But the associate professor of dance at George Mason University, who in 2011 co-authored and edited a special edition on Black dance in the Journal of Pan African Studies, explains to Mason President Gregory Washington how Black dance keeps those African cultural traditions alive and is an affirmation of identity and independence. And did you know that tap, jazz, and ballroom dancing have African roots? Jackson explains.

Missy Cummings, one of the country's first female fighter pilots and director of George Mason University's Autonomy and Robotics Center, calls herself a tech futurist, charged with making tech work better and safer. In a conversation with Mason President Gregory Washington, Cummings is unflinching in her critique of AI's strengths, weaknesses and shortcomings, as well as that of humans. There is a lot to like about AI, Cummings says, but she calls out bad tech where she sees it, including in the vision systems of self-driving cars and Tesla's Autopilot. There's also a lot to like, Cummings says, about Mason's new Fuse building on its Mason Square Campus. When open in 2025, the building will will house R&D labs, corporate innovation centers, incubators, accelerators which will help advance the digital innovation goals of university, industry and community innovators.

Helon Habila, a professor of creative writing at George Mason University, and an acclaimed international author, has never shied away from important issues. In a fascinating discussion, Habila, the author of four novels, tells Mason President Gregory Washington about his process of combining compelling narratives and characters with current examples of oppression and exploitation, and how his factual account of the 2014 kidnapping in Nigeria of 276 young girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram forced him to confront his homeland as he had never seen it.

When Gail Christopher, executive director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity and a senior scholar in George Mason University's Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, talks about “ensuring a future,” she's really talking about creating a system of equity that produces opportunities for everyone. In her second podcast with Mason President Gregory Washington, Christopher expands on the idea that academic institutions are essential for shifting the cultural ethos to one that is not racist, and discusses the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Conference recently held at Mason.

Are the midterm elections the most important in our time? Maybe, maybe not. Jennifer Victor, associate professor of political science in George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government, and Mason president Gregory Washington wrestle with that, and you might be surprised at the answer. Want more surprises? Then hear why high voter turnout could be a double-edged sword for our democracy and how the parties misread the electorate. And just what is “thermostatic politics?”

Dr. Michael Nickens, an associate professor of music in George Mason University's Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music, tells Mason President Gregory Washington how he transforms from his mild-mannered persona into Doc Nix, the flamboyant leader of the Green Machine, the nation's No. 1 pep band. The band isn't a mechanical process, Nix says. There are times its members are collectively “exploring the universe in that moment. And those are the moments that feel like we have really accomplished something.” Actor Bill Murray is a fan of the band, and Nix is pretty good on the tuba.

Alpaslan Özerdem, dean of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, talks to Mason President Gregory Washington about the keys to effective peacebuilding, whether it concerns the war in Ukraine, gun violence or local issues. And don't miss the discussions about how the Carter School helped broker a peace accord in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and how an alien invasion could help heal the rift between Russia and the West.

Rep. Cori Bush, Missouri's first Black congresswoman, talks to George Mason University President Gregory Washington about the importance of the class she is teaching this summer at Mason. A pastor, teacher, nurse, and a Black Lives Matter activist in Ferguson, Mo., Bush explains her unusual path to Congress, and doesn't flinch when discussing issues surrounding race and policing.

Louise Shelley, a University Professor and director of Mason's Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center explains to Mason President Gregory Washington the connections between the war in Ukraine and Russian corruption and organized crime, and how criminals and terrorists take advantage in diverse ways of the globalized world in which we live. Shelley's center exposes that criminality and recently helped take 55 million counterfeit and sub-standard medical masks out of circulation worldwide with the takedown of more than 50,000 online marketplaces and social media posts.

Jim Trefil, a physicist and Robinson Professor at George Mason University, explains to Mason President Gregory Washington the importance of a scientific worldview. The author of more than 50 books and one of the developers of the modern theories about quarks as a fundamental component of the universe, Trefil is helping pioneer a new way of teaching science and says you don't have to be in a lab to learn. ‘You live in a world full of science. Oh, and just FYI, Trefil says, ‘There is life even if you've been rejected by Playboy.'

Larry Pfeiffer, director of George Mason University's Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security, explains to Mason President Gregory Washington about Vladimir Putin's real agenda in Ukraine. He also details why the war in Ukraine matters to the United States, even though the U.S.'s long-term geopolitical, economic and technological challenge is from China. Pfeiffer also asks Americans to guard against autocracy at home, because, as he said, it doesn't take much for a country's values to be subverted and freedoms suppressed.

Charles Chavis, an assistant professor of conflict resolution and history at George Mason University, and director of African and African American studies at Mason, talks about his new book that explores the lynching of a young Black Man in Salisbury, Md., and how understanding his story and the Black experience in the United States can help find ways to fight anti-Black violence. Chavis also pushes for a National Truth and Reconciliation Program to give the country the chance to reset and “deal with the truth.”

Ted Dumas, an associate professor of psychology, is an experienced researcher who is ringing alarm bells about the damage from climate change. His book, “If Food Could Talk: Stories From 13 Precious Foods,” explains how foods such as coffee, chocolate, bananas and avocados could soon disappear for good. Dumas tells Mason President Gregory Washington how the book came about, how these foods can be saved – a pooping bear in Japan might provide a way to save cherries – and how the book was almost entitled “The Last Chocolate Kiss.”

Want to listen to a conversation with real holiday spirit? Thalia Goldstein, an associate professor of applied developmental psychology, tells George Mason University President Gregory Washington about how kids benefit socially and emotionally from finding out Santa Claus isn't real. As for finding out herself as a child, Goldstein, whose research focuses on the effects of pretend play and theater on children's social and emotional skills, says she's still disappointed.

John G. Turner, a professor of religious studies at George Mason University talks with Mason President Gregory Washington about the real history of Thanksgiving. Were the Pilgrims religious refugees who established democracy and the holiday in New England, or invaders who betrayed their native allies and even enslaved them? Turner also gets to the bottom of the age-old Thanksgiving question: light meat or dark? A fascinating discussion with lots to digest.

Hakeem Oluseyi tells George Mason University President Gregory Washington how he went from a life of crime to being one of the world's renowned astrophysicists. The Visiting Robinson Professor at Mason also describes what aliens might look like – think a two-foot tall Incredible Hulk – and tells a remarkable tale of how working as a hotel janitor, and eating room-service leftovers to survive, made him understand that his education was “a matter of life and death.”

Lisa Gring-Pemble thinks business can be a force for good in society. And the co-director of George Mason University's Business for a Better World Center and co-founder of the university's Honey Bee initiative is an outspoken champion of that sensibility. Gring-Pemble tells Mason President Gregory Washington how and why business should address world challenges. She also describes how business can drive sustainability success and shouldn't be measured simply by profits but how it affects the environment and the communities in which we live.

For Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a nationally recognized expert on the dynamics of the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration, the border region is like a third country. The George Mason University professor talks to Mason President Gregory Washington about the wonders and dangers of the border region, and why we must be honest about the causes of illegal immigration while stopping politics from driving decision-making.

For Cynthia Lum, a professor of criminology, law, and society at George Mason University, the realities of policing don't always match what the public thinks of policing. That disconnect doesn't allow a discussion about the most effective approaches to curbing use-of-force discrepancies. Lum, a former Baltimore City cop, tells Mason President Gregory Washington about how evidence-based policing is part of an overall strategy to fight crime that includes being respectful to the communities with which they work.

George Mason University history professor Spencer Crew, the first African American to lead a major Smithsonian museum, tells Mason President Gregory Washington about the evolving role museums play in society, and how the Black community in the United States, and those who work with it, are trying to be the conscience of the nation.

Shane Caswell, co-director of George Mason University's Sports Medicine Assessment Research and Testing Laboratory tells Mason President Gregory Washington about his research that could change how concussions are diagnosed and treated, how Mason students are working in the community as athletic trainers, and what the latest science says about concussions and CTE.

COVID-19 presented individuals with many challenges. Some were obvious, such as how to continue one's education through distance learning. But some were not as clear cut, such as dealing with anxiety, depression and grief. Robyn Mehlenbeck, director of George Mason University's Center for Psychological Services, talks about how college campuses can deal with those stresses, and why the mental health crises associated with COVID-19 is the second pandemic.

A false story has been told in this country about people of color, social change agent Gail Christopher says, and it’s time to tell the truth about the “bad idea” of the hierarchy of human value. Dr. Christopher, executive director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity and a senior scholar at George Mason University, tells Mason President Gregory Washington that racial healing includes building a belief system “that is grounded in a deep understanding of our interconnectedness and interdependence as an expanded human family.”

Emergent Ventures, which looks for big and unique ideas, has raised $60 million and funded 200 projects. Mason economist and co-founder Tyler Cowen says the grants are “something you can win that’s not about connections.” Push ideas, he said. “Make the world tell you no.” Cowen also talks about how the Fast Grants program is helping fight Covid-19, why having children can help fight climate change and why he is bullish on the U.S. economy.

There are those who still don’t believe in climate change or that it is manmade. As Earth Day approaches, public health scientist Ed Maibach, director of George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication, speaks about overcoming climate change misinformation, which he calls the world’s most important public health initiative.

Epidemiologist and public health expert Saskia Popescu talks COVID-19 from policy to the front lines, including fractures in our critical infrastructure and what she tells Mason President Gregory Washington is the false dichotomy between public health and the economy. A fascinating conversation that informs and enlightens.

How hard was it to get things aligned to fight COVID-19? In the first of a two-part series exploring the pandemic and its effects, Mason epidemiologist Amira Roess explains what we know about the virus and how the U.S. response could have been better, from public policy, to research, to vaccine distribution and acceptance. And we’re not out of the woods yet. 

How are anti-racism efforts building on college campuses? How will Mason affirm its core values and mission of inclusion? President Gregory Washington speaks with Wendi Manuel-Scott and Shernita Parker, co-directors of Mason's Anti-Racism  and Inclusive Excellence Task Force about the university's commitment to be a national leader in this dialogue.

In this fascinating conversation, President Gregory Washington speaks with Kevin Clark, director of original animation for preschool programming at Netflix, about how technology and economics are helping fuel the rich entertainment content highlighting people of color, and how that programming can be a conduit for anti-racism efforts.

On Jan. 22, Mason President Gregory Washington spoke with Mason scientists Lance Liotta and Virginia Espina, who head the university’s effort to push the boundaries of technologies that are keeping its three university campuses safe from COVID-19. That includes a rapid-result, saliva test and development of an antibody test that can track a body’s response to the virus and vaccine.