Board of Directors
Board Member
Alan Merten
President
George Mason University
The reputation of George Mason University as a progressive, innovative institution of higher learning has continued to gain in strength and scope under the presidency of Dr. Alan G. Merten. Since becoming the university's fifth president in July 1996, George Mason has gained national and international acclaim for a number of significant initiatives and achievements ranging from the completion of its first-ever capital campaign and becoming the first university to host the World Congress on Information Technology to being named among the "most wired" universities in the United States and dramatically increasing its basic and applied research activities.During Dr. Merten's tenure as George Mason's president, the university has become the fastest growing university in Virginia, with student enrollment climbing from 24,000 in 1996 to over 29,000 today. The quality of George Mason's students at all levels has increased dramatically during this time. Coinciding with this growth is the emergence of George Mason as a vital center of cultural, academic, and athletic activity for the entire Northern Virginia-Washington, D.C. region. As a result of the university's outreach efforts, an estimated three million people visit one of George Mason's campuses each year to attend and participate in a range of events and activities, including lectures, sports competitions, concerts, recitals, and theatrical productions.
George Mason University is also the only institution in Virginia with two Nobel Laureates on its faculty. Dr. James Buchanan received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986. In 2002, Dr. Vernon Smith, professor of economics and law, was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
Building on its strengths in the information sciences and the performing arts, the university has recently developed innovative teaching and research programs in the humanities, public policy and the biological sciences. George Mason is presently immersed in a far-reaching building program that is unprecedented among academic institutions. A campus will be opened in the United Arab Emirates in 2006.
Prior to coming to George Mason University, Dr. Merten was the dean of the Johnson Graduate School of Management of Cornell University from 1989 to1996. He was dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Florida from 1986-1989, where he also served as a professor of information systems. From 1970 to 1986, he was at the University of Michigan, first as an assistant professor of industrial and operations engineering. Dr. Merten rose to the rank of associate dean in the School of Business Administration where he was responsible for executive education and computing services.
Dr. Merten has held academic appointments in both engineering and business, and academic and business positions in Hungary and France.
Throughout his career, he has served on business and government councils and committees, holding several leadership roles. Dr. Merten was chair of the National Research Council's Committee on Workforce Needs in Information Technology. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Center for Innovative Technology, INOVA Health Systems, Northern Virginia Technology Council, a real estate investment trust, a mutual fund trust, and a banking institution. Dr. Merten was a member of the Virginia Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education.
He has been recognized for his contributions to the Northern Virginia technology community, and as a leader of the Greater Washington, D.C. business community. He has also been recognized for promoting volunteerism and service to the community, and for his contributions to the use of information technology in the federal government.
Dr. Merten has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, a master's degree in computer science from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. degree in computer science from Wisconsin.
He and his wife, Sally, have two children and three grandsons.
