Alumni

George Mason alumna Ashley Fortner, BS Integrative Studies ’17, is the caretaker of the new baby elephant Linh Mai at the National Zoo.

Saddam Salim came from Bangladesh as an 8-year-old. After bouts of homelessness and reliance on public support, the 2012 and 2015 Schar School graduate is now a Virginia state senator. But his public service journey is hardly over: He is now running for Congress. Read what the keynote speaker at the Degree Celebration will tell the audience on May 16.

Recent George Mason University graduates have secured strong career outcomes, with the Class of 2025 reporting a 92% positive outcome rate within six months of graduation, even amid a challenging and shifting economic landscape.

Sometimes things just seem to fall into place. That’s what happened for George Mason University women’s volleyball freshman player Nia Thompson. Nia’s mother, Amy Boone Thompson, BS Physical Education '95, was a dual-sport athlete at George Mason in the 1990s, playing both volleyball and basketball. She was a member of the 1994 CAA Championship women’s volleyball team. 

George Mason University alumnus Robert “Ken” Hedrick Jr., BA History ’71, said his philanthropy is rooted in the examples set by both sets of his grandparents, who were neighbors in a farming community in West Virginia. His paternal grandparents fed anyone who walked by the farm, and his maternal grandparents regularly took in foster children. Both families were always first to share what they had.

George Mason University graduate student Logan Messer had no shortage of family or friends on hand as he capped his wrestling career at the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Competing just 40 miles from his hometown, Messer delivered a moment years in the making on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

With more than 300 members and growing, the Women in Business at Mason student organization at the Costello College of Business, empowers women who are majoring, minoring, or interested in the world of business. Through networking and personal and professional development events, they aim to expand upon members’ skillsets as well as their networks inside and outside of George Mason University. 

With the launch last year of the nonprofit Rise Above & Be Relentless Foundation, graduating Master of Global Policy and Commerce’s Sumeya Gibril created the support she wishes had been there for her. The inspiration for the charity, she said, “is me.”

When Doug Varone and Dancers takes the stage at the Center for the Arts on April 25, it will mark a full circle moment for company member and George Mason University alumnus Dareon Blowe, who had participated in a residency with them as a student in the School of Dance.

Life is filled with unexpected twists and turns. In the case of George Mason University lacrosse twins Kaitlyn and Regan Bestick, that road has split and come back together several times. Now, as they compete in their final season together and prepare to separate again, they reflect on their time in the Mason Nation.