Spirit Magazine

Earlier this year, George Mason University alumna Rhea Seehorn, BA Art (Studio) ’94, won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama for her performance as Carol Sturka in Pluribus on Apple TV. It was both her first nomination and her first win—an achievement that also marked a milestone for George Mason, as she became our first alum to receive a Golden Globe.

Mahmut Cengiz, PhD Public Policy ’10, of George Mason's Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, is a seasoned expert in terrorism, organized crime, and illicit economies. His work focuses on the dynamics of terrorism, smuggling, and criminal networks and contributes significantly to understanding and combating these global challenges. His latest book, Typologies of Terrorist Organizations: Conceptual Lenses and Counterterrorism Measures (Carolina Academic Press, September 2025), was cowritten with Mitchel Roth and Huseyin Cinoglu.

They train, compete, and perform at the highest levels—only their arena is cybersecurity. Like top athletes, George Mason’s cyber-focused students prove themselves when the pressure is on.

Knifey, a nature-inspired blimp based on the knifefish’s movement (with an added ferocious glare), is just one of junior Alexia De Costa’s projects combining art and robotics. “I love any way to get people interested in tech and also understand complicated things visually,” she says.

Cybersecurity engineering major Fatima Majid is certainly not throwing away her shot. The senior has made it her mission to take advantage of every opportunity George Mason has to offer. 

Nhat Le has always loved puzzles. From Rubik's Cubes to role-playing games, he plays them all. Now a graduate student in cyber security engineering at George Mason, Le came to his studies “through the back door,” as a hacker might say.

Computer science major Noah Kabiri is no stranger to high-adrenaline competition. As an elite coder and winner of hackathons in only his second year at George Mason, this ambitious sophomore performs a balancing act on par with elite college athletes training to go pro.

Near the Italian town of Bormio, visitors can ride a mountain cable car to take in a breathtaking panorama from a café perched near the peak. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Special Agent Mohamed Hassan, BA Religious Studies ’20, who was a field liaison officer during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, recounts taking a break from supporting Team USA to sip a cappuccino alongside Olympians: “Everyone was really interested in what everyone's there to do…. Everyone's motivating one another.”

Guided by experts, students from George Mason and Howard University are delivering tailored cybersecurity solutions to the organizations that need them most—while shaping their own futures.

George Mason engineers, scientists, policy scholars, and legal experts are joining forces with federal partners to tackle some of the nation’s most complex security challenges positioning the university as a trusted leader in defense innovation.