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Chair's Welcome

Welcome to the Department of Computer Science at George Mason University!

With over 80 full-time faculty members and 12 administrative staff, the Department of Computer Science at George Mason University is the largest department in the College of Engineering and Computing, the largest department on campus, and the largest Computer Science department in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Today, not only is computing pervasive in society, but computational methods are used in almost every field of scholarly endeavor ranging from the arts and humanities to the hard sciences and engineering, as well as every sector of industry.  The department offers two Bachelor of Science programs  with a total enrollment of over 2400 students:  the B.S. in Computer Science and the inter-disciplinary B.S. in Applied Computer Science; three M.S. programs in Computer Science, Information Systems, and Software Engineering with a total enrollment of over 700 students; and a Ph.D. program in Computer Science of over 220 students. The department's faculty also teach and participate in the inter-disciplinary M.S. in Data Analytics Engineering, M.S. in Artificial Intelligence, and the Ph.D. in Information Technology offered by the College of Engineering and Computing.

The department has a world-class faculty with research strengths in all areas of computing, and a strong commitment to teaching.  Over half of our faculty were recruited in the past five years, and we now rank among the Top 35 Computer Science Departments in the US.  Our faculty are engaged in leading edge research in their respective fields and have authored widely used textbooks and software. Our faculty's excellence is reflected in the awards we have received for our research (including 31 NSF CAREER and AFOSR Young Investigator awards, and numerous Best Paper and Test-of-Time Awards), and many of our faculty have also been recognized with significant awards for their teaching.  Our faculty currently includes two members of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (VASEM), three ACM Fellows and six IEEE Fellows.

Several members of the faculty are actively engaged in inter-disciplinary research collaborations with colleagues from all over campus and from other universities. Indeed, inter-disciplinary collaboration in research and education is a key element of our departmental vision and strategic directions for the future.

The department has an active External Advisory Board consisting of industry leaders—many of whom are Mason alumni—who help the department build strong ties with alumni, local industry, government agencies, and local K-12 schools. The Board members also provide the department with critical guidance and feedback so that our courses and programs reflect the state of the art in computing technology, thereby helping us with our goal of graduating students that are well prepared to meet the workforce needs of the Commonwealth and the nation.

I invite you to come visit and explore our programs as a current or prospective student or faculty member; to partner with us to help provide talented students for your company or organization; to keep us informed about your accomplishments as alumni; to explore collaborations with us in both research and education; and to make us aware of any new initiatives you may like to pursue with us. Please explore our website to learn more about the CS Department at George Mason!