Chair's Welcome
Welcome to the Department of Computer Science at George Mason University!
With nearly 80 full-time faculty members, the CS Department at Mason is the largest department in the College of Engineering and Computing, one of the largest departments on campus, and the largest, fastest growing, and highest ranked 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. Given the importance of computing in today's world, we strongly support the goal of "Computing for All", providing a diverse array of programs and courses in computing to students from all backgrounds and at all levels.
The department offers two Bachelor of Science programs with a total enrollment of over 2200 students: the B.S. in Computer Science and the inter-disciplinary B.S. in Applied Computer Science; four M.S. programs in Computer Science, Information Systems, Information Security and Assurance, and Software Engineering with a total enrollment of almost 1000 students; and a Ph.D. program in Computer Science with nearly 200 students. The department's faculty also teach and participate in the inter-disciplinary M.S. in Data Analytics Engineering and the Ph.D. in Information Technology offered by the Volgenau School of Engineering.
The department has a world-class faculty with research strengths in all areas of computing, and a strong commitment to teaching. Nearly half of our faculty were recruited in the past three years, and we now rank among the Top 40 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 (27 NSF CAREER and AFOSR Young Investigator awards, 7 Mason Emerging Researcher awards) and teaching (8 Mason Excellence in Teaching awards), and our faculty include three ACM Fellows and five IEEE Fellows.
Several members of the faculty are actively engaged in inter-disciplinary research collaborations with colleagues from all over campus and other universities. Indeed inter-disciplinary collaboration in research and education is a key component of our departmental vision and strategic direction 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.
Last but not least, GMU is the largest and most diverse university in Virginia and the fastest growing public university in the nation. Correspondingly, the department is committed to the Mason vision of inclusiveness and accessibilty, and to efforts that increase the representation of women and underrepresented minority groups in our programs and in the field of computing at large.
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 Mason!
Sincerely,
David S. Rosenblum
Planning Research Corporation Professor and Department Chair