May 8, 2026

The Office of Research publishes this weekly media report to assist with keeping up with news relevant to research at George Mason. It includes news items about recent research of consequence by current George Mason faculty. Items and topics are identified using Google alerts, scientific email newsletters, the media tracker Talkwalker and by monitoring George Mason departmental social media accounts. Stories are sorted by academic unit and, if available, by topic. If stories about George Mason research are not captured by the report, email Elizabeth Grisham. 

Antonin Scalia Law School

Professor Saguato Recognized As Teacher Of Distinction

law.gmu.edu

3/26/26 – George Mason has recognized Paolo Saguato, Associate Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, as a Teacher of Distinction, honoring his excellence in the classroom and positive impact on students. more

David Lord Wins George Mason Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award 2026 

Zebra 

5/5/26 – David Lord, Adjunct Professor, Antonin Scalia Law School, received an Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award. more 

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

From Stagecraft To Statecraft: Rethinking Diplomacy Forums As Instruments Of Soft Power 

anka HABER AJANSI 

4/23/26 – Alpaslan Özerdem is Dean of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies. He is the author of this piece. more

College of Education and Human Development

George Mason Researchers Publish Book Chapter 

emerald insight 

2026 – George Mason Alumnus Philip Wilkerson; and faculty members Sam Steen, Associate Professor, School Counseling, College of Education and Human Development (CEHD); Hung-Ling (Stella) Liu, Associate Professor, School of Sport, Recreation, and Tourism Management, CEHD, and Zikun Li, doctoral candidate, CEHD, recently published a book chapter titled, "Promoting Belonging and Happiness for Black Male Faculty and Staff at a Predominantly White Institution." more  

PARENT VOICE: Children With Special Needs Are Too Often Failed By Our Education System 

THE HECHINGER REPORT 
4/6/26 – Elizabeth Davis, Postdoctoral Fellow, College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), Education Policy Forward, is the author of this piece. more  

College of Engineering and Computing

Ghaemi Is First Author Of Paper On Developing Disinfectants 

news.emory.edu 

4/28/26 – Shiva Ghaemi is a George Mason doctoral student studying computer science in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC). Ghaemi is first author of the paper: “Topology-Aware Generation and Activity-Based Filtering: A Computational-Experimental Framework for Data-Scarce Quaternary Ammonium Compound Discovery” in “Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.”  

 

Amarda Shehu, Inaugural VP and Chief AI Officer; Associate Dean for Research; Professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), is also among the authors. more 

Cultivating A Career In Systems & Soil 

College of Engineering & Computing 

4/9/26 – Lizhi Wang, a professor in both the Departments of Bioengineering and Systems Engineering and Operations Research, was made a Fellow at the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) in March, an association where he has been a member for 20 years. more 

George Mason AI Day Recap 

linkedin.com 

5/2/26 – Check out this recap of George Mason’s AI Day on April 29 by Amarda Shehu, Inaugural VP and Chief AI Officer; Associate Dean for Research; Professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering and Computing (CEC). more 

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People Of 2026 

WASHINGTONIAN 

5/5/26 – Tyler Cowen, Professor, Economics, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), is featured on this list. more 

College of Public Health

Roundup Transformed Farming In The U.S. Could It Change Regulation Too?

wbur.org

5/6/26 – Melissa Perry, Dean, College of Public Health, participated in this program. Perry starts at 29:21. more

College of Science

Wildfire-Prone States Are Using AI For Early Detection 

Los Angeles Times 

5/4/26 – Chaowei Yang, Professor, Geography and Geoinformation Science, College of Science, comments in this story. more 

The Emergence Of The High-IQ Political Attacker 

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

4/29/26 – Mary Ellen O'Toole, Professor, Director, Forensic Science Program, College of Science, comments in this story. Subscription might be required to access full content. more 

George Mason University & University Of Tokyo Scientists Mine Past Air Temperature Forecasts, Lower Cost With Greater Subseasonal Prediction Accuracy 

science.gmu.edu 

4/9/26 – Tracy Mason, Assistant Dean, Strategic Communications, College of Science, 
writes, “Researchers at George Mason University‘s College of Science and the University of Tokyo have developed a new method that improves air temperature forecasts one to five weeks in advance—without requiring additional model simulations. Made possible by support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the methodology, detailed in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides a dual benefit, not requiring significant increase in computational cost while improving predictions. The approach selectively retains only the past ensemble members that demonstrated high predictive skill, which offers a practical pathway for improving operational subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) forecasts within existing resource constraints. The approach may also extend to machine learning–based prediction systems, hydrological forecasting, and climate modeling frameworks.” more 

Costello College of Business

AI Fairness Research: Building A Fairer World With Machine Learning 

PUNJAB KESARI 

5/2/26 – The author of this piece writes, “Jingyuan Yang, an assistant professor at George Mason University’s Costello College of Business, is investigating the potential of machine learning to foster a more equitableworld. She is challenging the prevailing belief that incorporating fairness into artificial intelligence systems inevitably compromises efficiency. Instead, Yang, alongside collaborators Pengzhan Guo and Keli Xiao, proposes a ‘fairness-performance complementarity’ through a novel ‘fairness-by-design' framework that leverages reinforcement learning.” more 

Schar School of Policy and Government

Energy & The Real Cost Of War With Iran

The Hayden Center (via YouTube)

5/5/26 – The Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security and Schar School of Policy and Government hosted this event May 5. more

RESEARCH.GMU.EDU