Access to Excellence Podcast

The White House’s Situation Room is one of those real-life places that, because it plays such a key role in historic moments but is so rarely seen by outsiders, takes on an outsized air of mystery. And while it’s recently captured the public’s imagination again, thanks to the Netflix film A House of Dynamite, the Situation Room is just one point in a complex web of government security and intelligence operations. On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington is joined by Larry Pfeiffer—director of George Mason University's Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security, and expert consultant for A House of Dynamite—to discuss his experiences in the Situation Room: both in the White House and on the sound stage.

“Infrastructure” is one of those words that can mean a lot of different things to different people. At George Mason, we’re focused on infrastructure in terms of sustainability – how can we help innovate new systems for the world’s infrastructure that will be resilient and flexible enough to support a changing world. On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington is joined by two guests working at the intersection of innovation and sustainability to develop George Mason’s capabilities as a living laboratory for students, faculty, and staff to find solutions to our grand challenges: Liling Huang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering and Computing and the Dominion Energy Faculty Fellow in Power and Energy Systems, and Leah Nichols, executive director of the Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE) in the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact.

For this special "Best Of" episode, we've compiled some of our most thought-provoking and compelling conversations between President Washington and our accomplished faculty. We'll revisit discussions that are more relevant than ever—from the vast mysteries of the cosmos to the hidden power of coffee grounds—to see how George Mason is blazing a path of innovation to develop bold solutions for our world's grand challenges.

Drawing on our roots as the university that overcame adversity to become the nation’s youngest-ever R1 institution—and one whose sponsored research funding has grown 64 percent since 2020—George Mason University is launching a university-wide strategy to sharpen our focus on humanity’s most pressing issues while maximizing our competitiveness for external research funding: the Grand Challenge Initiative. For this episode of Access to Excellence, Andre Marshall, vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact at George Mason, joins President Gregory Washington to discuss this new initiative and how it will shape the future of our university.

The December 2024 conflict index by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data initiative reported that global conflicts have doubled over the past five years. Now more than ever, we need experts in conflict analysis and peacebuilding. And George Mason University is ready to meet that call. On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington is joined by Marc Gopin, the James H. Laue Professor of World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in George Mason’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, to discuss the art of diplomacy by building one relationship at a time and creating a shared vision of peace

In 2024, artificial intelligence dominated conversations across the globe from copyright lawsuits against AI art generators to developing legislation for artificial intelligence regulation. On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington and George Mason’s inaugural vice president and chief AI officer Amarda Shehu discuss the research possibilities of AI and the role of higher education in AI training and development.

Since putting the first man on the Moon in 1969, scientists have continued to push our knowledge and understanding of life and existence in vast unknown frontiers of space. Whether through Mars colonies or alien life forms, we're all wondering what and who can survive beyond Earth's atmospheres. In this episode of Access to Excellence, associate professor of computational and data sciences Anamaria Berea discusses her research on Mars settlements and Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon as she and President Gregory Washington debate the age-old question: What are the chances of intelligent life beyond Earth?

Ten years ago, Mason Korea opened its doors at the Incheon Global Campus in Songdo, South Korea. Now, the campus offers degrees in six undergraduate and two graduate disciplines to students from around the world. To recognize this anniversary, President Gregory Washington is joined by former campus dean Robert Matz and associate professor Gyu Tag Lee to discuss the growth of Mason Korea, the influence of Korean pop on global culture, and the future of Mason at the Incheon Global Campus.

Jeremy Campbell, associate director for strategic engagement in George Mason University’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth, says that at its current pace the vast Amazon rainforest, in five to 10 years, could pass a tipping point in which it could transform into grasslands. That process, fueled by deforestation and climate change, is a threat to the biodiversity and socio-cultural aspects that define the region, and has global implications as well. In this fascinating conversation, Campbell explains to Mason President Gregory Washington the magnitude of what the loss of the Amazon rainforest would really mean.

With oratory flair, Rev. Jeffery Johnson, pastor at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfax, Virginia, and Dr. Vernon Walton, pastor at First Baptist Church in Vienna, Virginia, guide us through some of the history and aspirations of the Black community using the lens of Black and African American History Month, Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech, the dissolution of Black-only communities, and their perspectives as leaders of their parishes, which were founded by formerly enslaved people. George Mason University President Gregory Washington and the pastors also examine the unique, but intertwined, roles the university and churches can play to confront issues such as affordable housing, food insecurity, and healthcare.

Missy Cummings, one of the country’s first female fighter pilots and director of George Mason University's Autonomy and Robotics Center, calls herself a tech futurist, charged with making tech work better and safer. In a conversation with Mason President Gregory Washington, Cummings is unflinching in her critique of AI’s strengths, weaknesses and shortcomings, as well as that of humans. There is a lot to like about AI, Cummings says, but she calls out bad tech where she sees it, including in the vision systems of self-driving cars and Tesla’s Autopilot. There's also a lot to like, Cummings says, about Mason's new Fuse building on its Mason Square Campus. When open in 2025, the building will will house R&D labs, corporate innovation centers, incubators, accelerators which will help advance the digital innovation goals of university, industry and community innovators.