Message from the Dean

Happy 2008!

This has been a truly outstanding last couple of years for our School. In 2005, we celebrated our 20th anniversary. Nearly 600 people, including IT&E alumni, faculty, staff and friends, joined us in celebrating IT&E’s first 20 years and its promising future.

The highlight of the evening was the announcement of a gift of $10 million from Ernst and Sara Volgenau. This was the largest personal donation in the history of George Mason University. In recognition of their generosity, our School was named The Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering.

The Volgenau gift will enable us to create exciting new academic and research programs in bioengineering. It will also help us strengthen our existing programs, particularly in the areas of information security and knowledge management. Dr. Volgenau, Chairman of SRA International, Inc., and Mrs. Volgenau, have made this commitment because they believe that strategic investments in research and education will lead to important technology breakthroughs that are critical to the ability of our country to maintain its strong technical lead. Their gift shows extraordinary confidence in our School and its programs.

Our alumni are strong and active, with more than 12,000 to date. Many have been strong supporters of our School for several years. They attend our events and continue to give to our School through scholarships, specific academic programs, and our new building campaign.

Our relationship with industry continues to excel. Companies continue to hire our students, provide us with knowledgeable adjunct faculty, and work closely with us on joint research projects.

Our investment continues as we move forward with plans for IT& E’s third decade. In October 2005, we announced our $20M, “2010 Campaign”. The most visible outcome of the campaign will be a spectacular new building, the second largest on campus, which will combine academic and research space. The new building is slated to open in Fall, 2009.

This five-year campaign will enable us to create degree programs in IT-biosciences and bioengineering, to endow professorships and scholarships, to promote economic growth in the region through these new research emphases, and to provide an unparalleled educational experience for our students.

We are extremely proud of The Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering’s reputation for academic quality, and we are committed to continuing on the path to becoming one of the premier academic and research institutions in the country.

We thank you for your current investment in our School and invite you to continue your involvement with us on this exciting journey.

Best regards,



Lloyd J. Griffiths