George Mason The Pulse

@GEORGEMASON

SCHAR SCHOOL HOSTS ‘SCHOLAR IN EXILE’ FROM UKRAINE: TETIANA KHUTOR T he Schar School welcomed its third “scholar in exile” this summer when Tetiana Khutor joined the faculty as a professor of practice. Because of the devastating war with Russia, the Ukraine native was unable to perform her research at her Kyiv-based think tank, Institute of Legislative Ideas, or teach at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Khutor, 31, teaches anticorruption policy and devises legislative strategies to combat corruption and encourage good governance. The war has inspired her to focus rebuilding her country. She is lecturing on “the instruments of confiscation” in seized Russian assets—billions of dollars that could be used to defend and reconstruct Ukraine. Scholars in exile come to the Schar School by means of the New School’s New University in Exile Consortium, a collection of colleges dedicated to supporting scholars facing threats at home. George Mason is one of 12 in the United States participating in the program. —Buzz McClain AUERSWALD HELPS LEAD AMERICA250 INNOVATION COUNCIL S char School professor Philip Auerswald is cochair of the American Innovation Advisory Council for America250, the nonpartisan initiative working to engage the public in commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In case you have lost track, America’s semiquincentennial arrives on July 4, 2026. Auerswald, who studies entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation in a global context, shares duties with cochair Darlene Cavalier, a professor at Arizona State University, founder of public research incubator SciStarter and a founding board member of the Citizen Science Association. — Buzz McClain

TETIANA KHUTOR

U.S. REP. JENNIFER MCCLELLAN, CENTER IN PURPLE, MEETS WITH THE NEW LEADERSHIP COHORT.

NEW LEADERSHIP VIRGINIA: A WEEK OF VISITS WITH WOMEN LEADERS S ixteen undergraduates, all of them women, from universities in Virginia spent a week in June meeting with women’ leaders in business, nonprofits, and politics as the first cohort of the NEW Leadership Virginia program. The residential program, the only one of its kind in Virginia, was hosted by the Schar School’s Gender and Policy (GAP) Center in partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). A mid-week dinner and networking event saw the presentation of three “Women Who Mind the GAP” Leadership awards: Director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Civil Rights Center Naomi Barry-Perez; Doorways CEO Diana Ortiz; and President of the Consumer Technology Association Kinsey Fabrizio, a 2003 George Mason alumna in government and international politics and Spanish.

“Being surrounded by women who have big aspirations in various fields is so inspiring and is an experience I wouldn’t have been able to have otherwise,” said government and international politics student Ella Duncan-High. —Maya Khachab and Taylor Ramirez

Students completed an “action project” in which faculty and interns helped them research a public-facing issue, imitate a legislative hearing, and defend their team’s position, with the idea being to develop public speaking and communication proficiencies, among other skills. A highlight was a day-long visit to Capitol Hill for in-person meetings with U.S. Reps. Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer McClellan, and Don Beyer. They were also hosted by Rep. Jen Kiggans’ professional staff.

8 | The Pulse Winter 2024

The Pulse Winter 2024 | 9