Access to Excellence Podcast

Jan 21 2025 65 ep. 40 mins 5
Access to Excellence Podcast artwork

George Mason University’s Access to Excellence podcast brings you the university’s most compelling research and stories. Hosted by Mason President Gregory Washington.

  Education  Society & Culture
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Navigating AI’s risks and rewards

Jan 21 2025 50 mins  
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 economic perceptions driving U.S. politics

Dec 11 2024 60 mins  
Another presidential election has come and gone. Reactions to the reelection of Donald Trump are wide and varied. And we’re facing a growing divide across our nation as we transition, once again, from one party in control to another. How did we get here? Are these truly unprecedented times? On this riveting episode of Access to Excellence, President Washington is joined by two ex

What are the chances of intelligent life beyond Earth?

Nov 18 2024 46 mins  
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

Can dirty coffee grounds be the key to clean water?

Oct 21 2024 53 mins  
Every day at George Mason University, faculty like assistant professor Jeffrey Moran develop innovative solutions to the world’s grand challenges. And sometimes those grand challenges can have small solutions that come from the most unlikely of places. In this episode of Access to Excellence, join Moran and President Gregory Washington as they discuss the water-cleaning powers of

Marking a decade of success at Mason Korea

Aug 02 2024 49 mins  
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

Cybersecurity and the global threats of tomorrow

Jul 05 2024 62 mins  
Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute and assistant professor of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, knows better than anyone the growing threats to national security during these rapidly changing times. In this fast-paced episode of Access to Excellence, Jaffer and George Mason President Gregory Washington discuss t

What will become of the Amazon?

Apr 22 2024 52 mins  
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-cultur

Catherine Read, mayor of Fairfax City, Va., is outspoken, unfiltered

Mar 25 2024 46 mins  
Catherine Read is the first woman and first George Mason University alum to be mayor of Fairfax City, Va., the university’s hometown, and she isn’t shy about touting an institution she says helped teach her how to think critically. Want to know why it’s good to “disrupt the system,” why it’s important to get more women into policy-making decisions, and why our education

A view from the pulpit

Feb 16 2024 49 mins  
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-onl

Where the bodies are buried

Jan 11 2024 42 mins  
Forensic research on human donors is not for the faint of heart, Mary Ellen O’Toole, director of the Forensic Science Program in George Mason University’s College of Science, admitted to Mason President Gregory Washington. But the university’s new outdoor research and training laboratory—or “body farm,” as O’Toole, a former FBI profiler, calls it—is a valuable addit