GMU making its next move: Loudoun County

Virginia Business
November 2005

As Prince William County can attest, having George Mason University as a resident can be good for business. Since the Fairfax-based university set up a campus there eight years ago, Manassas has gotten a performing arts center, fitness and aquatic center and an injection of $25 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health for research-related activities.

Now GMU is turning its attention to Loudoun County. It plans to build a campus on 125 donated acres, with the first building slated to open by 2009.

Loudoun was always next in line, says Dr. Alan Merten, president of GMU, because of the county’s strong population growth and assets like Washington Dulles International Airport and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The Loudoun campus, near the intersection of Routes 50 and 659, will feature two Centers of Excellence in health sciences and air transportation. Working in conjunction with Howard Hughes and Dulles, the centers will provide instruction and conduct research, including clinical trials.