George Mason University (also Mason)is the largest research university in Virginia and is based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax.Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County. The university's motto is Freedom and Learning.

The university was founded as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1957 and became an independent institution in 1972.Today, Mason is recognized for its strong programs in economics, law, creative writing, computer science, and business.In recent years, George Mason faculty have twice won the Nobel Prize in Economics.The university enrolls 33,917 students, making it the largest university by head count in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution in January 1956, establishing a branch college of the University of Virginia in Northern Virginia. In September 1957 the new college opened its doors to seventeen students, all of whom enrolled as freshmen in a small renovated elementary school building at Bailey's Crossroads. John Norville Gibson Finley served as Director of the new branch, which was known as University College.