The Archive of the Magazine for the George Mason University Community

Providing Students with a World-Class Education

By Rob Riordan on May 15, 2019


Dance Like Everybody’s Watching

Former university provost Peter Stearns and his wife, retired senior administrator Donna Kidd, MPA ’94, have together endowed several student scholarships and become two of Mason’s leading philanthropists. Their support for the arts, and specifically for Mason’s dance program, was honored in 2018 with the dedication of the Donna L. Kidd and Peter N. Stearns Dance Studio at the de Laski Performing Arts Building.

A School of Dance student in Washington, D.C. Photo by Creative Services

“The real reward for our ongoing interest in Mason Dance has been, and will continue to be, the program itself. It’s been immensely gratifying to see the continued progress of this special program and its growing and well-deserved national recognition.”Donna Kidd, MPA ’94

 

 

 

 

 


Music to Students’ Ears

Professor Linda Monson with School of Music graduate students on the Concert Hall stage. Photo by Creative Services

Mason legend Sid Dewberry began taking piano lessons from School of Music director Linda Monson in 2002, when he was 75 years old. In 2017 he made a $1 million commitment to fund scholarships that will help dozens of talented music students over the next five years. The scholarship recipients will be known as Linda Apple Monson Scholars, in her honor.

 

 

 

 

 


Expanding Student Horizons, Here and Abroad

Photo by Creative Services

A great college experience goes beyond what’s taught in the classroom. Thanks to annual scholarship support from John and Tracie Jacquemin, each year up to 20 Mason undergrads with financial need receive funding to study abroad. The Jacquemin Family Foundation also sponsors a full-stipend fellowship for a doctoral student studying conservation science through the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation. The first recipient, PhD candidate Camille Goblet, is researching the genetics of the endangered black rhino.

 

 

 

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