The Mason Spirit

George Mason University alumnus Gregory Fowler, MA English ’95, started his new role as president of University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) in January 2021.

Gregory Fowler, MA English ’95. Photo provided

Fowler, who previously served as president of Southern New Hampshire University Global Campus, has had a 25-year career in higher education in which he has focused on online, competency-based, and hybrid learning.

UMGC has more than 58,000 students in the United States and even more overseas. Fowler is the first African American to serve as president of the school on more than an interim basis.

Fowler graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta and moved to the Washington, D.C., area to work at the National Endowment for the Humanities as an outreach specialist. During that time, he earned his master’s degree through Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

“My time at Mason came at a very formative period early in my career,” says Fowler. ”I attended Mason while I was working full time at the National Endowment for the Humanities, where I was navigating the complexities of government funding of the arts and humanities. Mason gave me a new approach to how technology could enhance the learning experience—a key perspective that has informed my work in online education to this day.”

Fowler went on to become a lecturer and assistant professor of literature and American studies at Penn State University–Erie while finishing his doctorate in English and American studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Fowler is a two-time Fulbright Senior Scholar. He had held senior-level academic and administrative positions at Western Governors University and Hesser College.

Fowler also holds an MBA from Western Governors University and was a Charles A. Dana Scholar at Duke University.

“We at Mason are very proud of Dr. Fowler with his recent appointment, as well as his impressive career-long achievements as an educator and leader,” says Mason Provost Mark Ginsberg. “Indeed, it is inspiring that a graduate of our university has achieved such heights as a leader in higher education.”

—Anna Stolley Persky