Tracking Our Past

Alumnus helps Fairfax Campus mark its first 40 years

By Christopher Anzalone

These days, alumnus Robert Vay, BA American Studies '92 and MA History '99, is up to his elbows in university history. He is the curator for Simplicity, Permanence, and Economy: The Origins of George Mason University's Fairfax Campus, an exhibit that will mark the 40th anniversary of the construction and dedication of the campus in the summer and the fall of 1964.

“I've always been interested in the history of institutions. George Mason's history, though not as long or as steeped in tradition as [the University of Virginia] or William and Mary, is quite fascinating,” says Vay. “The [exhibit] title comes from the architect's original master plan of the campus from 1960. Our parent institution, the University of Virginia, envisioned a facility to house a two-year junior college with a maximum of 1,500 students at the time of its initial design.”

As curator, Vay has been responsible for selecting materials to be displayed within the exhibit, as well as reproducing those materials and writing the text to be included within the corresponding catalog.

The exhibit, which features a combination of photographs, written documents, and film, is on display in the Johnson Center's Atrium Gallery through October 17. Among the topics the exhibit covers are the reasons and events that led to the establishment of the Fairfax Campus, the process by which the campus was designed and subsequently constructed, and the role of key figures throughout the early days of George Mason. In addition, a web site (library.gmu.edu/40years) has been developed to augment the exhibit.

Since 2000, Vay has been dissertation and thesis and electronic texts coordinator in Special Collections and Archives (SC&A), a unit within University Libraries charged with preserving and making primary source research materials available to scholars. In doing his job, Vay says he wears many hats. His responsibilities include a range of duties, such as assisting graduate students working on their theses or dissertations, maintaining web pages, and creating electronic resources for library patrons. Before taking his current job, Vay had been the reading room archivist for SC&A since 1993.

Vay was drawn to the university as an undergraduate student, attracted by the “friendliness of the people and its location away from Washington, D.C., and the busier suburbs.” He continued his studies after coming to work for the university and received his master's degree, focusing his studies on post-Second World War American political and cultural history.

When he is away from work, Vay enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Amy; their baby daughter, Cassie; and the family's two dogs, Wolfie and Rudy. He also is an avid reader and outdoorsman, who enjoys biking and “just about any other outdoor activity.”

As part of the 40th anniversary celebration, President Alan Merten and the university's Board of Visitors hosted a luncheon and presentation to honor the founders of the university on Thursday, September 30. Speakers included Arthur W. Arundel and John T. Hazel Jr.