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�鶹��Ƶ, Virginia’s largest public research university, turns 50 in 2022 and is celebrating an impressive array of stats it has racked up over the half-century, including:

• An enrollment of 39,000 students, representing 130 countries.
• More than $200 million in George �鶹��Ƶ-sponsored research in 2020.
• A student employment rate of 80% within six months of graduating.
• A No. 9 ranking among public institutions for innovation in , and No. 18 nationally.
• Six GMU programs in the top 100 best colleges rankings, including engineering, which rose 16 spots in the past year.
• The first university in the country to offer doctoral programs in conflict resolution, information technology, bioinformatics and computational social science.
• No. 1 in Virginia for ethnic diversity.

But , the university’s first Black president, knows that George �鶹��Ƶ might not have the same name recognition as other area universities — and that the competition for recognition is fierce.

“The biggest challenge … is just getting above the noise in the community,” he told WTOP.