Career Connection Faculty Award

The annual Career Connection Faculty Award celebrates Mason faculty and staff who make a positive impact on students' career goals, employment plans, or grad school preparation.

Nominees are passionate about supporting students' professional growth and invest extra time in their career readiness. Students nominate deserving faculty in the first half of the spring semester each year.

Every spring, all Mason students are invited to nominate a faculty member they feel has supported their efforts to become career-ready by doing one or more of the following:  

• Incorporating career content into courses and programs
• Assigning career-related activities such as resume and cover letter writing
• Increasing awareness of transferable skills gained from their courses
• Relating curriculum to real-world issues
• Providing recommendations on how to improve skills
• Asking questions about your future plans
• Giving advice based on experience (both formally and informally)
• Serving as a reference or writing letters of recommendation for students
• Encouraging participation in career-related events such as career fairs, networking events, and experiential learning activities (e.g., internships, research, study abroad)

2024: Antti Pentikainen, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

2023: Kelly Wentland, Costello College of Business

2022: Afra Saeed Ahmad, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

2021:Terry Gudaitis, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

2020: Harbir Antil, Center for Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (CMAI) and Department of Mathematical Sciences

2019: Susan Howard, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

2018: Michael E. von Fricken, College of Public Health

2017: Dann Sklarew, College of Science

2016: Carla Fisher, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

2015: Cindy Parker, Costello College of Business

2014: Brian Alexander, Schar School of Policy and Government