Tony Griffin. Photo courtesy Fairfax County Government
Fairfax, Va. – Former Fairfax County executive Tony Griffin will join George Mason University’s Department of Public and International Affairs as practitioner-in-residence.
In this capacity, Griffin will teach courses related to local government management and serve as a resource to faculty, staff and students. He will be a member of Mason’s three Centers on the Public Service, where he will help the centers develop programming and research projects related to governance topics such as fiscal challenges, private-public partnerships and connections with the nonprofit sector.
Griffin will begin his appointment in August.
“I look forward to the opportunity that George Mason University presents to me to provide knowledge transfer to the next generation and to continue to engage in promoting local government management and intergovernmental cooperation,” Griffin said.
In addition to 23 years of service with Fairfax County, Griffin previously served as top manager in Arlington County and Falls Church, Va. He also served as chair of the Chief Administrative Officers Committee of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and was appointed to the Department of Homeland Security’s local, state, tribal and federal Preparedness Task Force by Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Griffin earned a bachelor of arts degree from Hobart College and two master’s degrees from Virginia Tech, one in urban and regional planning and one in urban affairs. He also served as a U.S. Marine Corps officer during the Vietnam War.
“Tony is known nationally for thought leadership centered on intergovernmental issues,” says
Priscilla Regan, chair of the Department of Public and International Affairs at Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “His addition to our program provides tremendous experience and leadership for our students who will become the next generation of public managers.”
“Our goal at the Centers on the Public Service is to create and promote research that makes a difference to practitioners,” says Paul Posner, professor and director of the Master of Public Administration Program and director of the Centers on the Public Service at Mason. “Tony understands the unique needs facing public managers and will allow us to reach beyond the academic community to ensure our research is relevant to public administrators.”
The Centers on the Public Service are dedicated to helping the public sector address emerging challenges through training, research and collaboration. The three centers are: The Center for Federal Management Leadership; The Center for State and Local Government Leadership; and The Center for Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy and Policy.
Housed on Mason’s Arlington Campus, the centers conduct research, provide training and education, develop best practices and engage the region’s government and nonprofit communities.
About George Mason University
George Mason University is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with global distinction in a range of academic fields. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., Mason provides students access to diverse cultural experiences and the most sought-after internships and employers in the country. Mason offers strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs in education, engineering and information technology, organizational psychology, health care and visual and performing arts. With Mason professors conducting groundbreaking research in areas such as climate change, public policy and the biosciences, George Mason University is a leading example of the modern, public university. George Mason University—Where Innovation Is Tradition.