Four buildings across three George Mason University locations will have new names on July 1, including two buildings that will be named for Nobel Prize-winning former professors Vernon L. Smith and James M. Buchanan, respectively.
Mason Hall on the Fairfax Campus will become Buchanan Hall. The Metropolitan Building on the Arlington Campus will become the Vernon L. Smith Building. In addition, the Buchanan House on the Fairfax Campus will become the Roberts House to reflect its location on Roberts Road, and the garage at the Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, Va., will become the Mason Ferry Garage.
The changes were suggested by the University Naming Committee, an advisory board comprising faculty, students and staff from different university offices and departments.
Buchanan, who died in 2013 and was the founder of George Mason’s Center for Study of Public Choice, was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986 for his contributions to the theory of political decision-making and public economics. Smith, 90, won the same prize in 2002 for developing methods of laboratory experiments in economics that help researchers understand economic behavior.
University Libraries archivist and Naming Committee member Robert Vay said, “It’s been a steady upward climb for the university. These two faculty members have added to the lore of the university. It’s fitting that the school honors these individuals who have increased our visibility.”