University of Maryland Global Campus President Gregory W. Fowler, a George Mason University alumnus and national leader in online and hybrid education for nontraditional students, will be the featured speaker at Winter Commencement next month.
The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15, at EagleBank Arena on the Fairfax Campus and will be livestreamed on Mason’s YouTube channel. Tickets are required for guests.
Fowler, who earned a master’s degree in English from Mason in 1995, has served as president of two of the largest universities in the country, Southern New Hampshire University Global Campus and UMGC, formerly known as University of Maryland University College.
Fowler designs programming for students to meet the evolving needs of the workforce both in the United States and globally. According to UMGC’s website, the institution in FY 2022 had more than 305,000 worldwide online course enrollments and also offered on-site classes in more than 20 countries and territories.
Prior to his two presidencies, Fowler served in senior academic and administrative posts at Western Governors University.
The Albany, Georgia, native attended Morehouse College and earned his master’s degree at Mason while working at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C.
“Mason gave me a new approach to how technology could enhance the learning experience—a key perspective that has informed my work in online education to this day," Fowler said in a 2021 Mason news story announcing his UMGC presidency.
The two-time Senior Fulbright Scholar earned his PhD in English and American studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an MBA from Western Governors University.