Volgenau's Liza Wilson Durant, Gov. Ralph Northam and Mason's Chief of Staff Dietra Trent look over plans for the Innovation District in Arlington. Photo by Lathan Goumas.
George Mason University leaders met with Gov. Ralph Northam in Arlington last week to discuss Mason’s planned Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) and other changes to the Arlington Campus.
Liza Wilson Durant, a professor and associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement within the Volgenau School of Engineering, gave the governor a tour and provided details about the IDIA, which will be located in a new 400,000-square-foot building planned for the university’s Arlington Campus.
The IDIA will become the hub of an Innovation District in Arlington by housing more than 1,200 entrepreneurs, technologists and business leaders from the public and private sectors.
Wilson Durant was joined by Mason’s Chief of Staff Dietra Trent and Vice President of Community and Government Relations Paul Liberty.
She said Gov. Northam enjoyed the presentation.
“He was very supportive of our plans,” Wilson Durant said, “and our ideas to support the development of innovative technologies and have a larger impact on the economy in and around Arlington and the larger commonwealth.”