George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public sea-grant research university in Fairfax County, Virginia near Washington, D.C. The university was originally founded as the Northern Virginia University Center of the University of Virginia in 1949 as a Northern Virginia regional branch of the University of Virginia. Named after Founding Father of the United States George Mason in 1959, it became an independent university in 1972. The school has since grown into the largest public university in the Commonwealth of Virginia.The university operates four campuses in Virginia, which are located in Fairfax, Arlington, Front Royal, and Prince William Counties. It also operates a retreat and conference center in Lorton and an international campus in Incheon, South Korea. The university's flagship campus is in Fairfax, Virginia. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." Two professors, James M. Buchanan in 1986 and Vernon L. Smith in 2002, were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics during their time at George Mason University.EagleBank Arena, a 10,000-seat arena and concert venue operated by the university, is located on the Fairfax campus. The university recognizes 500 student groups and 41 fraternities and sororities. Source: Wikipedia (en)