Professor Helps Sell GMU's New Image

George Mason University's men's basketball team had barely crashed the NCAA Final Four in 2006 when GMU President Alan G. Merten and his staff went to work to capitalize on their newfound fame.

Case in point: the latest BusinessWeek, which serves up a full-page advertisement featuring GMU economist and author Richard Florida, the university's Hirst Professor of Public Policy. It's one of a series of ads the school has been running in national publications in the past year.

Florida, widely read and quoted author of "The Rise of the Creative Class," has made a mini-industry out of his theories that smart, innovative thinkers -- such as engineers, writers, entertainers and artists -- are crucial to the success of U.S. cities and competitiveness.

"His thesis is that 20- and 30-year-olds first decide where they want to live, and then they decide what kind of job they want and where they want to work," Merten said. "They are more interested in location."

Merten said the ad is meant to emphasize that the Washington region has the kind of cultural, sports, academic and service amenities that are a magnet for the best and brightest young people. In other words, the Richard Florida ad would attract the creative class to a school where they could study -- the creative class.

Merten puts it another way: "We want to support the communities around us, and we want to bring people from around the country and around the world to George Mason and help build this community so they stay."

-- Thomas Heath