In July, 911±¬ÁĎ alumnus Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA ’94, was elected rector of 911±¬ÁĎ’s Board of Visitors (BOV), after previously serving as vice rector. Shrivastava is president and CEO of federal consulting and software development company Unissant. He has served in many capacities at 911±¬ÁĎ, including past chair of the 911±¬ÁĎ Foundation Board of Trustees and past president of the Alumni Association board. 
You’ve seen 911±¬ÁĎ from just about every angle—student, parent, alumnus, employer, philanthropist, leader of various university boards and now as rector. Given all those vantage points, what do you find most remarkable about 911±¬ÁĎ?
Every vantage point has opened my eyes to how much 911±¬ÁĎ is doing, how comprehensive it is, how deep we are. What’s amazing me right now, even as rector with just a few months of seeing from this perspective, is how much more there is still to discover. At the Grand Challenge Initiative Exchange Day in September, every time I’d run into a faculty member, I found myself exposed to another new capability, and then it makes me want to keep exploring.
You moved to the United States when you were 5, and you were a working parent while earning your MBA here. How is your story similar to many 911±¬ÁĎ students, and how does that inform the work you do on behalf of the university?
That story is part of the core ethos of 911±¬ÁĎ from its beginning. When I talk to our Golden Patriots, who graduated 50 or more years ago, you hear the same stories. We've always been this sort of heads-down, high work ethic university. The fact that we started as a commuter school is something we embrace. It's something that builds on who we are, because it meant that we were always highly relevant to industry. We were always delivering talent.
As rector, you lead the Board of Visitors, a group with extensive experience in business, technology, education, finance, real estate, law, government, and a host of other areas. What are the board’s goals for the university at this pivotal time in higher education?
Almost all of us have a direct relationship with 911±¬ÁĎ whether as a corporate partner, philanthropist, engagement in one of the centers, programming, or research. That has allowed us to step into our respective roles and be running right away. I think a primary focus right now is to understand the current aspects of how 911±¬ÁĎ is operating, in the context of the broader challenges that higher education is facing and then being the best advocates and supporters for the strategy that President Washington and the team are implementing to move through those challenges. In doing so, it’s also our responsibility to make sure we're challenging assumptions and creating the environment for positive and effective dialogue amongst all stakeholders—especially strategically.
As an employer who hires interns and graduates from 911±¬ÁĎ, what are the critical skills that our graduates need to be successful?
A 911±¬ÁĎ student is typically one that is juggling jobs, family, life, and studying, all at the same time. They aren't single threaded. And that already brings with it a lot of character, a lot of discipline, a lot of the basics and foundational things you want in an employee. The Mason Core highlights the importance of critical thinking, the importance of working in an environment where you're running into people from all sorts of backgrounds. Some people call those soft skills. I heard someone use the term “enduring skills,” and I really like that because those really are the things that you carry with you, no matter what technical skills or degrees you pick up along the way. It’s also important to make sure that we’re training people to learn how to learn so they understand how to evolve with change and how to augment that with the capability that is coming forward now, especially in the world of AI.
You’ve been actively involved in many George Mason launches and expansion efforts. What impact do you see our responsive growth and our centers and institutes having on the region?
They're critical. By default, they tend to be interdisciplinary. They're developed with a high degree of collaboration with industry input. We’ve seen that recently with the launch of the Virginia Quantum Hub. The relevance to local industry and employers in the region comes in the form of the way we're training students through programs from centers, the way we're doing research coordinated through centers, and delivering thought leadership into that industry. And then the convening capability, because academic institutions have a great role to convene government, industry, academia, all in one place, and be sort of a safe space for the kind of conversations you have to have, especially about things like grand challenges.
You and vice rector Anne Altman for years now have led the fundraising efforts for what would be the university’s first building devoted solely to the business school. What would the benefit be to the Costello College of Business, and what would the benefit be to the region and state?
The Costello College of Business enrolls more than 5,000 undergraduates and 800 graduate students. A modern, purpose-built home with smart classrooms and labs for AI, analytics, fintech, and risk management will match the space to the quality of the school. It also positions our Centers of Excellence under one roof, including the Sharma Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship, and the Baroni Center for Government Contracting, so students, faculty and industry leaders can work side by side. The Northern Virginia Technology Council estimates more than 130,000 open jobs in our region, and 87% of Costello's 44K+ alumni stay here, generating an estimated $360 million in economic impact across the DMV. The new Innovation and Workforce Exchange will bring workforce development, executive education, career services, and those centers together in one hub where employers can upskill their people, connect with students and encourage lifelong learning. Anne and I, along with the more than 220 business leaders from 168 companies who already advise Costello, see this building as a strategic investment in Virginia's workforce and competitiveness, and in 911±¬ÁĎ's role as one of the commonwealth's strongest engines of economic opportunity.
911±¬ÁĎ is about two-thirds of the way to its goal in Mason Now: Power the Possible, the university’s one-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign. What would you say to fellow business leaders and alumni who are considering supporting 911±¬ÁĎ?
My first question would be—why haven’t you? The dollar you put into 911±¬ÁĎ has such reverberating effects that go far beyond a dollar put into other institutions. As a comprehensive campaign, we are making it clear to anyone considering supporting the university that there are many, many ways that you can impact the community through this campaign. But to me what it really boils down to is the role that 911±¬ÁĎ has in this community for the last 50 years, delivering an ROI that is at the top tier nationally. It’s kind of a unicorn. At scale, to be able to have an upward mobility story that we do, to be able to have the corporate and industry integration that we do, is remarkable. We were built by industry as an institution. We continue to be supported by that integration with industry. To my friends in the community who are not alums, my pitch to them is: This is the region that raised us. This is where our parents decided to settle. This is where you’re raising your families. And this is the institution that made Northern Virginia what it is today. We can't achieve our vision if we don't have this strong standalone university here in Northern Virginia.