Mason Korea has appointed Jason M. Kinser as its next Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs, effective July 27, 2026. Kinser joins Mason Korea from George Mason University's Fairfax campus, where he currently serves as Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Science.
A George Mason faculty member since 1997, Kinser served as the first full-time Chair of Computational and Data Sciences (CDS) from 2017 to 2024. He helped bring the CDS degree program to Mason Korea, has served on the Mason Korea Executive Committee since 2023, and stepped in on-site during Mason Korea's period of leadership vacancy last year.
“His expertise at the intersection of the life sciences and data sciences positions Mason Korea to deepen research and industry partnerships and expand pathways for our students into Songdo’s laboratories and companies,” said Campus Dean Joshua Park.
Kinser’s experience spans multiple academic disciplines and leadership roles across the university. He has held faculty appointments in bioinformatics, systems biology, physics, and computational and data sciences, and has contributed to university-wide initiatives including the Global Assembly, the Provost-led Chairs Executive Committee, the Mason Chairs Forum, and the Mason Core Committee. During the transition to remote learning in 2020, he also served as the College of Science liaison to the Instructional Continuity Working Group, helping move the university’s 40,000 students online within two weeks.
The first natural scientist to serve in a senior leadership role at Mason Korea, Kinser holds a B.A. and M.S. in Physics and a D.Sc. in Optics and Electro-Optical Systems. His research spans machine learning, image processing, bioinformatics, and large-scale simulation. He is the author of several textbooks translated into Chinese, was part of the team that created the world’s first PhD in Bioinformatics, holds two U.S. patents, and has received the David J. King Award and Teacher of Distinction honors.
As the first full-time chair of the Department of Computational and Data Sciences, Kinser led a period of significant growth. “Over eight years, the undergraduate program expanded from just 25 students to 375, establishing CDS as one of the top degree-producing units in the College of Science,” Kinser said.
His appointment aligns with Mason Korea’s efforts to strengthen opportunities in data science, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and other emerging fields while expanding connections with industry and research partners in Songdo and the broader Incheon region.