Interview with Provost David Wu

When was your first visit to Korea and what do you like about Korea? Is there anything you’d like to experience the next time you visit?

The first time I visited Korea was when Mason Korea was established in 2014. Since then, I visited about five times. The Songdo and Incheon area was pretty quiet at that time, but over the last five years, the area has changed a lot and I think the city is well-designed. What I like about Korea is that the country has a modern and traditional combination. I was attracted by the coexistence of the new and old. On my next visit, I’d like to experience rural places of Korea or visit beautiful mountains.

You’ve achieved tremendous career success as the Provost and EVP at George Mason. What advice do you have for our employees who are looking to grow in their career paths?

There needs to be a balance between focusing on your own work and helping to serve others. If you only focus on your own work without wanting to serve others, then ultimately you will end up facing limitation. This is why I always tell people to follow the ‘60/40 rule’—put 60% of your efforts on your own work and 40% in helping others be successful. A positive attitude and listening carefully to others’ concerns have also played a role in my journey.

There was a recent article about burnout and given the large responsibility that you have, how do you manage work-life-balance and what do you do for fun?

I like to be physically active and exercise. I exercise every day, normally in the morning. I either swim, run, or play tennis or golf. Physical activities give me stamina and energy, or even reduce my stress and tension. When you are more relaxed, you are more generous and kind. But when you are under stress, it’s hard for you to stay in a good mood.

With President Cabrera leaving for Georgia Tech, there are some concerns amongst the Mason Korea community given his contributions and influence over the years. What impact do you think this change will have on Mason’s trajectory and for Mason Korea in particular?

I don’t think there is going to be a noticeable impact. Because the university is already committed to the success of this campus. Dr. Cabrera helped a lot in sparking this growth in the beginning, but in terms of the operation and planning, the university is already set in motion and will consistently commit to it regardless of the change in leadership. I believe Mason Korea will also continue to grow as the campus successfully went through the beginning stage of establishment and now it’s in a good place. The campus is now the most popular destination in our Global Gateway Program with more than 20 freshman students coming in this past semester and over a dozen other study abroad students.

Mason recently announced some exciting updates including a future partnership with Amazon, online programs, improved research outcomes, exploring a medical school, etc. Are there any opportunities for Mason Korea that you see from these developments?

Amazon is a very big deal because the Washington area has evolved into a significant area for technology. Amazon needs to fill a large number of high paying jobs in computer programing, business, and finance at its headquarters. This is also a huge benefit for Mason Korea students as they can access these opportunities in their senior year when they come to the Fairfax campus or through online courses. Also, we recently announced a joint degree program in cloud computing with Amazon, which can later expand to Korea or be available online if there's sufficient demand. We're also in the process of creating the first college of public health in Virginia, which will include global health, which specifically has potential here.

What are your priorities in the coming years for students, faculty, and staff?

For students, it’s about how can we improve our academic programs and expand access. For faculty, it’s our research impact. Now as a Tier 1 research university, maintaining this status and gaining more influence through research outcomes will strengthen our position. For our employees, creating a collaborative and vibrant academic community is our focus. We want to create a place where people are happy to work and are productive. Lastly, we want to continue building our foundation for the future. That is, financial stability, fundraising to get additional support from the community, and a budget system that supports our strategic initiatives.

As the Chairman of the Board, what were your expectations for Mason Korea when it was established and how do they compare to where we are in 2019? What are your future expectations?

We had a dual mission when founding Mason Korea: from the University’s perspective, it was to create a gateway to Asia. From Korea’s perspective, it was to create a gateway to an American education. We are succeeding in both goals. We are not only carrying the name and acting like a local university, but we are fostering a truly American experience. Apart from the strategic planning process with the leadership team, we have been focusing on creating a direct line of communication and management with the Fairfax campus. We are in a very good place. We are growing and very stable.

Just as George Mason experienced rapid growth in a short time, do you think Mason Korea can also experience the same success in Asia? If so, how can we be prepared for such rapid growth?

A thorough market analysis is key here. Because at the end of the day, you have to understand the market needs. The reason Mason was able to grow rapidly is because we understood what the economy's needs were. Since we are a young institution, we don't set out these new majors and hope people will come. We set up our majors based on what the needs are and then align our programmatic development directly with that. In order to grow, we need to rebalance our academic portfolio to be better aligned with the demands.

What are some recommendations that you have for Mason Korea to ensure it embodies the Mason values and culture while embracing the diversity and uniqueness of its global location?

Mason is successful because Mason is always proactive in thinking. We don’t wait for something to happen for us, we think ahead of time, ahead of the curve. As you know, our campaign is “faster, further.” Academic institutions tend to be too slow and passive, so we take a more aggressive stance and do things faster.

George Mason is a strong community in terms of diversity. Why do you think diversity is important for higher education?

When you only have one way of looking at things, it's never as good as a blend of multiple perspectives. Since we are living in a more and more complex and connected world, that diverse perspective becomes very important to be successful because we need to train our students to understand this complexity and the fact that you have to work with people from very different backgrounds. That’s why it’s an asset that we are one of the most diverse universities.