{"582902":{"#nid":"582902","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Meet College of Sciences Alumnus and George Mason University President \u00c1ngel Cabrera ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/president.gmu.edu\/biography\/\u0022\u003E\u0026Aacute;ngel Cabrera\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is the first native of Spain to lead an American university. He became the sixth president of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www2.gmu.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge Mason University\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(GMU) in 2012. Located near Washington, D.C., GMU is the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/colleges\/george-mason-university\/\u0022\u003Elargest public university in Virginia\u003C\/a\u003E, serving 35,000 students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECabrera\u0026rsquo;s journey to the top leadership of GMU includes two degrees from the College of Sciences\u0026rsquo; \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.psychology.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Psychology\u003C\/a\u003E: Ph.D., Psychology (Cognitive Science Certificate), in 1995, and M.S. in Psychology in 1993.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore coming to Tech, Cabrera earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer and electrical engineering from the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.upm.es\/internacional\u0022\u003EPolytechnic University of Madrid\u003C\/a\u003E, in Spain. For high school, he attended the Instituto Cardenal Cisneros, in Madrid.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECabrera is married to College of Sciences alumna \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cabrerainsights.com\/?page_id=2\u0022\u003EElizabeth F. Cabrera\u003C\/a\u003E (Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial\/Organizational Psychology), a senior scholar at GMU\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/wellbeing.gmu.edu\/about\u0022\u003ECenter for the Advancement of Well-Being\u003C\/a\u003E and founder of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cabrerainsights.com\/\u0022\u003ECabrera Insights\u003C\/a\u003E. The couple has two children; one of them is a sophomore at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the most important thing you learned at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech gave me the chance to do my graduate work in psychology despite the fact that all my prior training had been in electrical and computer engineering. Georgia Tech expanded my thinking from engineering into the social sciences. It helped me develop a multidisciplinary mindset. \u0026nbsp;As a foreign student, Tech was also my gateway into American society. And most importantly, Tech gave me my wife, a fellow graduate student to whom I\u0026rsquo;m still happily married.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is a vivid memory of your time at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI will never forget my first football game. American intercollegiate athletics is unparalleled around the world. I cannot recall whom we played and whether or not we won, but I can still remember being blown away by the tailgating, the energy, the cheering, the half-time show, and the band.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat role did your Georgia Tech education and experience play in your journey to your current position? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI simply could not have become the first Spanish-born president of an American university without my time at Tech. Georgia Tech was my first exposure to a great American research university. It inspired me to think differently about higher education and to want to play a leadership role in it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPerhaps the most impactful element of my graduate work in psychology at Tech was the strong research methodology and statistics class. That\u0026rsquo;s where my social science mindset was first shaped.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat do you like most about your current job?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeing a university president is a privilege. It is the best job I have ever had in terms of the opportunity it\u0026rsquo;s afforded me to make a difference in the lives of many, to learn every day, and to get to know and be inspired by amazing individuals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat has been the greatest challenge in your professional life so far?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA university presidency provides an endless supply of challenges. Some are technical (administrative, financial, etc.), but the most difficult of all are people-related. They have to do with motivating and inspiring people, building trust, persuading others, resolving conflicts. That psychology training at Tech proved to be more useful than I could have ever anticipated!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat has been the most gratifying experience of your professional career so far?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs an educator, my most gratifying experiences are meeting with alumni who are doing remarkable things, who are building businesses, leading organizations, making a difference around the world. There is no better reminder of how crucially important our universities are and how worthwhile our work is.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you could have taken an alternative career path, what would you be doing instead?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere\u0026rsquo;s only one job better than being a university president: being a professor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat advice would you give to incoming first-year students at Georgia Tech?\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStudy abroad if you possibly can.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHave fun, but stay safe (and say \u0026ldquo;no\u0026rdquo; to drugs!).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EReach out to people who are different from you and listen to them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETake a class in a new field you know nothing about.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDon\u0026rsquo;t tolerate any form of violence, including sexual violence.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDon\u0026rsquo;t wait to take advantage of all the resources and opportunities at your disposal.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u0026rsquo;s something about yourself that\u0026rsquo;s not obvious to your colleagues? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI once hiked across the Sahara Desert.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you could have dinner with any person from history, whom would you invite?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMartin Luther King Jr. Very few people have had as much positive impact around them in one (short) life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Advice to students: Reach out to people who are different from you and listen to them "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/president.gmu.edu\/biography\/\u0022\u003E\u0026Aacute;ngel Cabrera\u003C\/a\u003E is the first native of Spain to lead an American university. He became the sixth president of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www2.gmu.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge Mason University\u003C\/a\u003E (GMU) in 2012. Located near Washington, D.C., GMU is the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/colleges\/george-mason-university\/\u0022\u003Elargest public university in Virginia\u003C\/a\u003E, serving 35,000 students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u00c1ngel Cabrera is the first native of Spain to lead an American university. He became the sixth president of George Mason University (GMU) in 2012. Located near Washington, D.C., GMU is the largest public university in Virginia, serving 35,000 students. "}],"uid":"32896","created_gmt":"2016-10-21 02:24:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-25 15:50:17","author":"Matt Barr","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-10-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"582901":{"id":"582901","type":"image","title":"\u00c1ngel Cabrera","body":null,"created":"1477016302","gmt_created":"2016-10-21 02:18:22","changed":"1477016302","gmt_changed":"2016-10-21 02:18:22","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222200","name":"Cabrera.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cabrera.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cabrera.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1274554,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cabrera.jpg?itok=K1twPyKi"}}},"media_ids":["582901"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"172533","name":"\u00c1ngel Cabrera"},{"id":"506","name":"alumni"},{"id":"75641","name":"george mason university"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}