Costello College of Business Alumni

When Mark Chase, MS Finance ’98, began his undergraduate studies at the University of Maine, he did so as an engineering student. After determining that engineering was not the path he wanted to pursue, he transferred to the business school, where he found accounting to really click.

After his father, Jim, passed away in 2025, Patrick Tierney, BS Management ’01, JD ‘05, gave serious consideration to the best way to honor his memory while also processing his own grief. 

At the beginning of 2026, Mike Derrios, MBA ’06, returned home to the Costello College of Business at George Mason University as the executive director of the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting.

When Q Miceli saw that the Costello College of Business at George Mason University was offering the Executive Mentoring Program as part of the Costello MBA, she was all in. “I had just hit a point in my career where I started supervising more people and really wanted to get some perspective,” she says.

Ever since her undergraduate years at the Costello College of Business at George Mason University—where she lived on campus for all four years—Ann Butler, BS Accounting ’94, MS Accounting ’23, has felt a strong connection to her alma mater.

Earning a master’s degree had been a lifelong goal for John Sommer, MS Real Estate Development ’24—he just wasn’t sure in which field. In exploring a range of graduate degrees, he searched for the program that would best accelerate his career forward. It was not until a social media post found its way into his feed that he began to research and discover how a master’s in real estate development could really benefit him.

On Saturday, May 16, 20 Fairfax County residents graduated from the Workforce Innovation Success through Entrepreneurship (WISE) Program. These emerging entrepreneurs dedicated the previous nine months to fine-tuning the skill sets and knowledge necessary to continue their entrepreneurial journeys.

The Donald G. Costello College of Business at George Mason University celebrated 1,119 undergraduate and graduate students at a degree celebration on Friday, May 15 at EagleBank Arena on the Fairfax Campus. Graduates join a Costello network of more than 44,000 alumni.

During his undergraduate studies, Brian Gaydos, MS Finance ’25, took several finance classes that piqued his interest and led him to consider beginning a finance graduate program immediately after graduating.

To learn through experience and gain a competitive edge, finance and accounting students from the Costello College of Business at George Mason University participated in the Costello Fellows on Wall Street program, connecting with major financial services firms and alumni in New York City. What has become an annual tradition continues to grow, with participation expanding significantly—from 10 students in previous years to approximately 30 this year.