Meet the Graduate Division Team
Associate Director for Graduate Professional & Career Development, Graduate Education
In the Associate Director role here at Mason, Dr. Bluth (she/her/hers) provides direction for the expansion and development of graduate student training alongside Graduate Student Life and University Career Services offices spanning the University. Dr. Bluth comes to Mason with over 13 years’ experience in graduate student services, curriculum development, and mentoring and career programming. She joined Mason after serving as the Director of Graduate Student Success at Sam Houston State University in Texas.Laurence Bray, PhD
Senior Associate Provost for Graduate Education
Instructional Professor, Bioengineering, College of Engineering and Computing
Dr. Laurence Bray is the Senior Associate Provost for Graduate Education and leader of the Graduate Division at George Mason University.Graduate Program Assistant
The Graduate DivisionSora has recently joined the Graduate Division team at George Mason University. As a Graduate Program Assistant, she assists the team by working on the Graduate Teaching Academy and Communication Academy. Sora received her B.S. in Psychology from George Mason University in 2012 and is excited to be back as staff supporting the Graduate Division.Associate Professor of Bioengineering
PhD Program Director
Administrative Faculty Fellow in the Provost OfficeParag Chitnis joined the Department of Bioengineering at George Mason University in 2014. He co-directs the Biomedical Imaging Laboratory, and is one of the founding member of the Center for Adaptive Systems of Brain-body Interactions. He also serves in several leadership and service roles. Dr. Chitnis is the Director of the Bioengineering PhD program. Here he oversees all administrative aspects of Bioengineering graduate program including admissions into the PhD program, approval of study plans, and proposal and dissertations exams. As an Administrative Faculty Fellow in the Provost Office, Dr. Chitnis has contributed to several university-wide initiatives to improve funding support for Mason graduate students, to create policies for safeguarding student rights, and most recently to develop a recommendations and an implementation plan for a new Graduate Division at Mason. For his contributions and services, Dr. Chitnis was selected as a State Finalist for the Outstanding Faculty Award (Rising Star Category) by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.Graduate Education Assistant, Graduate Education an Office of the Provost
Joe joined the Mason community as a part-time temp in February, 2018. He was assigned to the Accreditation and External Reporting Office (AERO) to assist with preparation of a self-study accreditation report for all Mason student licensing programs. After that he briefly worked in Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) to assist with externship and internship program tracking and databases.Graduate Assistant for Graduate Education, Office of the Provost
Amber joined the Graduate Education team recently in Fall 2022. She is currently an MPH student concentrating in epidemiology here at Mason. In the Office of the Provost for Graduate Education, she is a graduate assistant working on communications and marketing.Graduate Funding Assistant
The Graduate DivisionNicole joined the Graduate Division in the Office of the Provost in 2023 and assists with the internal graduate student support in finances, including fellowships, grants, scholarships, awards, and other forms of student support.Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellow, Graduate Division
Associate Professor, Athletic Training Education, College of Education and Human Development
Clinical Education Coordinator, Athletic Training Education, College of…Dr. Candace Lacayo is an Associate Professor and the Clinical Education Coordinator of the Master of Science in Athletic Training Program. She is also the Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence within the Graduate Division.Graduate Academic Affairs Coordinator
Megan is the Graduate Academic Affairs Coordinator for the Graduate Division at George Mason University.Director of Graduate Academic and Student Affairs, Graduate Education, Office of the Provost
Pallavi (she/her/hers) is the Director of Graduate Academic and Student Affairs in the Office of Graduate Education within the Provost's Office. She focuses on graduate policy development and implementation, management of the graduate academic appeal and policy exception process, provision of technical assistance to academic units, and carrying out the Office of Graduate Education's diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives. Pallavi joined Mason in 2017 after serving as Director of Legal Clinics for George Washington University (GW) Law School. Her professional life prior to academic administration included teaching and non-profit law. She holds a BA from Brandeis University as well as an MA.Ed and JD from GW. Outside of work, she enjoys time with friends and family and loves experiences and discussions that involve travel and good food.