Alum Michael Marino Supports the Promise of Education Through His Life’s Work—and Through Philanthropy

By Amanda Milewski

Michael Marino, BA Russian Studies ’11, so valued his George Mason education that he pivoted from an early goal of working in international relations to earning a graduate degree in education and going on to a career in development at an Ivy League institution.

Marino, now the interim executive director for alumni relations at Columbia University, appreciates the skillset that he gained from his studies. “It was a foundational, interdisciplinary major that was quite broad and prepared me to do many things,” he said. The breadth of his academic program, combined with leadership skills developed in extracurricular programs and activities, was what propelled him toward a career in higher education.

“My Mason experience really showed me what the power of higher education could be and that’s why I’ve spent my career in it,” he said. Higher education has the potential to transform students’ lives, he added. “When I think about the things that are good about higher education, George Mason checks all those boxes: the learning environment, exposure to different types of people and their ideas and experiences, opportunities to connect and engage inside and outside the classroom, all located virtually in the heart of our nation’s capital.”

Marino is a longtime supporter of George Mason, beginning his legacy of giving even before his career launched. “I was in the University of Georgia’s graduate program for college student affairs administration, and a team from the University of Georgia Foundation spoke about the power of unrestricted giving and the many things it could support. I found myself, even before the class was over, committing to becoming a monthly recurring donor to the George Mason Annual Fund,” he said.

He has been a donor ever since and recently established a planned gift at George Mason. Of course, with a career in development and alumni relations he knows firsthand the importance of these gifts; setting one up for himself was like coming full circle. “Planned giving really can be a vehicle for people with modest to average means to have an impact that they may not have had during their lifetime,” he said.

Establishing the planned gift at George Mason, he added, “felt like a great way to be able to set this intention. I expect it will continue to evolve over the course of my life, but I wanted to make sure that it was something that was already baked into how I was thinking about my philanthropy,” he said.

With so many organizations and institutions vying for contributions, Marino explained that “George Mason is the type of place I care the most about right now. I think an education can be such a transformational thing and all students can benefit from the type of education George Mason provides. The breadth of the student body makes it a better learning environment for everyone. It’s really part of your education…the people you get to talk to, the diversity of thoughts and experiences that all come together so you really learn from each other organically.”

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Alum Michael Marino Supports the Promise of Education Through His Life’s Work—and Through Philanthropy

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