Costello College of Business Students

Amid midterm season, Costello students took a well-deserved break at the Costello Midterm Success Celebration—an event designed to offer relaxation, resources, and, most of all, fun.

The Costello College of Business at George Mason University thrives on collaborative partnerships with innovative companies to provide students with meaningful career opportunities. One such partnership is exemplified by Cindy Parker, the Leidos Corporate Partner Faculty Fellow and instructional professor of management, who is committed to delivering an exceptional learning experience. 

Jana Aly began her studies at George Mason University as an undeclared major. A first-generation college student with a strong aptitude for mathematics, she explored courses in the Costello College of Business, initially considering finance. However, it was during an accounting course that her career aspirations began to take shape.

This year’s inaugural session of Camp Costello gets underway Wednesday, August 20 and concludes Friday, August 22. Over 100 first-year business students have registered for this opportunity to connect with their peers, academic advising and career services resources within the college, and Costello faculty, staff, and alumni—all before the start of fall semester classes.

Brianna Wallman began her academic journey at Northern Virginia Community College, where an inspiring accounting professor sparked her interest in the field.

When he first received the email informing him that he was a recipient of the PCAOB scholarship, Tyler Ngo was convinced that it was too good to be true. It was not until Peggy Tsirigotis, assistant area chair and instructor of accounting at the Costello College of Business, reached out to him that he realized how legitimate it was. 

After taking the Survey of Accounting 203 course with Muhammad Awais (BS Accounting ‘13, MS Accounting ‘14), an adjunct instructor at the Costello College of Business, Khaled Alkurd knew everything he needed to know to switch his area of study from marketing to accounting.

At the end of the 2025 spring semester, Brian Ngac, an instructional assistant professor of Information Systems and Operations Management (ISOM) at the Costello College of Business and FWI Corporate Partner Faculty Fellow, and Nirup Menon, professor of ISOM at Costello, received word that another one of their experiential learning proposals won a grant from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI).

Skip West, founder of MAXSA Innovations and adjunct faculty at the Costello College of Business at George Mason University, offers the course Turning Ideas into Successful Companies once a year to MBA students. The concept for the course came from West’s own entrepreneurial experiences of turning his ideas into companies.

With the help of Indy Bal, BS Accounting and Finance ‘14, a group of Costello College of Business finance students attended the 2025 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders meeting on May 3. Witnessing the final meeting before Warren Buffett’s retirement was a remarkable experience that will stay with them for a lifetime.