Alan and Sally Merten Look Back: 16 Years at Mason

by Amy Noecker

Alan and Sally Merten Look Back: 16 Years at Mason

From an observer’s point of view, and their own, the Mertens have been both influenced by and influencers of the liberal arts. A recent interview with Sally and Alan Merten explores this aspect of their lives. Alan Merten is preparing to leave his role as president of George Mason University after 16 years. Sally Merten has played a significant role in the growth and development of the university during their tenure at Mason.

To speak with Alan and Sally Merten is to understand the value of a liberal arts education. It is to understand the importance of books. It is to gain insight into the effect that the liberal arts can have on leaders and educators. The Mertens, who have lived, breathed, and worked at George Mason University for 16 years, have had an undeniable influence on the growth of the humanities and social sciences—both in the academic arena and with their support of the arts in the community. 

As a leader, Alan Merten has the ability to hear other people’s perspectives. With a career in university administration, Merten encounters situations time and again that present either problems or opportunities. It is his objective to ask questions that might cause the interested parties, himself included, to consider multiple solutions or multiple opportunities. 

“When you have a humanities and social sciences background, you intrinsically know there are multiple ways of looking at things,” he says. “I have learned that in this job, or I should say, people have learned over the years not to present me with a problem but present me with a problem and multiple solutions. Then I’m listening to you.”

Although he is a computer scientist by discipline, Merten will tell you that his understanding of the liberal arts is what has made him a good communicator. He feels strongly about presenting students with multiple options and multiple perspectives. The couple agrees that the university is a place just for that. 

“One of the strong parts of George Mason University is the faculty and administrators’ understanding of the importance of multiple views and not telling the students how or what to think but providing opportunities to hear how others think, so that they might decide on their own,” he says. 

Merten has served as president in a similar fashion. Known to consider alternatives, he has, in fact, encouraged different views when it comes to his own ideas and proposals. 

“I view it as a compliment,” he says, “that someone would counter me, that someone would propose an alternative.” 

Sally Merten received a nursing degree with a minor in psychology from Avila University. One of the biggest influences she cites was her university’s requirement of four semesters of humanities courses, examining art, literature, music, religion, and philosophy. Out of these courses grew her appreciation of classical music and literature. She will also tell you that her mother always had a book in her hand and from her she inherited her love of books. An appreciation for the arts turned into an understanding of what the arts can do in everyday life. 

As an undergraduate mathematics major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Alan Merten worked as a nighttime operator on a huge computer that he thinks now could be configured to fit in your wristwatch. 

He was also a research assistant to a psychology professor. The first in his family to go to college, he says he viewed the liberal arts as the reason he went to college. The Mertens’ children—Eric and Melissa—were liberal arts majors, Eric studying political science and Melissa choosing French and economics. It was important to the Mertens that their children gained width and breadth to their knowledge.

“I think it is very important to have a good foundation in your education,” Sally Merten says. “You have to have a frame of reference from which to discuss many things.” 

Alan Merten, previously the dean of two business schools, has always felt strongly about the influence of the humanities. For instance, he believes that there is good reason to take a psychology course before a marketing course even if business is your major. Your foundation for understanding marketing improves once you understand psychology. 

“I learned early on in my professional career the concept of referent disciplines,” he says. “I was very applied, became very applied, but when someone would talk about what they were doing, I would always ask, what is the referent humanities or social sciences discipline involved? In other words, what is behind the concept?”

In line with the Mertens’ respect for the humanities and social sciences is their enthusiasm for Fall for the Book. The literary festival, approaching its 14th year, has grown from a two-day occasion to a weeklong, multivenue event. With their friends, Mason benefactors Ranny and Lucy Church, the Mertens have supported and nurtured the festival. As a member of the board of directors, Sally Merten is known for her passion and tenacity when it comes to this festival. Her pride is obvious when discussing it, from the range of authors who have attended to the personal nature of the festival where one can interact directly with the authors. She speaks with an honest thrill and a deep knowledge of the structure and the impact of the festival.

Alan Merten remarks, “The key to Fall for the Book, from my perspective, is the reminder that there is no wall between the community and the university.” He points out that without the partnership with the surrounding communities, the university would not have had the success it has had, and Fall for the Book exemplifies that once a year.

Sally Merten talks about her involvement in the non-profit world. As a member of several nonprofit boards, she sees her role as bringing together community and university. This is an area in which she believes she has helped. Sally recollects last fall’s festival and reminds her husband of what happened at the reception for Stephen King. For someone who prides himself on knowing people, it is with pleasure that Alan Merten recollects attending the reception. Within the crowd of 100, Merten knew only a handful of people—an unusual occurrence for this university president. Clearly, what pleased him was this ostensibly new group of people brought to campus by the festival and the indication of the impact that it has on the community. The Mertens recognize the impact of the arts and engage, in part because they enjoy the symphony, dance, and other performances, but also for more altruistic reasoning. 

While he is aware of how the Mason student body has evolved over the past 16 years, what Alan Merten points to as a benchmark is the intellectual curiosity of Mason students. And, though he knows that some might argue with him, he says that, “We are in the learning business, not the teaching business.” He feels strongly that creating a culture where students can learn about the world they live in is the right path for universities to take, and that plays out not just in the classroom, but in the social, athletic, and artistic areas of the university. Sally recalls the on-campus reaction to September 11, 2001, and the impact of events on students living in a diverse campus community. She notes that what happened on campus that day was support for others based on a shared understanding of the world in which we live. 

Intellectual curiosity and a supportive community are two themes evident when the Mertens talk about their tenure at the university. “Mason’s story is one of culture,” says Alan Merten, and to maintain a culture where good things happen has been one of his objectives. 

The growth of the university to fill a need for higher education in Virginia, the growth of the global perspective that the university espouses, and the continued rich intellectual community surrounding the university are all hopes that the Mertens have for Mason. When asked what it was like being a university president after being at Mason for several years, Alan Merten responded, “I don’t really know what it’s like being a university president. But I know what Mason is like. And I like being the George Mason University president.” He maintains that statement to date. There was no doubt in their minds that this university would be a good match for them. And, it has proven so beyond their expectations. 

If you ask Alan Merten of which accolades he is most proud, he immediately responds by noting their joint accomplishments and those that belong solely to Sally. In regard to the university and how it has advanced in the past 16 years, Alan Merten says and Sally agrees, “The pride that people have in this institution is one of the things that makes me the proudest. And, that can be students, alumni, friends, staff, faculty, everyone.”