Defining Success: Nicole Geller, BS Economics ’86, Nancy Pfotenhauer, MA ’87

by Maria Seniw, '07

Defining Success: Nicole Geller, BS Economics ’86, Nancy Pfotenhauer, MA ’87

In 1983, the Center for Study of Public Choice, a research institution that produces economic and political science theories, shifted its operations and faculty to George Mason University, bringing with it James Buchanan, who received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986 for his groundbreaking work on public choice to Mason’s Economics Department. These events, along with the arrival of Vernon Smith, a second Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics winner in 2002, helped define the Economics Department. 

Nicole Geller, BS Economics ’86, and Nancy Pfotenhauer, MA ’87, are successful products of this vibrant program. 

While the center was moving to Mason, Pfotenhauer was a junior at the University of Georgia majoring in English when a scheduling error placed her in a 400-level economics course. Her questions impressed the professor so much that he told her to skip law school and study economics at Mason. Pfotenhauer did not make an immediate decision, but she did change her major to economics and took 28 credits a quarter in order to graduate on time. Two years later, she was sharing an apartment with three of her classmates and a dog. Mason economist Walter Williams selected her as his graduate research assistant, and economics at Mason became the center for her social and intellectual life. 

Meanwhile, Nicole Geller was enrolled at Mason and knew she wanted to study economics or business because consumer purchasing decisions and motivators greatly interested her. Throughout her studies, she noticed the courses she enjoyed most combined creative and analytical thinking. Her favorite class, Math Logic, involved studying classic word problems, such as the four- or five-color theorem. The class challenged her to think differently because students had to think outside conventional methods to arrive at their conclusions.

While she was a student, Geller worked part time at a firm that obtained export licenses for control technology. She moved from an administrative role to a consultant’s position and here she was introduced to government contracting, which she describes as a complex sector with its own set of rules. Learning these guidelines and maneuvering throughout the industry greatly appealed to her. As she moved to the larger firms of PRC and Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), her projects became more complex and she was often tasked to fix processes that were flawed. Her employers recognized her strategic planning skills and ability to see the steps beyond the immediate issues. She traces this knowledge back to her economic studies and sees these strengths in the current humanities and social sciences students that she mentors. 

Since childhood, Geller’s ambition was to be an entrepreneur. After accumulating an arsenal of knowledge and experience, Geller opened her own firm, Government Contract Solutions (GCS), specializing in professional services and solutions for the federal government and industry clients. Her first clients were PRC and BAH. Geller admitted to having some fears about her decision, but they were not nearly as great as her desire to create and run her own business. She felt energized leaping into the unknown. 

While Geller was first consulting, Pfotenhauer began her career working in public policy as a senior economist for the Republican National Congress. She then became economic council for Senator William Armstrong and held a term as lead economist for a cabinet-level review body within the White House. Following her consecutive years in the policy sector, she transitioned between nonprofit and advocacy work and the corporate sector. Pfotenhauer later served as the economic policy advisor and spokesperson for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Currently, Pfotenhauer is president of MediaSpeak Strategies, a communication firm that focuses on public policy and political persuasion. As she describes it, much of this work involves calming people down and figuring out how to be heard in loud, chaotic scenes.

As Pfotenhauer moved through her career, she shifted from policy-focused positions and used other elements of her humanities and social sciences education. She recognized the need for economists who could simply and efficiently communicate any issue. Because of her Mason education, she was prepared to meet that need. Mason professors had challenged her to think clearly and be intellectually brave, and emphasized that thoughtful people can disagree. When examining her career path, she commented, “[I]t is interesting and somewhat humbling to be paid for what you learned along the way versus what you set out to do.”

As Geller and Pfotenhauer came through the Economics Department within a year of each other, they also entered a similar workforce. As is the case today, the late 1980s saw a sluggish economy with high unemployment, yet, both found jobs and recalled that initially almost all their co-workers were men. Now just more than 20 years later, women make up 40 percent of the workforce and within some fields, the number of new female graduates exceeds males. 

Though the increase in the number of women is significant, the greatest changes in the workforce have occurred in attitudes. Geller noted that when she began working, women had to play by existing rules set by men, whereas now women can design their own rules. There is an understanding that women do not think like men and that positively affects the work place. She emphasized, whatever path a person selects, it is not forever. “It is much more flexible than that, you follow a path for as long as you want to.”

Both women have observed unique qualities in their fellow alumni, particularly those with degrees in the humanities and social sciences. Mason attracts uncommon thinkers; people who are hungry and intent on changing the way things are done. As employers and economists, Pfotenhauer and Geller recognize the real value of these skills. 

And just how does one get that first, or any, job? Pfotenhauer advises aggressive goal setting, belief in yourself, and once you have that job, do it better than anyone else, and quantum leaps will happen in your career. She echoed Geller’s sentiments with “remain open to the fact that life is not linear.” 

This story began nearly 30 years ago with the arrival of the Center for the Study of Public Choice and two Nobel laureates, and since then, economics at Mason has flourished far beyond its initial accomplishments. Pfotenhauer and Geller were both very influenced by these occurrences and later achieved great success—by their own definitions. Their evolution from students to professionals to community leaders demonstrates what is possible with a humanities and social sciences education at Mason. And as the college continues its upward progress, the success of its alumni will be as influential in the creation of its identity.