Laurence Bray, PhD

Dr. Laurence Bray serves as the senior associate provost for Graduate Education and leader of the Graduate Division at George Mason University. In this role, she chairs the Graduate Council and provides overall leadership for all matters pertaining to graduate education, including graduate student funding, graduate student success and professional development, graduate programs and pathways, and graduate academic policies and practices.

Bray joined George Mason as a faculty member in 2013 and has led a wide range of departmental, school, and university-wide educational and research activities in the Department of Bioengineering under the College of Engineering and Computing. As a professor of bioengineering, Bray has published widely and presented nationally and internationally on topics related to the basic fundamentals of neuroscience using experimental, computational, and behavioral approaches.  

Bray has been dedicated to student success inside and outside the classroom, receiving the George Mason’s 2017 Mentorship Excellence Award and the 2018 Teacher of Distinction Recognition Award. In addition, she received the Innovative Spirit Award demonstrating her work around innovation and new initiatives.

Bray also serves as the president of the Virginia Council for Graduate Schools. She is on the executive board of the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools and is actively engaged with the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) as a member of the Research & Information Services Committee. In 2024 and 2025, Bray was nominated by her peers for the CGS Outstanding Leadership in Graduate Education Award and the CSGS Outstanding Contribution Award.

Prior to George Mason, Bray was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the Brain Laboratory at the University of Nevada, where she earned her PhD in biomedical and electrical engineering. She graduated with her MS and BS in bioengineering and biological sciences, respectively, from Clemson University.  

Education

PhD, Biomedical and Electrical Engineering, University of Nevada 
MS, Bioengineering, Clemson University 
BS, Biological Sciences, Clemson University