An Affair of the Heart
Staff Spotlight
An Affair of the Heart
Scott Mory, B.A. ’96, J.D. ’99, finds it impossible to stay away from GW.
//By Greg Varner
For Scott Mory, B.A. ’96, J.D. ’99, it was love at first sight. From the moment he set foot on the George Washington University’s campus as a prospective student, Mory knew he was home.
“There was something particularly special about GW,” Mory said, recalling that visit. “I wanted to go to a large university where I could meet a lot of different types of people. I wanted to be in a city. And I had an interest in politics and political science. I looked at a lot of different schools, but there was just something about the energy at GW. From minute one, I knew this was my place.”
As an undergraduate, Mory majored in political science and criminal justice in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he went right on to GW Law. Following a short career practicing law, he returned to GW to lead its alumni relations and annual giving programs from 2003 to 2007. Now he is back for his second stint. Since July 1, 2024, he has been senior vice president and chief of staff to GW President Ellen M. Granberg.
Mory is currently focused on a few key areas. “Multiple university planning processes are going on right now,” he said. “That includes the university’s strategic framework, the branding refresh, the budget model, the campus master plan and, ultimately, a plan for a comprehensive fundraising campaign. While I have colleagues responsible for each of those programs, one of the things I’m focused on is ensuring these plans are not just consistent with each other but complement and leverage each other.”
He is also working on the development of university leadership, looking for opportunities to unify and nurture current leaders as well as identifying the next generation of leaders.
“I get to work with President Granberg and a great group of vice presidents and deans every day,” he said, “thinking about how we can make GW better. That’s what really excites me. We have a really engaged set of colleagues who want to be involved in leading GW into its third century.”
As an undergraduate, Mory’s favorite places included U Yard and the fourth floor of what is now the University Student Center, where student government was headquartered. Mory managed two successful student government presidential campaigns.
“Through those campaigns, I learned a lot about organizing people, about marketing, about thinking strategically,” he said. “The experience of marshaling large groups of people to get something done has served me well throughout my career.”
Another highlight of his time as a student was working with a group of faculty and other students to write GW’s first code of academic integrity, which was passed by a referendum of the student body and then adopted by the Faculty Senate and the Board of Trustees.
“I think it lit an early flame in me wanting to work at a university,” he said.
When the work was done, he fondly remembers going with friends to Mr. Henry’s, a popular watering hole (located where North Italia is now on Pennsylvania Avenue).
In an “only-at-GW” moment, he was assigned in a political science class to interview someone about an executive agency. For reasons he no longer recalls, he chose to go to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
“I remember going to the TVA office and saying, ‘Hi, I’m a GW student doing a political science project, and I want to learn about the TVA.’ A few minutes later, I was talking to the director.”
After graduating from GW Law and clerking for a federal judge in D.C., Mory’s love of city life took him to New York, where he practiced law at a Wall Street firm. Growing up in suburban New Jersey, he had loved being taken into the city for sporting events or the theater, so New York seemed a logical place to settle.
He soon realized, however, that he would be happier working in higher education, and in 2003, when an opportunity arose to return to GW as executive director of alumni programs, “It was a no-brainer.” He then became an assistant vice president for alumni relations and annual giving, and was also an adjunct professor at GW Law.
From 2007 to 2015, Mory worked at the University of Southern California, first as CEO of the USC Alumni Association and then as associate senior vice president and campaign director. In 2015, he moved to Pittsburgh to serve as Carnegie Mellon University’s vice president for university advancement before boomeranging back to GW.
“GW today feels as familiar to me as it did when I went here as a student,” Mory said. “It’s still a place that runs hard and runs fast. It punches above its weight in a lot of ways. It creates a lot of impact, frankly, with not a lot of resources. I’m looking for opportunities to shine a spotlight on that impact, to generate some buzz for GW.”