Matt Salter Selected for Outstanding Alum Award

Matt Salter Selected for Outstanding Alum Award
Award recipient Matt Salter with Department Chair Brian Platt and Professor Benedict Carton

Each year the Department of History and Art History names recognizes one of its alums with its Outstanding Alumni Award. This year’s recipient was Matt Salter, an accomplished DC-area consultant. Salter was recognized at a college-wide ceremony, along with awardees from other departments in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Salter received his B.A. in History in 2000, and after a successful career in real estate went into the consulting field. For the past ten years he has worked for Noblis, a non-profit science, technology, and strategy firm. Currently he is the Director of Business Development for the Transportation Systems and Earth Observations Mission Area. His clients include the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Previously Matt served as a Senior Program Manager leading multiple technical teams to modernize the FAA’s IT infrastructure and data management practices. Matt’s BA in History from George Mason University has empowered him with the communication, critical thinking, and research skills required to be a high performing consultant in the public sector. Matt explained the impact of his History training on his work as a consultant in this way: “A technical solution, while complex, is often clear and straightforward. However, understanding how to implement that solution so there is minimal impact to an agency’s mission, politics, and culture is what defines success. My history courses trained me to engage in this sort of problem-solving.”