The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is proud to honor Mia Zur, BA Foreign Languages '96, with the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award in modern and classical languages.
Zur is associate general counsel in the Capital Markets Group at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), where she advises on the rules governing how securities are traded in the United States.
She came to George Mason’s modern and classical languages program and left with something more durable than fluency: the habit of reading closely and the conviction that precision in language is precision in thought. This is a habit she has applied for three decades in public service.
After beginning her career on Capitol Hill with the House Armed Services Committee and Representative Walter B. Jones, Jr., she earned her JD from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law, where she was part of the national championship team in the 2001 Kaufman Securities Moot Court Competition, argued before Justice Antonin Scalia, and served as president of the Securities Law Students Association.
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences honors distinguished alumni each fall at Community and Catalysts: Achievements, Awards, and Innovations. This signature event is a celebration of alumni, faculty, and students whose leadership, research, and service have made outstanding contributions to their fields, communities, and to the university.