The McLean Ear: Brief Governor Visit, McLean Neighbors Honored, New Job

Governor Briefly Visits McLean. Early morning visitors to the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner Tuesday may catch a glimpse of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. The governor's schedule shows he'll attend a breakfast reception for U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, of Virginia Beach, a Republican who represents Virginia's Second District.

Then McDonnell is off to a Washington lunch with Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. Both events are private.                                

McLean Residents Fred and Marlene Malek Honored. Marymount University now has the Malek School of Health Professions named for its major benefactors, Marlene and Fred Malek.

Marlene Malek graduated from the Marymount nursing school and currently serves on the university’s board of trustees, Marymount said in an announcement.

Fred V. Malek is a prominent Republican donor and fundraiser for the Republican Governors Association as well as chairman of Governor McDonnell’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring, the American Action Network, and the American Action Forum. Malek was an advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, serving in a variety of capacities.

Prof. Tony Griffin. Former Fairfax County executive Tony Griffin will join George Mason University’s Department of Public and International Affairs as practitioner-in-residence, the university announced last week.

Griffin is a long-time member of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church on Kirby Road in McLean.

Griffin will teach courses related to local government management and serve as a resource to faculty, staff and students. He will be a member of Mason’s three Centers on the Public Service, where he will help the centers develop programming and research projects related to governance topics such as fiscal challenges, private-public partnerships and connections with the nonprofit sector, the university said.

For 23 years, Griffin ran the day-to-day operations of Fairfax County government, which serves 1 million residents with a $6 billion budget. Griffin also served as top manager in Arlington County and Falls Church, Va. He will begin his new job in August.

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