The Center serves as the institutional home for the Public Choice Research Program, which has developed and matured over the past half-century. Created in 1957 at the University of Virginia , the Center was initially called the Thomas Jefferson Center for Studies in Political Economy. In 1969, the Center was reconstituted at Virginia Tech under its present name. In 1983, the Center shifted its operations to George Mason University. The Center’s alumni include 148 doctoral students from George Mason, 113 from Virginia Tech, and 109 from the University of Virginia . From its historical association with three of Virginia ‘s major universities, the Center’s academic footprint is often dubbed the ‘Virginia School of Political Economy’.