Lance E Schmeidler

Senior Instructor

Director, Hiring & Scheduling

Professor Schmeidler brings over two decades of teaching in the field of Communication and experience as a communication professional to fulfill his roles as a Senior Instructor and the Director of Hiring and Scheduling for the Department of Communication at George Mason University.

In addition to his daily responsibilities, Professor Schmeidler has served the University in a variety of roles including the continued development of INTO Mason (for academically qualified undergraduate international students who need additional English language proficiency assistance), the Student Transition Empowerment Program (STEP), Mason LIFE (a post-secondary program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities) and is a certified trainer for Creating Community, an experiential training model that explores identity development. Professor Schmeidler also formerly served as the Basic Course Coordinator, earning two of the highest honors from the National Communication Association: the national Textbook of Distinction Award, Basic Courses for The Speaker’s Primer and a Program of Excellence Award presented to George Mason University; at the time one of only eight such awards granted in the over 100 year history of the NCA. He has also been nominated for a Mason Teaching Excellence Award and was a finalist candidate for the George Mason University Spirit of King Award.

Mr. Schmeidler serves as the Vice President of Marketing for Tax Talk Today® - The Tax Show for the Tax Pro!, an online series of programs designed to educate tax practitioners, tax professionals, tax educators, and students on federal tax law ethics and updates. He was a founding member of and Senior Producer for Spectrum Group Productions, a full-service multimedia design agency that specialized in quality production services for meeting and training communication, event management and entertainment.

Mr. Schmeidler has received several Telly Awards for his work in media and serves as a judge for The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) National Student Production Emmy Awards. His students have gone on to produce media for NASA, CGI Inc., CoStar Group, Inc., Virid, Inc. and others as well as work in film, radio and television broadcasting and news outlets around the country. His students have received several awards for their work including a Student Production Emmy in the category of Fiction Short Form from NATAS, National Capitol/Chesapeake Bay Chapter (NATAS-NCCB) for Not Quite Quarantine, which won top-place finishes in another dozen competitions and Food for Others, which won the award for Best Documentary at the Beyond the Curve International Film Festival.

Mr. Schmeidler's previous experience includes serving as a Communication Specialist with OMNI Engineering & Technology, Inc., where he helped establish corporate branding through media relations; award-winning work as an Executive Video Producer for the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board; and Producer roles for both the Urban Ministries of Durham and GMView, of George Mason University. Mr. Schmeidler has also volunteered time and resources to several upstart and local organizations and serves as a mentor to youth in foster care who are interested in attending college through the Great Expectations program at the Northern Virginia Community College.

Lance holds an M.A. in Communication from George Mason University, and has served as Communication faculty at Mason, University of Mary Washington, Northern Virginia Community College, Germanna Community College, Mountain Empire Community College, Virginia Peninsula Community College and Southside Virginia Community College.