Recent Posts

Yesterday I had the pleasure of welcoming the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) for its annual international conference, held for the first time on our campus. AURP brings together a community of research parks and innovation districts across the U.S., Canada, and 13 other countries. They were very interested in the story of Tech Square, and in experiencing it in person.

During my years in graduate school at Tech from 1991 to 1995, we rarely ventured into the Midtown neighborhood across the connector. There were no reasons to go there–no classes, no internships, no cool restaurants, no conferences–and good reasons not to go there.

Continue reading ““Oh, by the way…” The Tech Square Story”

Atlanta, Georgia, Oct. 28, 2019. Video available here. Photos available here.

As if being back at Georgia Tech as president weren’t surreal enough… how about riding the Rambling Wreck on stage to your investiture? As we say… We are Georgia Tech, We Can Do That!

I am so honored that so many of you have joined us. And so grateful to be able to share this moment with friends from as far as South Korea, Costa Rica, Mexico and Spain. Gamsahabnida! Gracias de corazón! I will never forget.

I’m grateful to all the members of the Georgia Tech community for being here today: faculty, staff, students, alumni. I really get to work with amazing people!

Continue reading “Investiture Speech”

My non-scientific observation is that 90% of meetings we attend during the course of a typical work week deal with problems. When things go well we would rather not waste our time meeting with others. We get together when we face issues we cannot solve alone. As a result, a large share of the conversations we engage in while at work focus on what is not working well. And because organizational cultures are created and sustained through conversations, our bias towards negative conversations can end up taking a costly toll.

Yet most of what happens at any reasonably well functioning organization does work well. Much of it, extraordinarily so. At a place like Georgia Tech, every day students of all backgrounds learn and grow, exciting research is conducted, talented students are recruited, new faculty are hired, grants are earned, gifts are raised, communities are engaged, conferences are held, discoveries are made. We just don’t spend nearly enough time talking about these things. And we should.

Continue reading “Appreciating Georgia Tech”

This weekend in New York I will be working with a group of university leaders from around the world and faculty champions from Georgia Tech and other leading universities to identify ways in which universities can best help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs are 17 goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 representing some of the most consequential and complex problems we face as a species. The Goals range from poverty and hunger, to health, gender equality, climate change and ocean biodiversity and include specific targets that we need to achieve by 2030. They are not nice-to-haves, but essential to the long-term sustainability of life and human development on our planet.

Continue reading “Higher Ed and the Sustainable Development Goals”

What a week it has been!

Beth and I received the warmest welcome from the entire community, and, as I have told many people, we feel like we are coming home again. I’ve been here as a graduate student, as an alumnus, as a member of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board, and as a parent. I never imagined I would return one day as president. Incredible.

My first day, Tuesday, was filled with meetings with student, faculty, and staff leaders. And I loved walking across campus and chatting with many other members of our community, too. Our Institute Communications team documented the day in a web feature titled “A New Chapter Begins.” I felt a bit apprehensive at first about having the cameras on me all day, but they did a great job capturing the positive energy on campus.

Continue reading “First Week Recap”

Today, I begin my service as Georgia Tech’s president.

I am thrilled to be back at a place that means so much to my family and me, and I am honored to be able to work with you and serve this remarkable institution.

Since I was selected in June by the Board of Regents, I have spent a great deal of time learning about the Institute. I have spoken with members of our administration and the University System of Georgia, board members, elected officials, alumni, and friends. I have read briefings and reports. Having been on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board for the most part of the last decade, I thought I was reasonably well aware of what was going on. But what Georgia Tech has accomplished over the last years is even more impressive than I knew.

Continue reading “A New Chapter Begins”