Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Vol. 98, No. 2 (Summer 2022)

SOWING LESSONS

BIG

LEARNED

DREAMS

IN

A

TECH’S

40

FOSSIL

SMALL

TOWN

BEST-KEPT

HUNTERS

36

SECRETS

44

98

SUMMER 2022 VOL.98 NO.2

Friend STUDENTS to

100 YEARS OF THE DEAN OF STUDENTS

“The first thing I plan to do is run my business well. Then, in my mind, a true legacy is what you leave behind.”

— Jean Marie Richardson, MGT 2002

Founders’ Council is the honorary society recognizing donors who have made estate or life-income gifts of $25,000 or more for the support of Georgia Tech. For more information, please contact: 404.385.6716 • giftplanning@dev.gatech.edu • plannedgiving.gatech.edu

Introducing: 100% Online Business Analytics Graduate Certificate In today’s world, every organization is looking for professionals with the expertise to drive better business decisions.

Ranked top five in the U.S. for its business analytics specialty, the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business is launching a new Business Analytics Graduate Certificate in Spring 2023. The certificate teaches professionals how to prepare, analyze, and interpret data to extract insights that will move business into the future.

Learn More: GeorgiaTechCertificates.com/Alumni

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

INSPIRING LEADERS

G

GEORGIA TECH stands out not only for its academic rigor, but also for the strong community that Yellow Jackets form to help each other succeed and grow.

Who remembers sharing “word”—or old course materials—with classmates?

You may be surprised to learn that I was a bit shy as a first-year student at Tech.

I was unsure of myself and rarely spoke up during class. While every instructor at Tech guided me toward becoming the person I am today, two economics professors stand out in my memory.

Dr. Danny Boston, who continues to teach and inspire students today, is a dynamic teacher who invests in the success of his students. He found ways to tailor his lessons to each of us, making the core of his lectures relevant to our lives outside of the classroom. He was warm, caring, and always available to answer AHOOGA! Cheering on Pi Mile runners from the rumble seat of the Alumni Association Wreck.

GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE VOL. 98 | NO. 2 PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Dene Sheheane, Mgt 91

questions long after class had ended.

Professor Bill Schaffer, IM 56, had a different approach. Arriving to campus each morning in his VW Bug, he was the type of professor to keep each of us on our toes. Participating in his class wasn’t optional, it was expected. Even more than his lectures, I remember he went to every Tech game. It didn’t matter what type of sport; he took every opportunity he could to cheer for his students.

What these two educators had in common was their love for our community.

They saw their students as members of the same team and treated us with care.

They taught me how to scale the mountain toward graduation and pull myself out of my shell and into the community that Tech provided.

I’m proud to say that sense of community doesn’t stop after graduation.

Alumni have built a network that helps inquisitive, curious students see themselves at Tech in the same way Dr. Boston and Dr. Schaffer helped me see myself here.

Yellow Jackets can handle the challenges that come with growth because of our commitment to our community. I take pride in the ranks of Yellow Jackets past, present, and future who give each other “word” on how to grow, evolve, and conquer any challenge placed before them.

VP STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS Lindsay Vaughn

EDITOR Jennifer Herseim

ART DIRECTOR Karen Matthes

COPYWRITER Matt Sowell

COPY EDITOR Barbara McIntosh Webb

STUDENT ASSISTANTS Jessica Barber & Riddhi Bhattacharya

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Chair Magd Riad, IE 01 Past Chair/Vice Chair of Finance Shan Pesaru, CmpE 05 Chair Elect, Vice Chair/Roll Call Elizabeth “Betsy” Bulat Turner, IAML 04 Vice Chair Tommy Herrington, IM 82 Member at Large Annie I. Antón, ICS 90, MS ICS 92, PhD CS 97 Member at Large Jason Byars, ME 96 Member at Large Brian Tyson, EE 10 Member at Large Amy Rich, MBA 12

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Jennifer Abrams, PP 17; Latanza Adjei, IE 98; Sybrina Atwaters, EE 94, MS HSTS 09, PhD HSTS 14; Archel Bernard, STC 11; Michael Bogachek, IE 00; Jasmine Burton, ID 14; Duane Carver, CmpE 10; Aurélien Cottet, MS AE 03; Lizzie Donnelly, IA 08; Matt Dubnik, Mgt 03; Robyn Gatens, ChE 85; John Gattuso, ME 15; Meghan Green, Mgt 13; James Hamilton, Mgt 93; John Hanson, IE 11; Cathy Hill, EE 84; Joy Jordan, ChE 92; Jeanne Kerney, CE 84; Antonio Llanos, CS 95; Matt Mason, IE 01; Randy McDow, IE 95, MS PP 03; Meredith Moot, MGT 08; Antai Peng, PhD EE 96; Anna Pinder, ME 03; George Ray, Mgt 09, PP 09; Jim Sanders, IE 88; Stacey Sapp, IM 80; Jacquelyn Renee Schneider, BC 06, MBA 18; Paul Shailendra, CE 01; Rene Simon, MBA 18; Chad Sims, BA 15; Courtney Smith, Mgt 00; Mary Lynn Smith, EE 88; J.R. Spriggle, ME 02; James Stovall, CS 01; Kenji Takeuchi, ME 94; Moe Trebuchon, IE 86; Sheetal Wrzesien, CS 94

ADVERTISING Justin Estes (404) 683-9599 justin.estes@alumni.gatech.edu

GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE

DENE SHEHEANE, MG T 91 PRESIDENT GEORGIA TEC H ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

(ISSN: 1061-9747) is published quarterly by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, 190 North Ave. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30313.

Periodical postage paid in Atlanta and additional mailing offices. © 2022 Georgia Tech Alumni Association

POSTMASTER Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, 190 North Ave. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30313 bioupdate@gtalumni.org. (404) 894-2391

4 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

VOLUME 98 ISSUE 2

9

A CENTURY OF MEMORIES Both of Georgia Tech’s mascots have connections to a Dean of

COVER PHOTOGRAPH

SCOTT DINERMAN, STC 03

No.

65

44

Students. Read these and 98 more facts, stories, and tidbits about Tech’s “Friend to Students.”

FEATURES

No.

TECH’S BEST-KEPT SECRETS Professors of the practice bridge the gap between academia and industry, bringing a real-world perspective and decades of experience to the classroom.

52

FRIEND TO STUDENTS Celebrate 100 years of the Dean of Students at Georgia Tech with a centennial-sized list of stories, facts, and tales.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

5

VOLUME 98

DEPARTMENTS

ISSUE 2

CONGRATS CLASS OF 2022 Out of thousands who entered the Tech Tower Photoshoot Sweepstakes at this year’s Ramblin’ On, Julia Leftwich, Arch 22, was the lucky winner. Leftwich had her one-of-a-kind grad pics snapped by a hovering drone.

PHOTOGRAPH

SCOTT DINERMAN, STC 03

CONTENTS 8

AROUND CAMPUS Overheard on Campus 10 Graduate Programs Among Best in the Nation 12 Hopeful Treatment for Type I Diabetes 16 Top Gun’s Return 20

24

ON THE FIELD Tech Grads Dance at Oscars 26 Thomas Scholarship Established 27 Jackets Without Borders Returns 28

30

IN THE WORLD Enter The Adrenaline Zone 32 Jacket Copy 34 Sowing Big Dreams in a Small Town 36 Lessons Learned 40

66

ALUMNI HOUSE Meet the Board 68 Buzz Bash 70 Staff Spotlight 72 Ramblin’ Roll 78 In Memoriam 84

92

TECH HISTORY Campouts, Counterfeits, and Avoiding the Night Watchman 92 Tech’s Fossil Hunters 98 GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

7

VOLUME 98

AROUND CAMPUS

ISSUE 2

CHROMA AT CROSLAND Architecture professor Tristan AlHaddad, Arch 01, designed reflective fins covered in a colorful film that create a protective and artistic barrier around the terrace on the Crosland Tower rooftop.

PHOTOGRAPH

COLLEGE OF DESIGN

10

OVERHEARD ON CAMPUS

14

STUDENT NEWS

16

TECH RESEARCH

20

TOP GUN ’S RETURN

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

9

AROUND CAMPUS

OVERHEARD ON CAMPUS

“

As two Black women in higher education, a lot of it is around scholarship and sisterhood. A lot of our work centers around minority voices and women of color and making sure that they have the access and resources to stay in and be in higher education. That drives our work and drives our relationship.”

—DARA BRIGHT, MS PP 19, SPEAKING ABOUT HER MENTOR SYBRINA ATWATERS, EE 94, MS HTS 09, PHD HTS 14, THE DIRECTOR OF OMED: EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

PHOTOGRAPHS: ALLISON CARTER

You knew your why. You stayed the course. You were resourceful, and you finished—with some help along the way. If that’s not P-H-D, which in my book stands for perseverance, hard work, and determination, then I don’t know what is.”

PHOTOGRAPH: GEORGIA TECH

“

Bright and Atwaters were featured for Women’s History Month in a series called “Echoes of Each Other” about the role that female mentors and colleagues at Tech play in each other’s stories.

—NASHLIE SEPHUS, MS ECE 10, PHD ECE 14, SPEAKING TO NEW GRADUATES DURING GEORGIA TECH’S SPRING 2022 PHD COMMENCEMENT

PHOTOGRAPH: ROB FELT

10 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

“

I don’t have to tell you at Georgia Tech that technology is transforming our world. You know that better than I do.”

—CIA DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs hosted CIA Director William Burns on April 14. Burns discussed the role of intelligence at a transformational moment, the CIA’s partnership with tech companies and technologists to address emerging threats to national security, and the Russian threat to the U.S. and its allies.

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AROUND CAMPUS

GEORGIA TECH GRADUATE PROGRAMS AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION GEORGIA TECH REMAINS STRONG IN THE LATEST U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKINGS.

BY SIOBHAN RODRIGUEZ GEORGIA TECH’S graduate programs were once again at the top of the list in rankings released March 29 by the U.S. News & World Report.

COLLEGE OF COMPUTING The College of Computing ranked No. 6 overall, jumping two spots from last season. Other specialties ranked as follows: #5 #1 5

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

#4

SYSTEMS (UP FROM #10)

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

#1 3

THEORY

(UP FROM #16)

SCHELLER COLLEGE OF BUSINESS The Scheller College of Business was ranked 28th in the nation for its full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program and climbed to No. 16 for its parttime MBA. The business analytics program ranked at No. 3 on the 2023 list. The rankings for other Scheller programs are as follows: #4

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

#6 #1 1

The Institute continues to be ranked in the top 10 for the College of Engineering and each of its specialties. Overall, the College of Engineering appears on the list at No. 7 among all universities and 4th among public universities. Each of its 11 programs was ranked ninth or better:

(UP FROM #5)

PRODUCTION/OPERATIONS (UP FROM #7)

SUPPLY CHAIN/LOGISTICS

IVAN ALLEN COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

#1

INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

#2

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

#3

CIVIL ENGINEERING

#3

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (UP FROM #6)

#4

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

#4

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (UP FROM #5)

#4

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

#5

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

#6

COMPUTER ENGINEERING

#7

MATERIALS ENGINEERING

#2 2

#9

NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

#4 9

12 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts made the top 50 overall for its public policy program at Tech. The rankings for some of the specialties were: #2

INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT (UP FROM #4)

#1 4

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND MANAGEMENT PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS (UP FROM #29)

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

COLLEGE OF SCIENCES All six of the College of Sciences’s overall graduate programs are ranked in the top 40, with the biology program soaring to No. 37 this year: Six specialty programs within the College of Sciences also rank in the top 20:

#2 1

MATHEMATICS (UP FROM #26)

#2 1

CHEMISTRY

#2 8

EARTH SCIENCES (UP FROM #38)

#5

DISCRETE MATH/COMBINATIONS

#2 8

PHYSICS

#1 1

APPLIED MATH

#3 7

BIOLOGY (UP FROM #54)

#1 5

TOPOLOGY

#3 9

PSYCHOLOGY (UP FROM #45)

#1 7

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

#1 8

MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS

#1 8

CONDENSED MATTER

Note: Not all disciplines are evaluated annually.

S T U D E N T T E A M W I N S E N E R GY E C O C A R M O B I L I T Y C H A L L E N G E A TEAM OF GEORGIA TECH STUDENTS and faculty members has won the U.S. Department of Energy’s EcoCAR Mobility Challenge. The four-year competition tasked 11 universities with transforming a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer by adding advanced propulsion systems and automated vehicle technology. The goal was to improve the car’s energy efficiency while balancing emissions, safety, and consumer acceptability factors.

Originally a six-cylinder, the Georgia Tech EcoCAR team converted its Blazer to a four-cylinder hybrid vehicle with adaptive cruise control.

College of Computing, Scheller Col-

Its vehicle-to-infrastructure communi-

lege of Business, and Georgia State

cation technology allows it to “talk”

University.

to stoplights and adjust its speed for optimization.

The team of approximately 60 graduate and undergraduate students represents six of the College of Engineering’s eight schools. The group also includes students from the

Georgia Tech finished first in several categories, including: • Energy Consumption (Normal Driving Mode) • Energy Consumption (Adaptive Cruise Control Enabled) • Connected Mobility Challenge

• Connected and Automated Vehicle Systems Presentation The EcoCAR team is a $1 million research program housed under Georgia Tech’s Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program. VIP allows undergraduate and grad students to participate in ambitious, long-term, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty.—JASON MADERER

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

13

STUDENT NEWS ALL WAGGING TA I L S H E R E

I D I TA R O D S L E D D O G S TEST NEW DEVICE THAT COULD REDUCE INJURIES FOR CANINE ATHLETES. W H E T H E R P U L L I N G A S L E D across the frozen tundra for hundreds of miles or guiding a visually impaired runner on a cross-country marathon, canine athletes are as prone to injury as their human counterparts.

To help reduce injuries and improve performance for canine athletes,

(L-R) Student researchers Cole Anderson, Arianna Mastali, Charles Ramey, and Will Stull.

student researchers at Georgia

by College of Computing Associate

team went to Alaska in March 2022

Tech have developed a wearable

Professor Melody Jackson, MS ICS

to connect with Aaron Peck, an Idi-

activity and gait detection device—

89, PhD CS 98. Following the class

tarod musher, and his team of sled

known as WAG’d—as part of an

last fall, development continued on

dogs to conduct field research.

animal-centered computing course led

the project when the interdisciplinary

—ALBERT SNEDEKER

TEAM SOLA WINS INVENTURE PRIZE

T E A M S O F S T U D E N T S C O M P E T E D F O R P R I Z E M O N E Y, H E L P W I T H PA T E N T F I L I N G , A N D A S P O T I N T E C H ’ S C R E A T E - X P R O G R A M . the National Weather Service to

“These industries are so fascinat-

come up with technology that can

ing to look at, but they can be riddled

calculate the likelihood for future di-

with problems,” responded Perga-

sasters and what payouts may be

ment. “We’re just passionate about

necessary.

solving a big problem that hasn’t been

Because of limits and exclusions

solved yet.”

in insurance coverage, homeown-

In addition to $20,000, Team Sola

ers often have to pay out of pocket

will receive a free U.S. patent filing

in the immediate aftermath of a nat-

from Tech’s Office of Technology

ural disaster. Team Sola hopes their

Licensing, and a spot in CREATE-X.

model for a data-driven supplemen-

Second place and $10,000 went to

U S I N G 7 0 Y E A R S of tornado dam-

tal insurance plan with quick payouts

Team Foambuster, a team of mechan-

age data, two Georgia Tech students

will change that, benefiting homeown-

ical engineers that has developed

have developed a proprietary model

ers as soon as they need it—while also

a tool to minimize the snow-like de-

to help homeowners access financial

benefiting home insurance providers.

bris created by installing external

support immediately following the devastation of a tornado.

T h e j u d g e s n o t e d Te a m S o -

insulation finishing systems. The Peo-

la’s evident passion.“How does

ple’s Choice Award with a $5,000

Engineering students Brayden Dru-

one get passion for insurance?”

prize went to Team Reflex, which

ry and Wesley Pergament have used

a s k e d I n Ve n t u r e P r i z e j u d g e

is currently testing an emergency

those seven decades of information

Kolby Hanley, MSE 19, 2017 In-

medical drone response system to de-

provided by the National Oceanic

Venture Prize winner and CEO of

liver lifesaving medical equipment.

and Atmospheric Administration and

UltraView Archery.

—STEVEN NORRIS

14 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

H O P, H O P H O O R A Y !

GEORGIA TECH STUDENTS COMPLETE WORLD’S LONGEST HOPSCOTCH. I F Y O U ’ V E B E E N A R O U N D Georgia

The student orga-

Tech’s campus, you’ve likely run into

nizers drew up plans

plenty of people with big ideas. And

for a 4.2-mile course

chances are they’re figuring out ex-

across all corners of

actly how to make those big ideas a

campus—and in true

reality. So what happens when Tech

Tech fashion there

students get an idea to break a world

was an element of

record? They get to work.

engineering ingenu-

“It was one of those ideas that

ity that brought this

comes to you and in hindsight you

record attempt to fru-

can’t remember how you got it,” says

ition. Henning helped

record organizer and physics major

lead the design and

Ashleigh Henning.

construction of stamps

Henning is a member of SEE(k) D(is-

that could be used

comfor t), or SEED, a f irst-year

to mark the course

leadership organization dedicated

quickly.

to helping members develop their

“We love solving problems,” Hen-

have to be drawn completely before

leadership and personal potential

ning explains. She says it was the

anyone could begin traversing it. The

through unique, once-in-a-lifetime

stamps that really made this attempt

competitors would have to hop the en-

experiences that challenge their per-

possible.

tire course, and it would need to be

ceived limitations. Challenges like a record-breaking hopscotch.

Organizers had been in contact

filmed.

with officials from Guinness World Re-

Check, check, and check. Now the

Henning says the group wanted

cords since October, when the idea

team is waiting for verification from

to engage students with campus in a

came about, and there were some

Guinness, which could take several

hands-on way, and that’s where hop-

rules they’d need to follow to break

weeks, that the world record has been

scotch came into play.

the previous record. The course would

officially broken.—AYANA ISLES

QUIZ BOWL TEAM WINS NATIONALS GEORGIA TECH TOOK FIRST PL ACE AMONG 51 O F T H E B E S T T E A M S I N T H E C O U N T RY. E V E R Y Y E A R , Georgia Tech’s aca-

S.A . Shenoy,

demic quiz bowl team competes in

a computer sci-

two national tournaments. This year,

ence major and

their top team won first among 51 of

member of the

the best teams in the country in the

winning team

Academic Competition Federation’s

(as well as a

Nationals Tournament.

former Jeopardy! contestant).

club and an electrical and computer

In some ways, the quiz bowl is sim-

Aside from the joy of winning, there

engineering major, and another Jeop-

ilar to Jeopardy! Topics range from

is a more meaningful reason this win

ardy! alumnus. This was the first time

fine arts to sciences. Rather than com-

was so special to the team.

since 1996 that a Georgia Tech team

peting as individuals, though, teams of four compete together.

“Robert Meredith was a professor

was able to bring home the trophy.

at Tech. He popularized quiz bowl

Above all, team members say the

“People are often put into bins by

in the Southeast, and the trophy we

club is a place in which people can

majors, but their other interests are

won is named in his honor,” says

feel safe learning with their peers.

reflected by the questions,” says

Hari Parameswaran, president of the

—CONNOR WHITE

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

15

RESEARCH

RESEARCHERS DEVELOP HOPEFUL TREATMENT FOR TYPE 1 DIABETES

A BIOMATERIAL DEVELOPED BY A TEAM OF GEORGIA TECH RESEARCHERS IMPROVES ISLET TRANSPLANTS FOR TREATMENT OF TYPE 1 DIABETES.

BY JERRY GRILLO

ISLET CELL TRANSPL ANTS are a promising treatment that can cure type 1 diabetes. The cells, taken from a donor pancreas, provide patients with a sustainable and tightly controlled source of insulin. A major problem is getting the patient’s immune system to accept the influx of new donor cells; the patient’s protective T-cells naturally want to reject the foreign invaders.

But a team co-led by Georgia Tech researcher Andrés García overcame this hurdle in previous small-animal studies. Their technique uses synthetic hydrogel particles called microgels. The microgels present a potent immunomodulatory protein called SA-FasL to modulate the body’s immune response, allowing the transplanted insulin-producing cells to do their job, regulating blood glucose levels, and fighting diabetes.

A new study in the journal Science Advances from García and his collaborators moves this hopeful treatment

the

strategy closer to the clinic.

“Immunosuppression is a significant problem for patients, but in our prior work we showed that this biomaterial, this microgel, is a potent immunomodulatory molecule, and can induce permanent acceptance of the new cells,” says García, the Petit Chair in Bioengineering and Regents’ Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and executive director of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.

“But that study was done in mice, and the immune system of a mouse is very different from a human’s,” García adds. “And in the progression toward clinical use, you really need to test this strategy in a large-animal model.”

Now, they have. García and his fellow researchers from the University of Missouri and Massachusetts General Hospital explain their results in the new paper. Their study, funded by the Juvenile Diabetes

B A S E L I N E $9.2 16 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

Andrés García co-leads a team developing microgels that could help treat diabetes.

Research Foundation, demonstrates how co-transplanting islet cells with SA-FasL-microgels reversed diabetic symptoms while overcoming the immune response without using immunosuppressants.

“We are pretty pumped—this is very exciting, and these are hopeful results for people fighting type 1 diabetes,” says García, corresponding author and part of a 20-person research team.

MILLION FUNDING AWARDED TO A TEAM LED BY GTRI DEMONSTRATING A SYSTEM THAT WILL COMBINE CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM COMPUTING.

2

HONORARY DEGREES AWARDED THIS SPRING (RICHARD “DICK” BERGMARK, IM 75, AND RAPHAEL BOSTIC.)

YO U R N E X T P E R S O N A L A S S I S TA N T C O U L D B E A D R O N E

A V E R T I C A L LY I N T E G R A T E D P R O J E C T S ( V I P ) T E A M C O U L D T U R N T H I S I D E A I N T O R E A L I T Y. IMAGINE YOU’RE A COLLEGE STUDENT cramming for a test in your dorm room. It’s getting late, and you realize you still need to pick up supplies from the school bookstore and find a bite to eat. What if there was a way for the school supplies and food to be delivered right to your dorm—not by car or foot, but by drone?

One class that is part of the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and Georgia Tech could soon turn that idea into a reality.

The class, called Experimental

mechanical engineering, and com-

“I’m on our class’s hardware team,

Flights, is developing a drone delivery

puter science,” Mayo says. “Success

so I help assemble all of the parts of

network that would allow students on

for this project would be for us to de-

the drone and also work a little bit

Georgia Tech’s campus in Atlanta to

velop a fully functional drone delivery

with 3D software modeling,” Heaton

place orders for items such as school

network on Georgia Tech’s campus

says. “There’s a lot of new technolo-

supplies and food through a mobile

that would serve as a model for future

gies coming out—whether it’s drones,

app, and have a drone deliver those

drone delivery networks across the

or other plane-related things—and

items to a secure locker station close

country and world.”

they all have so much potential.”

to their dorm. The app would have a

VIP is an education program sup-

The Experimental Flights class has

similar look and feel to the app used

ported by Tech and GTRI that allows

successfully completed initial flight

for popular ridesharing services, and

undergraduate and graduate students

testing for their drones in a controlled

students could use it to view wait times

to earn academic credit for working

environment that has been approved

for the next available drone, track

with faculty on projects they don’t typi-

by the Georgia Tech Police Depart-

their package, and receive a unique

cally encounter in a classroom setting.

ment and demonstrated the drones’

Catherine Heaton, a fourth-year

ability to transport small packages.

CHRISTOPHER MOORE, GTRI

code to access their purchase.

PHOTOGRAPH

The Experimental Flights VIP class successfully tested their drones in a controlled environment.

Michael Mayo, MS AE 13, a GTRI

aerospace engineering major, has

The class has also constructed a

senior research engineer who is the

participated in the Experimental

prototype package locker and is cur-

lead instructor for the class, says his

Flights class since the fall 2020 se-

rently designing the mobile app for

initial goal is to roll out the drone deliv-

mester. Heaton says working with

end users and a flight control center to

ery network at Georgia Tech and then

a diverse group of students has en-

manage drone operation.

to consider other locations later on.

abled her to apply the concepts

Mayo’s class is seeking corpo-

“We’ve been working on this kind

she has learned from her major to

rate collaborations to apply their

of network for a couple of years now

solve real-world issues, while also

drone delivery concept to areas

and have leveraged knowledge from

gaining experience developing hard-

such as inventory management and

a lot of different disciplines at Tech—

ware systems that support emerging

more widespread package delivery.

including aerospace engineering,

technologies.

—MICHELLE GOWDY

16TH

AGE OF A FUNERARY CROSS THAT TECH RESEARCHERS USED TERAHERTZ IMAGING AND SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES ON TO REVEAL A MESSAGE

CENTURY OBSCURED BY TIME: AN INSCRIPTION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER.

1ST

PLACE AWARDED TO A TEAM OF GEORGIA TECH STUDENTS IN THE 2021 NSA CODEBREAKER CHALLENGE.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

17

FACULT Y NEWS BROWN BECOMES FIRST WOMAN T O R E C E I V E C L A S S O F 19 3 4 DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR AWARD

M A R I LY N B R O W N I S T H E 2 0 2 2 R E C I P I E N T O F T H E HIGHEST HONOR GIVEN TO A GEORGIA TECH PROFESSOR, T H E C L A S S O F 19 3 4 D I S T I N G U I S H E D P R O F E S S O R A W A R D .

Engineering and the National Acad-

Ridge National Laboratory, where

emy of Sciences, and receiving the

she directed several national climate

2021 World Citizen Prize in Environ-

change mitigation studies and be-

mental Performance. Now, she is the

came a leader in the analysis and

first woman to receive the Georgia

interpretation of energy futures.

Tech Class of 1934 Distinguished Pro-

Brown was attracted to Georgia

fessor Award in the 38 years of its

Tech after working with a high-level

M A R I LY N B R O W N is a world-leading

existence. The highest honor given to

group of scientists from Oak Ridge,

expert on renewable energy and

a Georgia Tech professor, the award

the Imperial College of London, and

energy efficiency, a transformative

is presented to a professor who has

Tech on a project involving next-

intellectual thinker, and one of the

made significant, long-term contribu-

generation energy, including ad-

founders of the field of energy and cli-

tions to teaching, research, and public

vanced broadband.

mate policy.

service.

“I really liked the people from Tech

Her research has shaped energy

Brown is the Regents’ and Brook

who I worked with on the project,”

policy in the U.S. and globally. Over

Byers Professor of Sustainable Sys-

says Brown. “They had a can-do atti-

the past two years, she has been

tems in the School of Public Policy in

tude. At other universities, they might

tapped for several prestigious hon-

Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College

say, ‘That can’t be done.’ The people

ors, including being elected to both

of Liberal Arts. She joined Georgia

from Georgia Tech said, ‘We’ll find a

t he U.S. National Academy of

Tech in 2006 after 22 years at Oak

way.’”—PATTI FUTRELL

GTRI NAMES ROBINSON DEPUT Y DIRECTOR FOR RESEARCH FOR THE INFORMATION AND CYBER SCIENCES DIRECTORATE O N A P R I L 1 8 , William H. Robinson,

and Computer Engineering.

MS EE 98, PhD ECE 03, assumed the

Before joining GTRI, Robinson

role of deputy director for research for

served as a professor of electrical en-

the Information and Cyber Sciences

gineering and the vice provost for

Directorate (ICSD) and began lead-

Academic Advancement at Vander-

ing two of the Georgia Tech Research

bilt University. He has an expansive

Institute’s labs: the Information and

portfolio of research, publications,

Communications Laboratory (ICL)

scholarly work, presentations, and

and the Cybersecurity, Information

awards. While at Vanderbilt Univer-

Protection, and Hardware Evaluation

sity, he was involved in research for

Research (CIPHER) Lab. Robinson will

sponsors including the Defense Ad-

manage research portfolios that span

vanced Research Projects Agency

International Symposium on Hard-

GTRI, and he will also join the execu-

(DARPA), the Defense Threat Re-

ware-Oriented Security and Trust

tive council, which guides GTRI.

duction Agency (DTRA), and the

(HOST), which convenes a robust

Robinson will also hold a faculty ap-

National Science Foundation (NSF).

community of researchers from ac-

pointment at the rank of professor in

In 2015 and 2016, Robinson served

ademia, government, and industry.

Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical

as the general chair for the IEEE

—MICHELLE GOWDY

18 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

Georgia Tech is excited to introduce a new campaign that will build a foundation to support our students, advance our research and innovation, enhance our campus and our community, and expand our impact at home and around the world.

Learn more about our goals at transformingtomorrow.gatech.edu

ASK THE EXPERTS

TOP GUN ’S RETURN

THE GEORGIA TECH COMMUNITY REFLECTS ON THE BLOCKBUSTER’S LEGACY 36 YEARS LATER.

BY CANDLER HOBBS O N M AY 1 6 , 1 9 8 6 , America was introduced to a film that looked and sounded very different than anything before. Top Gun, an action-drama film about fighter pilots training at the U.S. Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, was a new kind of American war movie that

James “JAWs” Winnefeld, AE 78, in his F-14 at the real TOPGUN school. Winnefeld would go on to become the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

20 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

started a modern trend of heroic military blockbusters that continues today.

The movie also solidified Tom Cruise as a superstar, grossing more than $356 million at the box office.

How did Top Gun change movie making, and why does it continue to

be relevant 36 years later?

To address those questions and much more, the Georgia Tech community reflects on the film and its legacy in light of the long-awaited sequel—Top Gun: Maverick—released this summer.

A REAL-LIFE MAVERICK In many ways, alumnus and Admiral James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld, AE 78, lived the life that Cruise’s character, Maverick, portrayed on the big screen.

The 1978 Tech graduate spent three years flying F-14s for his fleet squadron, acquiring the call sign “JAWs” (his initials). He and his radar intercept officer (RIO) were then selected to represent their squadron and train at the Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Course—better known as TOPGUN—at San Diego’s Naval Air Station Miramar in 1982. The fiveweek program allowed Winnefeld to learn from America’s best Navy fighter pilots. Upon completion, he returned to his squadron and shared the knowledge with his peers.

After completing his first fleet tour, Winnefeld was asked to return to TOPGUN as an instructor, training other pilots from 1984 to 1987.

“The culture of that little squadron of elite instructors was some of the best I’ve ever been around,” Winnefeld says. “We were not going to let

Tom Cruise, the star of the Top Gun film. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

each other down. We were always going to be as professional as we could be. We worked extremely hard, but at the same time, we managed to have fun, too.”

During the middle of Winnefeld’s tenure as a TOPGUN instructor, Paramount Pictures began production of Top Gun. Suddenly, people from Hollywood began visiting the air station for research.

Some of the instructors were asked to help refine the screenplay to make it as realistic as possible.

“I went to a bar with Tom Cruise, but I didn’t even know who he was,” Winnefeld remembers. “But women kept coming up to him. It was an interesting experience because the actors really wanted to study who we were, and what we were like, in order to portray us as best they could.”

Once filming started, Winnefeld and the other TOPGUN instructors flew the F-14s, F-4s, and F-5s seen in the movie. Although Winnefeld feels that the movie captures TOPGUN very well, he says there are some things a movie can’t effectively simulate, such as the intensity of air combat on a

pilot’s physiology.

One scene was very fam i l i a r t o Wi n n e f e l d : ejecting from an F-14 because of engine failure. In the film, Maverick gets in a flat spin and is headed out to sea, where he ejects, a move that kills his RIO, Goose. In Winnefeld’s real-life situation, he was flying out at sea when his plane experienced engine failure and entered a flat spin. To make matters worse, it was at night above a very rough Pacific Ocean. Winnefeld ejected at 10,000 feet and splashed into frigid, 20-foot seas. He sat in his raft for 45 minutes until rescued by helicopter. He was soon told his RIO was safe, despite being blown three or four miles away because of strong winds.

“It was just another day in the life of a naval aviator,” Winnefeld says. “Our training is so good. Everything you do is instinctive, and it all worked, so I’m here to talk about it.”

Winnefeld would later become a

naval commander, eventually serving as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until he retired in 2015. He is now a distinguished professor of the practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

THE CULTURAL IMPACT Ida Yoshinaga is an assistant professor and film scholar in Tech’s School of Literature, Media, and Communication. According to Yoshinaga, Top Gun marked a trend of heroic American military films, energized with a new language of action, blockbuster cinema. She says war films have been around since the beginning of American cinema. However, the genre had become increasingly critical of war by the 1960s and ’70s.

“Suddenly, Top Gun made war and the U.S. military look cool again,” Yoshinaga says. “In fact, Top Gun started a trend of movie producers working closely with the Pentagon. These, of course, are unofficial deals where the film producers let military officials

“OUR TRAINING IS SO GOOD. EVERYTHING YOU DO IS INSTINCTIVE, AND IT ALL WORKED, SO I’M HERE TO TALK ABOUT IT,” WINNEFELD SAYS. GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

21

ASK THE EXPERTS

Spring Georgia Tech engineering graduates (L-R) Aidan Perras, IE 22, William Stearns, ME 22, and Courtney Williams, ME 22, will enroll at Navy Flight School this summer.

sign-off on scripts and story details in exchange for the use of military assets/ equipment in their movies.”

Yoshinaga says another key component of the original film is its time period. “In the mid-1980s, we started to see movie soundtracks being something very significant and very commercial,” Yoshinaga said. “When I think about Top Gun, I remember the hit recordings ‘Danger Zone’ and ‘Take My Breath Away.’ I think about the famous music-video-style scenes,

Volleyball Head Coach Michelle Collier at Georgia Tech’s sand volleyball courts.

22 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

including the beach volleyball match.

I enjoy the movie on these levels because of that then-surprising, gendered gaze in what could’ve been an uncritical moment of escapism.”

Michelle Collier remembers that volleyball scene as well. The head coach of Tech’s volleyball team recalls seeing it with her college teammates in 1998.

“That was one of our favorite movies, and we did Tom Cruise’s volleyball high five at all our matches,” says Collier. “I think it really exposed the game, and it’s pretty cool to have the sport represented in such an iconic movie.”

THE RECRUITMENT IMPACT Many naval aviators have been inspired by Top Gun to some degree.

That includes a trio of 2022 engineering graduates who served in Tech’s ROTC program. Aidan Perras, William Stearns, and Courtney Williams will enter Navy Flight School in Pensacola, Fla., this summer to become pilots. Top Gun is one of Stearns’

favorite movies. He remembers watching it with his dad at a very young age.

“I saw the extent to which the TOPGUN community challenged everyone within it and how they pushed each other to be the best that they could be,” Stearns says. “That seemed like something that interested me for a career.”

Perras also said he was fascinated with the team culture in the movie.

“I realize Top Gun is just a movie and those aren’t real aviators on screen, but it still gives you an idea of what the TOPGUN community is like and how they work together,” Perras says.

Williams admits there are a few scenes that seem a little cheesy today.

But she says you must watch it if you’re going to be a Navy pilot. “I think the new movie is going to be a huge hit,” Williams says. “It might be more nostalgic for the older generation, and they’ll probably want to see it the most.

But I think younger folks will see it as well, and it might get more people interested in naval aviation.”

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VOLUME 98

ON THE FIELD

ISSUE 2

PHOTOGRAPH

ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOLE-IN-ONE With his son as his caddie, Stewart Cink, Mgt 95, marked his 20th Masters appearance in a most memorable way—with a hole-in-one! To add to the celebration, Cink made the shot on his son’s birthday.

26

GEORGIA TECH GRADS DANCE AT OSCARS

27

THOMAS SCHOLARSHIP ESTABLISHED BY PEYBACK FOUNDATION

28

JACKETS WITHOUT BORDERS RETURNS

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

25

PRO JACKETS

GEORGIA TECH GRADS DANCE ALONGSIDE BEYONCÉ AT OSCARS

YELLOW JACKETS RAIANNA BROWN AND MAKEDA CYRUS REPRESENT TECH ON THE GLOBAL STAGE.

T

TWO GEORGIA TECH ALUMNAE made a big splash on a global stage at the Oscars in March.

Raianna Brown, IE 18, and Makeda Cyrus, CE 11, danced alongside Beyoncé in a performance that opened the Oscars.

Brown was lined up right next to the pop music icon in the opening sequence. Cyrus was also one of the dozens of dancers wearing tennis ball–green costumes. Beyoncé was performing her Oscar-nominated original song “Be Alive” from the movie soundtrack of King Richard, a biography of Richard Williams, father of Grand Slam tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams.

“I’m just so grateful,” Brown posted on her Instagram account, referring to being part of the performance. Speaking of Instagram, Brown is standing just to the left of Beyoncé in the artist’s official post of the performance— an Instagram photo that has received more than 3 million likes.

It isn’t the first time Brown has danced on a national stage though. In 2020, she danced alongside Shakira 26 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

BY STEVEN NORRIS

Raianna Brown, IE 18 (left) danced alongside Beyoncé at this year’s Oscars.

and Jennifer Lopez in the Super Bowl halftime show. But she says this is her first performance in Los Angeles and her first chance to dance at an awards show.

Brown earned her degree from Georgia Tech in industrial engineering and has continued working as the lead software developer for consulting firm CMB Global Partners—while advancing her dancing career as well.

Cyrus, also prominently part of the elaborate choreography sequence that kicked off the Oscars, was a dancer

at Georgia Tech, too, as well as Ms. Georgia Tech in 2010. She earned her degree in civil engineering. After working in the corporate world for several years, she pivoted to become a professional dancer and has performed with Mandy Moore, LL Cool J, and Pharrell Williams, and has been seen on Netflix, NBC’s The Voice, and the American Music Awards.

Like Brown, Cyrus has also performed at the Super Bowl halftime show; she did it this year with Mary J. Blige.

Demaryius Thomas, Cls 10, helped lead the Yellow Jackets to consecutive ACC Coastal Division championships in 2008 and 2009.

8. Other 8/8 festivities will include Georgia Tech Athletics recognizing the Thomas Scholarship recipient and partnering with a local youth-oriented organization for a community service event, as well as a friend, teammate, or family member being invited to speak to the Yellow Jackets’ football

T H O M A S S C H O L A R S H I P E S TA B L I S H E D

BY P E Y B A C K F O U N DA T I O N

GEORGIA TECH ATHLETICS AND THE PEYBACK F O U N DA T I O N PA Y T R I B U T E T O D E M A RY I U S T H O M A S W I T H S C H O L A R S H I P A N D DA Y I N H I S H O N O R .

student-athletes.

Additionally, Georgia Tech football will honor Thomas’ memory throughout the 2022 season with a No. 8 helmet decal and a No. 8 memorial painted on the field for home games

T H E P E Y B A C K F O U N D AT I O N , the char-

he inspired the next generation to

itable organization founded and led

pursue their dreams with the same

“We are grateful to Peyton and

by Pro Football Hall of Fame quarter-

perseverance and determination that

Ashley Manning and the PeyBack

back Peyton Manning and his wife,

defined him. Through this scholarship

Foundation for establishing the

Ashley Manning, has established the

to Georgia Tech, Demaryius will have

Demaryius Thomas Scholarship,” Di-

Demaryius A. Thomas Scholarship En-

a lasting impact on deserving youth

rector of Tthletics Todd Stansbury,

dowment, in memory of Manning’s

from his hometown area who can fol-

IM 84, says. “Thanks to their gener-

Denver Broncos teammate and Geor-

low in his footsteps and accomplish

ous contribution, Demaryius’ legacy

gia Tech football legend Demaryius

great things in life.”

will be carried on through Georgia

Thomas, Cls 10.

at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

In honor of the establishment of the

Tech students from Laurens County

The Demaryius A. Thomas Scholar-

Thomas Scholarship, Georgia Tech

and surrounding areas for years to

ship Endowment will fund academic

Athletics announced that August 8

come and his memory will be cele-

scholarships to attend Georgia Tech

(8/8) of each year will be recognized

brated each year during our 8/8 Day

for incoming freshmen students from

by Tech as Demaryius Thomas Day,

recognitions.”

Laurens County, Ga., where Thomas

beginning this summer. Chosen in

One of the greatest wide receiv-

was born and raised, or surrounding

memory of the jersey No. 8 that Thom-

ers in Georgia Tech football history,

areas, who demonstrate significant

as wore at Georgia Tech and No. 88

Thomas was known at Georgia Tech

financial need.

that he wore for the majority of his

and in the NFL for his work in the

“Demaryius Thomas was an incred-

National Football League career, in-

community, particularly with youth ini-

ibly talented and unselfish teammate,

cluding his eight-and-a-half seasons

tiatives. He died suddenly on Dec. 9,

but more importantly, he was a spe-

with the Broncos, 8/8 will be the

2021, at the age of 33. His memorial

cial person and friend,” Peyton

date each season that Tech football

service was held on Dec. 18, 2021, at

Manning says. “An important part

will recognize the student-athlete(s)

Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion.

of Demaryius’ legacy was the way

who are chosen to wear jersey No.

—GEORGIA TECH ATHLETICS

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

27

ON THE FIELD

JACKETS WITHOUT BORDERS RETURNS

SIXTEEN STUDENT-ATHLETES SPENT SEVEN DAYS IN PUERTO RICO ON GLOBAL SERVICE-LEARNING TRIP.

J A C K E T S W I T H O U T B O R D E R S , Georgia Tech Athletics’ award-winning international service program, returned after a three-year hiatus. Sixteen student-athletes and four staff members traveled to Villa del Rio, Puerto Rico, to continue hurricane rehabilitation efforts following the storms that devastated the island in 2017.

This year’s Jackets Without Borders trip is the fourth overall and the first since 2019, as the program was suspended for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will mark JWOB’s third trip to Villa del Rio, as the community continues to rebuild from the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Prior to the trips to Villa del Rio, the initial Jackets Without Borders project took place in 2017 in Cartago, Costa Rica, where Georgia Tech’s student-athletes and staff

Jackets Without Borders returned this year after a three-year hiatus.

assisted in building a multi-use sports court for a K-12 school.

In 2019, Jackets Without Borders was the recipient of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s prestigious Game Changers Award as the ACC’s top service initiative of the year.

This year’s Jackets Without Borders trip is the first to be entirely funded without Georgia Tech Athletics department operational funds, as funds for the $40,000 trip were raised entirely by participating student-athletes, teams, and generous donors.

DICKENS THROWS OUT FIRST PITCH ATL ANTA MAYOR ANDRE DICKENS, ChE 98, returned to Georgia Tech to throw the ceremonial first pitch for Georgia Tech Baseball’s April 12 game against Georgia State University.

Game day also marked Dickens’ first 100 days in office. He was sworn in as Atlanta mayor Jan. 4 at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

28 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT WWW.ATFUND.ORG OR CALL (404) 894-5414

VOLUME 98

IN THE WORLD

ISSUE 2

THE STATE OF LEARNING What does it take to lead a middle school through a pandemic? This Triple Jacket shares lessons learned and silver linings from one of the most challenging times for K-12 education.

PHOTOGRAPH

KAYLINN GILSTRAP

32

ENTER THE ADRENALINE ZONE

34

JACKET COPY

36

SOWING BIG DREAMS IN A SMALL TOWN

40

LESSONS LEARNED

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

31

IN THE WORLD

ENTER THE ADRENALINE ZONE

ADM. SANDY WINNEFELD, AE 78, AND FORMER ASTRONAUT SANDY MAGNUS, PHD MSE 96, LAUNCH A PODCAST ALL ABOUT TAKING RISKS.

B

BUCKLE UP AND HOLD ON. That’s what two professors of the practice—astronaut Sandy Magnus and retired admiral Sandy Winnefeld—tell listeners to do when firing up their new podcast, The Adrenaline Zone.

“It lies somewhere between the pit of your stomach, your racing heart, and your brain— somehow trying to keep it all together,” explains Magnus, a three-time space veteran, in the show’s pulse-pounding intro.

Now in its 10-episode first season, the show has featured in-depth talks with a gold medal– winning blind Paralympian; country western singer Tim McGraw; Indy champion Josef Newgarden; the first woman to referee a Super Bowl; and the commanding officer of the Navy’s Blue Angels precision flying team.

Both hosts agree their most spine-tingling interview was with Blanca, a former Wilmington, N.C., gang leader. When a microbrewery entrepreneur said he wanted to do something about the city’s gun violence, Blanca took him up on 32 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

BY GEORGE SPENCER his offer. Today, thanks to his efforts, the brewery is entirely staffed by former members of different gangs.

“Blanca believed this businessman, and his story goes into how much he cares for his community, why he took this risk, what he’s learned, and how it’s changing Wilmington. My gosh, it’s so powerful,” says Magnus.

Winnefeld got the idea for the podcast while driving from D.C. to Colorado for Christmas in 2021. To pass the time, he sampled existing offerings. “Some of them were too much about the host. I thought, ‘I’ve taken risks my whole life. I relish risk and managing it. So why not do a podcast about it?’ Then I thought, ‘Well, half the people in the world who take risks are women. I need a cohost who’s a woman.”

But there was a hitch. Both hosts share the name Sandy. So, on the show, Magnus goes by Sandra even though in person she’s Sandy. “That’s a weird coincidence. It wasn’t why we did the show. It was why we almost didn’t do it,” Winnefeld admits.

Listen to the podcast at TheAdrenalineZone.com.

OFFICIAL PRIVATE AVIATION PARTNER OF THE GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

YO U C R E AT E M E M O R I E S .

W E C R E AT E T I M E .

JACKET COPY

FROM THE BOOKSHELVES RECENTLY PUBLISHED WORKS

BY GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI.

BUSINESS

LEVEL UP

BY L A R A ( O ’ C O N N O R ) HODGSON, AE 93, AND S TA C E Y A B R A M S H O D G S O N pairs up wit h Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia state representative, to share the successes

BIOGRAPHY

THE APOSTLE: THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF DR. G.B. ESPY

BY R I C K H I L L , I M 7 5 THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF DR. G.B. ESPY

THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF

DR. G.B. ESPY HUMANITARIAN

and failures of their entrepreneurial lives. The two serve as guiding lights for women and women of color in the world of entrepreneurship.

HILL, a New York Times #1 Best-selling author, tells the remarkable story of humanitarian and fellow alumnus, Dr. Goodman “Basil” Espy, ME 57. Named Georgia’s “Human-

BY RICK HILL

BY

RICK HILL #1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR

itarian of the Year” in 2004, Dr. Espy was one of the original doctors who defied borders. He bravely visited war-torn regions of the world to deliver life-saving medical aid.

BUSINESS

FROM BREAKTHROUGH TO BLOCKBUSTER: THE BUSINESS O F B I O T E C H N O L O GY

BY D R . N E K TA R I O S O R A I O P O U L O S , P H D MGT 09, AND CO-AUTHORS DONALD L. DRAKEMAN AND LISA N. DRAKEMAN FROM BREAKTHROUGH TO BLOCKBUSTER answers the key ques-

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A JOURNEY THROUGH C H E M I C A L DY N A M I C S

BY W I L L I A M H . M I L L E R , CHEM 63

tions: where do new medicines come from, why are they so

FROM HIS EARLY years experiencing

breathtakingly expensive, and what can be done to ward off

the launch of Sputnik to his profes-

future pandemics?

sional development at Georgia Tech, readers walk with Miller down a scientific memory lane.

MEMOIR

M A N Y PA T H S

BY B R U C E M c E V E R , I E 6 6 MANY PATHS is the story of successful businessman Bruce McEver, the founder of Berkshire Capital and a global pioneer of investment banking, who is devastated by the sudden death of his wife of 30 years, a beautiful and talented opera singer.

34 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOOK CLUB & AUTHOR Q&A Join the virtual book club discussion at connect.gtalumni.org/hub/ georgiatech/groups on The Intangible by C.J. Washington, MS CS 18. Save the date for a Q&A with the author August 2 at Georgia Tech.

BREAKING INTO SPORTS ANALYTICS

ON THE JOB

PROFESSIONAL ADVICE FROM TECH GRADS WHO’VE DONE IT T H R E E G E O R G I A T E C H G R A D U A T E S of the Online Master’s of Science Analytics Program gave advice on how to land a job in sports analytics, during a panel hosted by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. See the full conversation on connect.gtalumni.org.

SAIEM GILANI, MSA 22, of SportsDataverse and the Houston Rockets: You B R YA N H AY E S , M S A 2 1 , of the New

should be looking for people who are highly motivated trying to make changes

York Mets: The No. 1 characteristic

in this space and follow them. Treat yourself like an organization in that you never

people need to have is a competitive

stop recruiting, scouting, or trying to network with smart people. Become self-

desire to win. Competition drives inno-

sufficient as a coder. If you can demonstrate projects and you can do the entire

vation in what we’re doing. We need

stack, you’re at the top of a lot of people’s lists…if they can afford you!

to increase the probability of success through any means possible at all times. A binary result gets deemed as lucky or unlucky. How ever close we

WE SELL LAND

can push the envelope toward a lucky result is the foundation of our job in sports analytics.

CORY JEZ, MSA 20, of the Utah Jazz and Austin FC: We’ve all been lucky enough to work in team environments, but there are also a ton of opportunities in the technology space, in the gambling space, and in “sportsadjacent” spaces for people who want different things out of their careers. A lot of these use similar tools and require similar skills and look at similar products.

The great thing about trying to get a

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IN THE WORLD

SOWING BIG DREAMS IN A SMALL TOWN

Francis Lott, Arch 58, Arch 59 (center), has made it his mission to encourage students in and around Douglas, Ga., to attend Georgia Tech.

WITH APPLICATIONS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH, THE INSTITUTE REMAINS COMMITTED TO EXPANDING ACCESS TO STUDENTS FROM ALL OVER GEORGIA. ONE ALUMNUS IS HELPING THE CAUSE, CREATING A PIPELINE FROM HIS OWN SMALL HOMETOWN TO HIS ALMA MATER.

BY KELLEY FREUND

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THE TOWN OF DOUGLAS, located in Coffee County in southeast Georgia, is about an hour from the nearest interstate. As Georgia Tech’s Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director of Undergraduate Admission Rick Clark likes to put it, “You have to dig in to get there.” But despite its remoteness, Coffee County is recognized as one of the most progressive communities in southern Georgia, with Douglas serving as the county seat and a center for shopping and dining, professional services, and industrial growth.

Much of that has to do with Francis Lott, Arch 58, Arch 59. Following his graduation from Tech and a few years in the Air Force, Lott returned to his hometown of Douglas to join family-owned Lott Builders Supply Company. He eventually led the company’s diversification into commercial real estate development with the founding of Lott Properties, Inc., in 1981. Since then, Lott has played a major role in the economic development of his hometown, building everything from shopping centers and restaurants to apartments in Douglas. He helped recruit new industries to the community and established an Economic Development Fund with a $1 million endowment to the Community Foundation of Coffee County. This leadership and philanthropy earned him Volunteer of the Year awards on two separate occasions from the Georgia Economic Development Association.

Lott would go on to extend that community spirit to Georgia Tech. While on a retreat with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, fellow board member Bill Todd, IM 71, asked if Lott knew then-Georgia Tech

President Wayne Clough, CE 64, MS CE 65. It turned out Clough also hailed from Douglas. Todd went on to talk about Clough’s great leadership at Tech and how something should be done to recognize him in Douglas.

“And then he stuck his finger on my chest—like I owed him money—and said, ‘You need to do it!’”

So Lott did. He helped launch Wayne Clough Day; then he and his wife, Diane, made a gift to the Tech Promise Scholarship Program, which was established by Clough in 2007 to provide a debt-free education for Georgia students from low-income families. Today, the Francis and Diane Lott Promise Scholarship Endowment gives priority to residents of Coffee County, then to students from 64 other counties that make up southern Georgia.

While three Coffee County high schoolers earned Lott’s scholarship that first year, Lott recognized the difficulty in building up a steady stream of students from his hometown to Georgia Tech. According to Clark, recruiting students from more rural areas is not just a challenge for Tech—universities across the country come across the same issues.

“In rural areas, you find that higher education isn’t as prevalent in a prospective student’s family history,” Clark says.

“Often the norm is to attend a community college, technical college, or move right into work. That direct route from high school into a four-year college is often not part of the family pattern.”

Lott speaks to students in Coffee County about Georgia Tech and the importance of higher education.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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IN THE WORLD

“WE’RE A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN GEORGIA, AND WE EXIST TO SERVE THE STATE FIRST, AND NOT JUST ATLANTA OR THE BIG CITIES,” CLARK SAYS. “WE WANT TO BE A PLACE FOR ALL TALENTED GEORGIANS, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN STEM.” For many of these students, the cost of attending a school like Georgia Tech seems too high, and the idea of living in a large city can be daunting. And since it’s often not logistically or financially feasible for representatives of these universities to visit rural communities, many students in these areas aren’t always aware of all the colleges available to them.

But Georgia Tech recognizes its responsibility in helping change that narrative.

“We’re a public school in Georgia, and we exist to serve the state first, and not just Atlanta or the big cities,” Clark says.

“We want to be a place for all talented Georgians, particularly those who are interested in STEM.” To live up to that ideal, Tech launched the Georgia Tech Scholars Program, which guarantees admission to the valedictorians or salutatorians from any school in Georgia that has more than 50 seniors. The Institute has also teamed up

Watch a video of RICK CLARK sharing his best advice on navigating admissions. Visit the Georgia Tech Alumni Association LinkedIn page on August 1.

with the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Augusta University to reach more prospective students across the state. This collaboration, known as the Peach State Tour, provides information sessions that, pre-pandemic, could be found within 50 miles of every Georgian.

The admissions team also has specific communication campaigns for recruiting in rural areas to relieve the intimidation factor that comes with enrolling at a school like Georgia Tech. Talking points for students in more rural areas are geared toward the impact and influence the Institute already has on small communities like theirs. Highlighting Tech as a public good for the state, and emphasizing how Tech is invested in improving the lives of all Georgians, makes the school less intimidating and more accessible.

Clark understands that the cost of a Tech degree and the amount of financial aid available is a big challenge. On average, the Institute meets less than 40 percent of a student’s demonstrated financial need. The school’s Tech Promise Scholarship and the state’s HOPE Scholarship and Zell Miller Scholarship offer some help for prospective students, and Clark is optimistic Georgia Tech’s new Strategic Plan recognizes and will begin to more intentionally address the financial need, which often prevents talented rural students from choosing to attend Tech.

But why should universities go to such great efforts to recruit students from different communities?

“The Tech experience is better when people from different backgrounds challenge each other to see a bigger picture and understand varying (L-R) Coffee High Academy Director Jessica Baker, Rick Clark, Francis Lott, and Coffee High Principal Van Allen.

Coffee High honor students gather for a“GT Day at the Beach.”

38 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

Lott was awarded the Dean Griffin Community Service Award in 2018 for his exemplary service to Coffee County, Ga.

perspectives,” says Clark. “But I also think we are focused on the long-term goal, and that is to create a more thriving Georgia. And to do that, it’s incumbent upon Tech to enroll students from all over our state.”

Students from rural areas are more likely to return to those communities following graduation, using the knowledge gained at Georgia Tech to have a positive impact. Lott is a perfect example. Not only did he return to Douglas and improve the economic viability of his hometown, but now he’s on a mission to help students from these communities attend Georgia Tech and have an impact of their own.

“Georgia Tech taught me a lot about hard work and focus, and it gave me confidence,” he says. “I wanted others to have the same experience. So I’m trying to create this pipeline from Coffee County to Georgia Tech. I’ve kept plugging away at it because I feel like it’s such a great opportunity.”

Lott began visiting Coffee High School in 2015 to speak about Georgia Tech. At first, he aimed his talks at high school juniors and seniors, but eventually realized the importance of expanding them to parents and counselors, as well as younger students. Kieran Lane, EE 21, was one of those younger students.

Lane was a bit different than those Lott usually met with because Lane knew from a very young age he wanted to attend Tech. It started out as a kind of joke—his father was a University of Georgia fan, and Lane was always finding ways to compete against his dad. But once Lane learned more about the school, he became more serious about his intentions. His uncle arranged a meeting.

“Mr. Lott was known in the community as the guy who went to Georgia Tech, and I was the kid who everyone knew wanted to go to Georgia Tech,” Lane says. “It was natural that we would meet one day.”

Lane says he walked into Lott’s office in a pair of khakis, a nice shirt, and his Georgia Tech tie. Lott remembers that Lane wore a blue blazer and carried a folder with a bio and some report cards. The two talked about what it would take to get into Tech, the school’s rankings, and Lott’s own experiences, and with that discussion, Lane’s vision of attending Georgia Tech became much more of a reality.

Lane says Lott is still somebody he can talk to about anything. “Mr. Lott gives you this respect, and he really pours into you as a person. And he’ll do everything in his power to help you out and make sure you succeed.”

In 2019, Lott organized a field trip for 33 Coffee High School students to Georgia Tech, which featured a campus tour and sessions with key officials. (It was the first field trip for the high school to a major college.) In September of last year, Lott hosted over 40 Coffee High School honor students at his beach house in Fernandina, Fla., for a “GT Day at the Beach.” Students not only had the chance to explore the town, but also hear from Tech administrators and alumni. A month later, Clark came to present at the high school; Lott says the presentation garnered such interest that Clark stuck around for an hour afterwards to answer student questions.

In April, Lott presented his sixth Tech Promise Scholarship to a Coffee County student, and as of early May, seven Coffee High School seniors have officially enrolled at Georgia Tech, an all-time high from a single graduating class there.

“I’ve had a role in helping change some lives,” says Lott.

“To motivate kids to apply to and attend Georgia Tech, one of the premier state schools in the country, is exhilarating to me. I’ve been more rewarded by this type of engagement than anything I’ve done in my business career.”

Lott’s journey from Douglas to Georgia Tech (and back) provides an example to other students from rural communities of what’s possible with a college education. And Lott’s latest mission is an example to other alumni of the good that can come from investing time, talent, and treasure into their alma mater.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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IN THE WORLD

LESSONS LEARNED

TWO SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SHARE THEIR PROGRESS REPORTS ON THE STATE OF LEARNING AFTER THREE PANDEMIC-ROCKED ACADEMIC YEARS

BY KRISTIN BAIRD RATTINI

40 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC, “pivot” has been the mantra for educators forced to reevaluate, revise, and reinvent their approach to instruction. Luqman Abdur-Rahman, ME 05, MS ME 07, MBA 07, principal of Luther J. Price Middle School in Atlanta (just 10 minutes from the Georgia Tech campus),

and Amanda Baskett, PP 07, director of Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology in Conyers, Ga., have drawn on their problem-solving skills honed at Tech to promote educational access, and support and engage their students and faculty at their project-based learning schools.

“I STOPPED ASKING KIDS, ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?’ AND STARTED ASKING, ‘HOW DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD?’” BASKETT SAYS.

ON THEIR SCHOOLS AMANDA BASKET T: We don’t look like a traditional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) school. The majority of our students are from underrepresented groups. We’re also majority female…I think it’s about maintaining high expectations, opening access, and breaking down barriers, but all with support. You can’t just invite in a student and not look at what their needs are.

ABDUR-RAHMAN: At Georgia Tech, I learned how to solve problems. In the same way, education for my students is to just solve problems. Within their communities, they see real problems all around them. When we ask what problems they want to solve, that really gets us a leg up on what interests them and is fun to them. Our sixth-grade problem-based learning (PBL) driving question is: How do you get money to survive?

PHOTOGRAPHS

KAYLINN GILSTRAP

TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PANDEMIC L U Q M A N A B D U R - R A H M A N : As a partnership with Purpose Built Schools, we already have a focus on STEAM (STEM + the Arts), which is great exposure for our students. We want to bring a lot of interdisciplinary thought into our classrooms. But when a lot of our students are dealing with the absence of basic needs, you have to meet them where they are. You can’t talk about rigor if you’re talking about hunger and trauma. Our students sometimes have basic skills to sharpen, so you can’t focus on all rigor and not plug these gaps. We always deal with those tensions and challenges as we find a way to make learning fun and give students an opportunity to see what kind of careers these skills can foster.

B A S K E T T : Making learning fun is so key when we talk about keeping kids at the table, to connect it to their passions, to their “why.” I stopped asking kids, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and started asking, “How do you want to make a difference in the world?”

BASKETT: Asynchronous video is definitely a regular practice across most of our classrooms now. We even changed our science fair structure so that judging opens a week before and kids post a video and platform so they can get much more feedback in addition to the live session.

We also realized the importance of consistency across online platforms and communications. Our kids have eight classes, so knowing where to go for every class, and where assignments are posted, has been a big benefit and positive change after Covid.

ABDUR-RAHMAN: The blessing in the whole pandemic was that it genuinely allowed teachers to view themselves as students. It was easy to see the parallels between what our staff members wanted in terms of professional development and what they needed to create and provide in terms of instructional planning for students. Everyone needed to come up GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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IN THE WORLD

“THE BLESSING IN THE WHOLE PANDEMIC WAS

Luqman AbdurRahman leads Price Middle School, a public school with a focus on project-based learning.

THAT IT GENUINELY ALLOWED TEACHERS TO VIEW THEMSELVES AS STUDENTS,” ABDUR-RAHMAN SAYS. with new ways to engage and interact with one another, and find creative uses for technology.

It’s always the simplest ideas that are the most impactful.

In elementary school, students do stations because you want to keep them moving and engaged. So in our professional development sessions, we now talk for five minutes and then break into stations of some type where you can have engaging one-on-ones, even across Zoom.

BASKET T: We all had to become new teachers again. This year has been challenging in a similar but different way because we lost collective muscle memory of how things are done. You have kids and teachers out on quarantine, so you have to factor that in now.

Amanda Baskett is director of Rockdale Magnet School and a founding teacher of the K-12 InVenture Prize.

ABDUR-RAHMAN: This year was insane because I have never seen so much adult need, absence, and inconsistency that you could not control. The pandemic has now conditioned us to ask, “What do I need to do to make sure you’re well to be successful when you return?” I think for the first time people see social-emotional learning not as an add-on, but as the foundation of a culture that you need to create to allow learning to take place at “Hello.”

ON THEIR GEORGIA TECH FOUNDATION ABDUR-RAHMAN: More than anything, Georgia Tech builds grit. Education is all about grit and modeling it. You can’t expect it from your students if you’re not willing to model it as a staff. So I think about, “How can I be more efficient? How can I be sustainable?” Those are the engineering questions I always ask myself whenever I propose a solution to my staff for a problem at school.

B AS K E T T : Even though I was a public policy major, you can’t help but come out of Tech with some appreciation or respect for the engineering process. Since early on in my education career, I have thought of myself as an education engineer. Going through the iterative design process is what I teach my kids to do as learners.

K - 12 I N V E N T U R E P R I Z E MORE THAN 20,000 STUDENTS across Georgia have participated in the K-12 InVenture Prize Competition. This annual innovation competition—modeled on Tech’s InVenture Prize for undergraduate students—encourages kindergartners 42 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

through high-school seniors to develop novel solutions

the National Invention Convention. Thirty percent of par-

to real-world problems. Its mission is to create the next

ticipating schools are Title 1 schools. Girls—historically

generation of engineers and entrepreneurs by making in-

underrepresented in STEM competitions—make up approx-

vention education accessible to all students and teachers in

imately half of the entrants. The heaviest participation is in

Georgia.

fifth grade, but the ranks of the K-2 competitors are grow-

Amanda Baskett was one of the two founding teachers

ing steadily.

who worked with Tech’s Center for Education Integrating

In 2021, three Georgia K-12 InVenture finalists placed

Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC) to pilot

first at the National Invention Convention, for ideas ranging

the program in 2012. From two high schools in its inaugu-

from a high school sports concussion detector to a melano-

ral year, the competition has since reached more than 300

ma detection app to a UV light tool to safely clean laptops.

schools from more than 30 Georgia counties.

An 11th-grade Georgia team was the patent application

“The K-12 InVenture Prize is a competition that rewards students for great ideas that can help make a difference in

winner for a cheap and easy biodegradable packaging option.

their world,” Baskett says. “It brings together both the so-

“The K-12 InVenture Prize is about building skills and

cial impact and the entrepreneurship promise that students’

habits that will make our students more inventive, and em-

ideas can have, and challenges them to pitch out to others

powering them to improve our world,” says Roxanne

to get them interested.”

Moore of CEISMC, director of the K-12 InVenture Prize.

Over the past five years, an average of 4,000 students have participated annually in this feeder competition for

“These skills need to be nurtured and practiced, and they can’t be measured using typical standardized tests.”

A CEISMC IMPACT ON K-12 SCHOOLS ACROSS GEORGIA THE CENTER FOR EDUCATION INTEGRATING SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, AND COMPUTING (CEISMC) AT GEORGIA TECH CONNECTS FACULTY AND STUDENTS WITH THE PREK-12 STEM EDUCATION COMMUNITY.

56,050

K-12 students who have engaged in CEISMC outreach and extracurricular programs

104

GT faculty and staff involved in CEISMC programs

3,312

4,904

99

Teachers who have

Hours of teacher

Georgia school

participated in CEISMC programming

professional development provided by CEISMC

districts involved in CEISMC programs

116

GT undergraduate and graduate students involved in CEISMC programs

92%

of CEISMC funding that comes from external sources (FY21)

139

Sponsors and external collaborators (organizations, businesses, and universities) involved in CEISMC programs

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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c e T h’

s

BESTKEPT Secrets

GEORGIA TECH’S “PROFESSORS OF THE PRACTICE” MODEL BRINGS THE BEST OF THE BEST— ASTRONAUTS, CEO s , MILITARY LEADERS, AND MORE—INTO THE CLASSROOM.

George Spencer I llu st rat ion s b y Joel K i mmel

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a

Aerospace engineering student Nick Gaug is living his dream.

As a boy in Melbourne, Fla., near Cape Canaveral, Gaug looked in the sky and saw rocket trails shooting to space. One day when he was 12, a fire lit in his mind—he wanted to work on human spaceflight.

Today, his advisor—three-time space veteran Sandy Magnus, PhD MSE 96—helps him make internship decisions.

“It’s awesome,” says Gaug, who is entering his second year at Tech this fall. “I’ve met other astronauts, and they can be intimidating, but she’s easy to talk to.

I just have regular conversations with her. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor.”

Magnus, who flew on two Space Shuttle missions and spent four months on the International Space Station, teaches part-time in aerospace engineering, international affairs, and materials science. “I’ve been an educator my whole career, since I taught as a graduate student here,” she says. “The students of today are much more accomplished than they were when I was an undergraduate. What I tell them is don’t put limits on yourself.”

This former astronaut is one of Georgia Tech’s bestkept secrets. She’s one of 54 professors of the practice.

These world-class leaders hail from diverse fields that range from healthcare administration, supplychain management, and engineering to military leadership and architecture, and they are all paying it back to younger generations by teaching at Tech.

Some professors of the practice are alumni. Some work pro bono. They all have one thing in common—they share their hard-won expertise by teaching or serving as guest lecturers. They also mentor students and boost the reputations of departments with which they are associated.

“The professors of the practice program gives students the opportunity to explore another

W H AT I’V E

LEARNED

SANDY MAGNUS

Professor of the Practice in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, the School of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs “FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS— WHATEVER THEY ARE.” For Sandy Magnus, PhD MSE 96, the sky’s the limit.

She flew twice on the Space Shuttle and spent months aboard the International Space Station.

“What I tell students is: Don’t put yourself in a box.

Don’t put limits on yourself.”

dimension—the dimension in industry, or some environment other than academia, in which many GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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“Professors of the practice are our link to the outside world. If we’re in the ivory tower, what we’ve done is lower the proverbial drawbridge that often separates the Academy from industry, government, and the public,” SAYS RICHARD UTZ. will spend their careers,” says Gary Schuster, who was provost and executive vice president of academic affairs in 2008 when the program was created.

“Creating these positions was the obvious thing to do, and the proposal easily sailed through the approval process,” Schuster recalls.

“What students crave these days are two things,” adds Richard Utz, an associate dean in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “They want to be challenged with things that have real-world applications, and they want personal attention from instructors. Professors of the practice are our link to the outside world. If we’re in the ivory tower, what we’ve done is lower the proverbial drawbridge that often separates the Academy from industry, government, and the public.”

~

Sandy Magnus, PhD MSE 96, brings decades of experience in the aerospace field to students, who have

SCOTT DINERMAN, STC 03

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PHOTOGRAPH

“Professors like me aren’t about the opportunity to be taught by a former astronaut and participate in one-on-one mentorship. research. We don’t do theory,” says Bill Todd, IM 71. His eye-popping resume in the leads practicums on leadership and healthcare conhealthcare industry includes an array of leadership sulting, which he rotates every term. Today, more roles—president and CEO of the Georgia Cancer than 75 of his former students are in medical school Coalition; founding president of the nonprofit Georor residency. gia Research Alliance, which fosters advances in Todd knows his classes are making a difference. medicine; and senior executive at Emory Hospitals, One day a former student told him a startling stonot to mention being a seven-time honoree in Georry. She had interviewed at Johns Hopkins, where she gia Trend’s “100 Most Influential” people list. wanted to go to become a doctor. The admissions Every semester since 2011, he has taught Manageofficer across the table asked her, “What was your fament in the Healthcare Sector, a seminar that gives vorite course at Georgia Tech and why?” an overview of that $3.3 trillion industry. He also When she began to describe Todd’s seminar, the

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the practice thing is working.’ My real-world knowledge of how this broken-down industry works—or doesn’t work—is helping these bright young people in interviews. It’s validation.”

Former student Maggie Kearney, BA 15, agrees.

Now a third-year student at Mercer University’s medical school, she deems Todd a “next level” instructor.

When she was a senior, she doubted whether she was “good enough” to go into healthcare. “He reminded me of my worth and ability. He finds ways to lift you up. You want to perform for him at the best of your abilities,” she says.

Donna Hyland, the president and CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, has seen this acted out every year since 2016. Serving as consultants, Todd’s students analyze pressing issues such as primary care pediatrics and make presentations in her boardroom. “Bill is like a dad sitting there,” says Hyland.

“It’s clear how much he cares about his students. We always leave with such hope for the future, seeing the kind of students that are at Georgia Tech and knowing they’ll be our future business leaders.”

W H AT I ’ V E

LEARNED

BILL TODD

Professor of the Practice in the Scheller College of Business “WAKE UP EVERY MORNING WITH A SENSE OF PURPOSE.” Motivation defines the life of Bill Todd, IM 71. His 40year career in healthcare includes several years as head of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. “What I’m doing as a professor of the practice is giving my students very practical exposure to rich, rewarding careers.”

interviewer stopped her. He put down his pen and said, “Is that that Management in the Healthcare Sector course we hear so much about?”

Todd flashes a smile and chuckles. “When I heard this, I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, this professors of

~

Like Todd, fellow Scheller College of Business Professor of the Practice Chuck Easley Jr., IM 86, uses the Socratic method, what’s commonly known as “cold calling.” Easley, a former student athlete and Rhodes Scholar finalist at Tech, learned the technique from one of his professors, Dr. Philip Adler.

“What I do is create a living laboratory,” says Easley, a former Walgreens and Lowe’s executive who shares with students his expertise in business transformation and supply-chain optimization and design. “I find the lecture approach is much less impactful. Students can get catatonic listening and just repeat back to me what I’ve said.”

A great believer in instilling in students the importance of relevance and utility, Easley says, “I’ll challenge them. I’ll ask, ‘How many of you have had an accounting class? When you make a presentation, I expect you to use what you’ve learned.’”

He muses that there is nothing like bringing home to students the importance of understanding accounting. The reason? It’s better they grasp bottom-line realities before they go into the real world.

“They live, breathe, and understand how teams and problemsolving work, and they reap the benefit of feeling fulfillment for that accomplishment,” SAYS CHUCK EASLEY JR. “If you are an executive and there’s a drop in revenue and you don’t know if you’ll be able to make payroll, then you’ll pay attention,” he says.

He puts students in groups, what he calls “weaving into them the team-building process hands-on.” For many, that can be daunting. Some groups become teams, and some remain groups. That’s an important distinction, according to Easley. Though he can teach them textbook principles of interpersonal work relationships, the students themselves must rise or fall to the challenge of collaborating with excellence.

He tells his teams he is the senior partner in their consulting firm. He often has them brainstorm how to solve a campus-related problem and apply the techniques they learn in class to solving the problem, a process that can last as long as six weeks. “They live, breathe, and understand how teams and problemsolving work, and they reap the benefit of feeling fulfillment for that accomplishment.”

Easley brings the real world to class. In March 2019 after the second mysterious crash of a 737 MAX airplane, he used that tragedy—and corporate crisis—to 48 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

W H AT I’V E

LEARNED

CHUCK EASLEY JR.

Professor of the Practice in the Scheller College of Business and Advisor with the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact “CARRY THE BATON FORWARD.” Former Walgreens and Lowe’s executive Chuck Easley Jr., IM 86, tells his business school students, “You didn’t come to Georgia Tech because it’s an average place and you want a below-average job and a below-average career. Be ready. Run your leg of the race, too.”

put students on the spot. “I came in and said, ‘Okay, I’m Boeing’s CEO. I’m on-air with MSNBC in 30 minutes. I’m on CNNfn in two hours. From a marketing standpoint, what do we need to do? Let’s take

the nine-step methodology around marketing consulting. What are the most critical things I can tell the media that Boeing needs to do?’ ” “Cold calling is rigorous. It’s tough,” agrees Todd.

About half of his engineering students have never been forced to defend a position in class. “There’s nothing to calculate,” he says. “There’s no right or wrong answer. I’m looking for your critical thinking skills and ability to analyze a situation.”

~

Someone who knows what it’s like to be put on the spot—and respond intelligently and fearlessly—is retired Admiral Sandy Winnefeld, AE 78, the former vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who teaches in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs.

Prior to serving as the nation’s second-highestranking militar y officer for four years, he commanded the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) Carrier Strike Group and NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which protects the U.S. from missile attack.

Winnefeld is no stranger to teaching. After flying the F-14 Tomcat off carrier decks, he was an instructor at TOPGUN, the Navy’s school for elite fighter pilots. “That’s where I cut my teeth on learning how to teach, because our standards were so high,” he says. To earn the honor of lecturing pilots, Winnefeld had to have his presentation critiqued by a “Murder Board,” fellow officers who spent a day tearing apart its smallest flaws.

When asked what makes a good teacher, Winnefeld has a ready answer. “First, you need to think hard about the material from the students’ perspective, how you present it, and how you inculcate in their minds a fundamental understanding of what the topic is about rather than teaching its nit-noid details. For example, if I were teaching math, I’d want to teach the why behind the math. Why is it useful?

What are its applications?

“The most important thing is to approach the subject empathetically from the students’ point of view and make it as interesting as possible, so they get energized to learn on their own. You also need to dedicate a little personal time to helping them if they’re struggling and sit down privately with them if they need help.”

LEARNED

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W H AT I’V E

ADMIRAL SANDY WINNEFELD

Distinguished Professor of the Practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and CISTP Senior Fellow “MANAGE YOUR BRAIN.” Before he was vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Winnefeld, AE 78, flew an F-14 Tomcat fighter. “Naval aviators put stress in a box and control when and where they let it out. That’s how you stay alive at the back of an aircraft carrier when you’re trying to land.”

Not surprisingly, Winnefeld holds his students to the highest standards. When he helped attorney Joseph Bankoff, another professor of the practice, teach

the class Global Issues and Leadership, they winced at students’ poor presentations. Although class members improved as the term went on, both men knew they had to drill better speaking skills into their next crop of students.

When the course was offered again, they wanted students to start from a firmer foundation, so they focused its first session on the art of giving presentations. Even then, students did not get off easy. They ultimately had to appear before their own “Murder Board,” an all-star panel that included Winnefeld, former Senator Sam Nunn, and Distinguished Professor of the Practice Gen. Philip Breedlove, CE 77, the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. “I tried to make it so students weren’t intimidated by me personally, but it had to be tough for them to stand in front of a former Senator, an Air Force general, a Navy admiral, and who knows who else Joe brought in,” Winnefeld recalls.

Winnefeld knows that writing a brilliant paper, a skill drilled into students, is only the first part of the battle once they graduate. “You’ve got to present it, too,” he says. “If you want to be successful in the policy world, you’ve got to be comfortable presenting credibly to senior people who are going to ask you tough questions, and that’s why we brought in the people we did.”

Dan Aum, a PhD student in international studies, gets a double-barreled dose of professional training.

He works as research assistant to Winnefeld, who is collaborating with Breedlove on a scholarly paper.

“Admiral Winnefeld has a four-star mind,” says Aum. “He’s not someone who pushes out orders. He’s a keen observer of people’s processes, motivations, and priorities. So, when he shares his insights, I get to see those processes through his sharp perceptions.

I get feedback from someone with his level of experience and get a sturdy sense of whether ideas will work or not in the real world.”

~

The real world is pounding architecture graduate students Will Reynolds and Chas Clark, and it is hitting them in the seats of their pants. They are riding in Toyota Land Cruisers on a bumpy dirt road from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to Kinigi, the mountain village near Volcanoes National Park where 50 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

W H AT I’V E

LEARNED

MICHAEL MURPHY

Professor of the Practice, Thomas W. Ventulett III Distinguished Chair in Architectural Design “DESIGN IS NEVER NEUTRAL. IT HELPS, AND IT HURTS.” “Design decisions have impact on lives and on places,” says Murphy, executive director of the Boston-based MASS Design Group. “It’s the architect’s responsibility to fight for and aim for design decisions that have the most positive impact they can on people’s lives.”

primatologist Dian Fossey studied endangered mountain gorillas.

They and 10 other students spent a week in March 2022 in this eastern African nation with their

PAGE 51

“This is an exercise to see what a real project might look like and then to use students’ skills to imagine this scenario,”

PHOTOGRAPH

SCOTT MARBLE

SAYS MICHAEL MURPHY.

Professor of the Practice Michael Murphy, the founder and executive director of MASS Design Group.

His Boston-based nonprofit has received acclaim for its human-centered structures that act as a kind of “living, breathing organism that can change us and change with us.”

MASS has built hospitals, research facilities, and university buildings in Rwanda. He and his students have come to the highlands to tour MASS’s buildings and to solve a problem. The park’s growing popularity has led to its expansion. Local villages must be moved, and the government has asked Murphy— and his students—to speculate on the nature of these new government-sponsored green model villages.

“This is an exercise to see what a real project might look like and then to use students’ skills to imagine this scenario,” says Murphy. This is his first semester teaching at Tech. “My students are totally amazing and just completely curious, driven, creative, and technically adept. I’ve just been incredibly impressed,” says Murphy, whose environmentally conscious work made him the focus of a recent 60 Minutes profile.

Architecture students visit construction sites in Rwanda with Professor of the Practice Michael Murphy this spring.

Clark and Reynolds get 24/7 quality time with him. When they’re not bouncing over bad roads with Murphy, they hang out together. They drink coffee at breakfast with him and they eat dinner with him, feasting on barbequed goat, pickled vegetables, stewed greens, and local Primus beer. “It’s like Southern cooking,” raves Clark, though Reynolds admits, “The banana beer took some getting used to.”

They also tour construction sites. “It’s been incredible to see Michael walk through projects he’s familiar with but hasn’t yet seen in person,” says Reynolds.

“It’s a rare time when you can see something in real life that you’ve been studying and not only that but with the person who designed it!” adds Clark.

Two things Murphy said to the class stick in Clark’s mind. One is a quote from Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”—”We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

“The other quote was brilliant,” says Clark. “He said, ‘What people hate is being told what to think.

What people love is being brought into the conversation about what’s possible,’ and I think that’s how he approaches life and architecture and design.”

~

More than a decade ago, healthcare executive Todd was “incredulous” when Tech offered him the opportunity to teach. He “jumped at it,” and it has been one of the most fulfilling things he has ever done. As past board chairman of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, he knows that as Tech has transitioned from a regional to a world-class engineering school over the past half century, some alumni have feared that undergraduate teaching has suffered.

“The concept of professors of the practice is a relief valve for that worry,” he says. “We’re not researchers.

We’re at the tail ends of our careers. I spent 20 years funding biomedical research. That was so macro.

This is quite micro. This is one student at a time, and that’s very satisfying to me.”

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

51

This contemplative statue of former Dean of Students George C. Griffin was sculpted

by Don Haugen and Teena Stern in 1994.

The statue is a physical reminder of Dean Griffin’s lasting legacy at Georgia Tech.

PHOTOGRAPH: SCOTT DINERMAN, STC 03

52 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

100 YEARS OF

GEORGIA TECH’S DEAN OF STUDENTS

A SERIES OF FACTS, TIDBITS, AND A FEW LEGENDARY STORIES ABOUT ONE OF GEORGIA TECH’S MOST BELOVED POSITIONS.

FRIEND TO STUDENTS

1

No.

In 100 years, there have been only a handful of Deans of Students at Georgia Tech. To mark the 100-year anniversary, here’s a centennial-sized list about those individuals and their service to Georgia Tech.

2

No.

Compiled by Jennifer Herseim with research assistance by the Georgia Tech Library Archives and Living History Program

After a hundred years, the purpose behind the Dean of Students at Georgia Tech remains the same: Be a person students can turn to in times of joy and celebration and in times of grief or crisis.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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#

3

No.

Floyd Field was the first Dean of Men. In June 1922, Dean Field was approached by a group of students about the need for a “Dean of Men” (women weren’t admitted to Tech until 1952). The students asked for a person they could turn to for guidance and assistance.

The position was renamed Dean of Students shortly before Field retired.

no.

4

6

During freshman orientation, Dean Field delivered the now-famous “Look to your left, look to your right” speech to incoming students.

The hard-line speech came to dominate student culture for decades.

In 1935, a fight broke out between Tech students and members of the Vanderbilt University band at a football game.Vanderbilt’s Dean of Men deno.

7 scribed a half-dozen band members as “brutally beaten.”

Upon investigation, Field attributed the fight to “promiscuous CAP-SNATCHING” engaged in by both sides, but he agreed to pay the $100 bill for property damages.

8

No.

5

Field convinced a reluctant governing board to create the Dean of Men position. He was offered the role at no additional pay and with the stipulation that he continue to head a department and teach mathematics.

9

no.

10

Dean Field helped organize the National Association of Deans and Advisors of Men, serving as the president of the organization for 1926–’27.

Students called Dean Field “Billy Goat” because of his fierceness and his distinctive goatee.

No.

#

Field’s love for traveling led him to purchase his first Ford, a run-down 1914 Ford Model T, in 1916. The car was a precursor to and inspiration for the Ramblin’ Wreck. Field drove it to work from 1916 until 1928, when it mysteriously disappeared from campus.

Dean Field was an avid traveler.

By 1946, he had toured the entire United States, except for Nevada, by car. The Technique wrote about his travels in a 1946 article that also announced his retirement in July of that year.

#

12

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11

No.

In addition to leading the Mathematics department, Dean Field was faculty advisor to Tech’s Interfraternity Council and treasurer of the Tech Athletic Association.

As faculty advisor to the Interfraternity Council, Field advocated for Greek fraternities, helping them raise their academic standing above the school average.

He also fought merchants to bring Tech’s fraternities—which in the early years were often in debt—back to financial stability. In one instance, Dull disputed a $450 bill that a fraternity owed a grocer who was known to embellish prices.

13

no.

Dean Field canceled the Old Road Race from Atlanta to Athens, citing concerns for student safety. In its place, he organized Tech’s first Ramblin’ Wreck Parade in 1932.

14

No.

The Ramblin’ Wreck Parade has three categories: Classic Cars, Fixed Bodies, and Contraptions.

no.

16

The Power of One

BY JOHN M. STEIN

#

15

George P. Burdell enrolled in his first class at Georgia Tech in 1927, only a few years after Field became Dean of Men. Burdell officially graduated in 1930, somehow avoiding Dean Field’s detection. Since Field, every Dean of Students has had run-ins with the Institute’s most infamous prankster. Burdell enrolled in every course offered at Tech in 1969, and then again in 1975 and 1980.

One of the two most frequent questions I receive in my role is: How did you become a Dean of Students? The other is what do I enjoy most about being dean.

My career was inspired by an interaction I had my senior year of college with a student life administrator. Over the years, he had observed me as an involved student leader and concluded that I would be an effective student life administrator. One day, he asked if we could have lunch and introduced me to a whole new academic field and career path. My being a dean today is a direct result of that conversation. It not only changed the course of my life, but it also made me understand the potential power of one conversation, one intervention, or one interaction. I’ve kept that in mind in my daily work with students over the past four decades. I’ve been fortunate enough both here at Georgia Tech and at other colleges where I’ve worked to have some students share with me how our conversations made a difference in their lives.

The second question—what I enjoy the most about being dean—is easy to answer. My answer has been the same for 20 years at Georgia Tech. What I enjoy most are Georgia Tech students! They are some of the brightest, most caring, engaged students I’ve met.

Their loyalty to Georgia Tech is amazing.

All in all, it’s been a great experience being at Georgia Tech and carrying on the 100year tradition and legacy of this role. My 16 years as dean here has been the highlight of my career!

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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The Deans

ONLY A HANDFUL OF INDIVIDUALS HAVE SERVED AS THE DEAN OF STUDENTS IN THE OFFICE’S 100-YEAR HISTORY AT GEORGIA TECH. no.

17

Floyd Field 1922–1946

no.

18

George Griffin 1946–1964

no.

19

James Dull 1964–1992

no.

20

Gail DiSabatino 1995–2006

no.

21

John Stein 2006–Present

22

No.

The Student Council, which would later be called the Student Government Association (SGA), was established in 1922 during Dean Field’s first year as Dean of Men. The first student body president was Herbert Hutton (ME 1925).

56 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

#

#

23

26

Georgia Tech’s football team made history in 1916 with one of the most lopsided games ever played by a college football team. Tech beat Cumberland College 222–0. As Tech’s second-string quarterback, Griffin ran for 56 yards and scored two touchdowns on four carries. He was later hired by Tech’s head football Coach William Alexander as an assistant.

In 1930, George C. Griffin became Assistant Dean of Students.

24

No.

Griffin is considered the original “Mr. Georgia Tech” and is memorialized on campus with a larger-thanlife-sized statue that sits outside the Smithgall Building, which houses the Office of the Dean of Students.

no.

25

Griffin entered Tech’s apprentice class in 1914. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and the secret ANAK society, and president of his sophomore and junior classes.

28

No.

no.

27

After serving in WWI, Griffin returned to campus to finish his degree. He graduated with his bachelor’s in Civil Engineering in 1922.

During his time as Assistant Dean of Students, Griffin created the Georgia Tech Placement Center.

He operated the service out of his own pocket without the administration’s knowledge or support.

Eventually, faculty persuaded President Brittain to add the service into Tech’s budget.

#

29

In 1946, Griffin was named Dean of Students when Field retired.

no.

30

As Tech’s track and field coach from 1921 to 1925 and 1934 to 1943, Griffin was known to scout future track stars at the Freshman Cake Race.

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No.

31

The Pi Mile Road Race started in 1973 and was named in honor of Griffin.

Griffin Trivia

#

32

What did Dean Griffin call himself for being absent-minded? a) Dean of Distraction b) Potato Brain c) Sack Brain

#

33

Who said, “Griffin, you are a great disappointment to me,” which Griffin used as the title for his 1971 book? a) Georgia Tech President Edwin Harrison b) Football Coach John Heisman c) Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr.

#

34

#

35

Griffin was Tech’s cross country coach from 1921 to 1925 and from 1931 to 1974.

During this time, how many SEC titles did his teams win? a) 15 b) 10 c) 8

#

36

Which of the following have been used to describe Griffin? a) “The best friend to all Tech Men.” b) “The most beloved person in the history of Georgia Tech.” c) “Mr. Georgia Tech” d) All of the above.

Why did the person tell Griffin that he was a “great disappointment”? a) Because he always expected Griffin to get away for a long run, but he never did. b) Because Griffin could never remember the speaker’s name. c) Because he didn’t want Griffin to retire.

Answers: C, B, A, B, D 58 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

no.

40

No.

37

In 1964, Georgia’s Governor Carl Sanders declared May 16 “Dean George Griffin Day” in recognition of Griffin’s service.

Griffin married Eugenia Johnston in 1923 and they had two sons who both graduated from Georgia Tech: Clayton Houston Griffin, EE 45, MS EE 50, and Randolph Page Griffin, Text 50. Eugenia Griffin was named an Honorary Alumna in 1964 by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.

Military Service no.

38

After WWI, Griffin remained active in the Naval Reserve and was recalled to active duty in 1940.

41

No.

Griffin started an Emergency Loan Fund, which was informally known as the “Hip Pocket Fund.” The story goes that a student came to Griffin pleading for help with only the clothes on his back. Griffin sent the student downtown to buy a complete suit of clothes.

When the student graduated, he sent $25 to Griffin to start a loan fund for other students in need. Griffin’s program allowed students to borrow money without interest. The Dean Griffin Hip Pocket Fund still exists today through Students’ Temporary Assistance and Resources (STAR) Services.

#

39

In addition to his Civil Engineering degree, Griffin earned his master’s in Industrial Management from Tech in 1957.

no.

42

During WWII, Griffin served as the commanding officer of Georgia Tech’s ROTC unit and then as the commanding officer of the 11th and 12th Beach Battalion Naval Amphibious Training Base in Fort Pierce, Fla.

#

45

In 1955, the Alumni Association recognized Griffin with a Distinguished Service Award.

Every year, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association presents the Dean Griffin Community Service Award for exemplary service to the community. no.

46

no.

no.

43

Griffin served as the executive officer of the Navy Regulating Station at Pearl Harbor.

44

Edwin Harrison met Dean Griffin years before Harrison became Georgia Tech’s sixth president when the two were placed together while serving in the Naval Reserve. Harrison remembered that Griffin would often tell stories about Georgia Tech in the military.

47

No.

While president, Harrison frequently visited Dean Griffin’s office for information about Tech. One day, he saw that Griffin was holding a match to his eyeglasses to heat and bend the plastic frames. “Well, he was talking to me at the same time,” Harrison said during a Living History interview. “He got interested in speaking to me and he set his glasses on fire!

He was trying to blow them out, but he got hot plastic melted on his hands.”

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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#

48

Dean Griffin was a natural storyteller. His wife, Eugenia Griffin, was known to accompany him on speaking engagements. When he would go off on one of his stories, she would tug at his coat and whisper, “Sit down, George.”

Due to the state’s compulsory retirement law, Griffin reluctantly retired from his position as Dean of Students in 1964. The Board of Regents named him Dean of Students Emeritus. More than 500 people showed up for Griffin’s appreciation party, including alumni from across the country. Student body president John Hayes called him “the best friend the students have at Tech. He treats everyone the same whether they are student officers or lowly first-quarter freshmen.” no.

50

52

No.

49

No.

Dean Griffin appeared on the cover of the Georgia Tech Alumnus the year he retired. Among many stories shared about Griffin in the issue, the editor, Robert B. Wallace Jr., wrote: “He has the physical stamina of two men half his age and the moral fiber of 100 men of any age. But he drives an automobile like a man whose senses have long departed him.”

55

#

no.

56

Dull started a student advisory committee for President Harrison.

The student committee met with the president monthly.

no.

51

#

James “Jim” Dull accepted the job as Associate Dean of Students in 1957. He was promoted to Dean of Students when Griffin retired in 1964.

54

No.

53

In 1959, Harrison put Dull in charge of preparing for Tech’s racial integration. Dull spoke to student organizations and prepared emergency plans ahead of the first Black students enrolling at Tech in 1961. In an interview with Living History, Harrison said Dull prepared a statement for the student body that made it clear “if they misbehaved or did anything to embarrass the institution or the new students, they would be expelled from the institution forever, never to return.”

When Dull joined Tech, there were only 11 female students in the student body of 5,200. By 1985, there were 2,366 female students at Tech.

Dull and his wife, Gay (Kimbrough) Dull, moved into an apartment in Towers Dormitory.

When he was promoted to Dean of Students, they moved into a house at the corner of Fifth and Atlantic on campus. They lived there with an open-door policy for the next 30 years.

Knowing how important the Ramblin’ Reck Club is to school spirit, Dull became the club’s advisor and helped restore its reputation with the administration. During that time, the club also started the Block T section and reorganized how cheerleaders were selected.

60 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

57

No.

Gay Dull was named an Honorary Alumna by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association in 1991. She served as treasurer for the Alpha Xi Delta Building Corporation for 40 years with Tech alumna Shirley Clements Mewborn, EE 56, as president. When Alpha Xi built a new sorority house on campus, it was named after Mewborn and Mrs. Dull.

no.

59

Dull had asked Bobby Dodd at the Athletic Association to purchase the vintage car from Johnston. In 1984, Johnson returned the money to the AlexanderTharpe Fund so that the car would be an official donation to Tech.

#

58

60

No.

Around 1959, Dull decided Tech needed a “Ramblin’ Wreck.” He went searching for a vintage car, even placing ads for vintage cars in the paper. One day, as he was returning from a football game, he saw a 1930 Cabriolet Ford painted white and gold parked next to his building. He put a note on the car asking the owner to contact him. A few days went by before he had a knock at his door. The owner, Capt.

Ted Johnson, told him that he and his son had refinished the vintage car and that it wasn’t for sale. Dull told Johnson that this car had to be the official Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech. Johnson refused, but Dull kept at him until finally, months later, he relented and sold the car for $1,000. “That was nothing compared to the worth of that car at the time,” Dull said.

no.

Pete George, IE 44, became the plant manager of the Ford Motor Company plant in Hapeville, Ga., in 1973. He agreed to take care of the Ramblin’ Wreck for as long as he was with the company. The car underwent several major restorations over the years.

61

Dull helped revamp freshman orientation.

In 1971, the program developed into FASET, a way to acclimate new undergraduate students to Georgia Tech.

Thousands of incoming first-year, transfer, and exchange students and their parents continue to participate in FASET each year.

#

62

Dull helped the honor society Omicron Delta Kappa raise funds for a new student center. The Fred B. Wenn Student Center opened in 1970.

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100 Y E A R S O F G E O R G I A T E C H ’ S D E A N O F S T U D E N T S

No.

63

Dull approved the Reckettes, Tech’s first dance team, and coached the group for several years.

no.

64

Tech’s mascot Buzz debuted in 1980, played

by Richie Bland.

Bland sketched the original costume on a napkin.

Soon after being elected SGA President, Carey Brown, IE 69, met with Dean Dull to discuss the greatest needs on campus.

Dull showed Brown reports on the lack of student athletic facilities at Tech. Over the next 10 years, Brown worked closely with Dull and others on the Student Athletic Complex 70 (SAC-70).

68

Dull oversaw an era of major growth on campus outlined by a long-range plan developed in 1964. By his retirement in 1991, the Student Center, Student Athletic Complex, and Student Services Building were complete. no.

#

#

70

69

No.

Dull was a strong advocate for the arts and theatre. He and his wife attended their first DramaTech performance in 1957. The Dulls attended almost every performance after that.

When DiSabatino became dean, a group No. of female students arranged a meeting to ask her: “What are you going to do for women on this campus?”

Those early conversations led to several new programs for women at Tech.

73

65

no.

71

No.

After church on Sundays, Dull would often bail students out of jail. In a Living History interview from 1996, Dull said, “My own children equated going to church with going to jail because we’d go after church to bring someone home.”

67

Dull helped DramaTech move into space at the back of the Ferst Center for the Arts in 1992. In honor of his support, the Dean James E. Dull Theatre was named after him in 1994. During opening night, the organization gave Dull and his wife a gold-plated ticket to attend future productions.

Dull played Buzz once during a pep rally.

66

#

Gail DiSabatino became Georgia Tech’s Dean of Students in 1995.

72

No.

Unaware at the time of Tech’s colors, DiSabatino wore a yellow jacket to her interview.

62 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

#

74

DiSabatino was nervous about meeting Shirley Mewborn, one of the first women to graduate from Tech. “She was an icon,” DiSabatino remembers.

In 1998, the first Women’s Leadership Conference was held at Tech. More than 270 alumni, faculty, staff, and students attended that first conference.

75

no.

76

no.

Women’s Resource Center

After the success of the Women’s Leadership Conference and many years of conversations, Tech’s Women’s Resource Center opened in the spring quarter of 1998. Some of those involved in its creation include DiSabatino, Associate Dean of Students Stephanie Ray, Student Affairs Vice President Lee Wilcox, and students Jennifer Orr and Vicky Pickens. Yvette Upton was named the first Director of the center and Assistant Dean of Students in 2002. The center continues to provide resources and support, as well as academic programming.

#

77

DiSabatino helped create a sexual 7assault hotline that students could call for assistance and support.

80

No.

Many alumni can trace their leadership philosophies back to experiences at Tech. For Bert Reeves, Mgt 00, one of those was working with the dean to reform Tech’s alcohol policies. “Give people a chance to lead. That all goes back to the trust Dean Gail gave me,” Reeves says.

In 1995, Andre Dickens, ChE 98, was president of the African-American Student Union at Tech. When the verdict was announced in the O.J. Simpson trial, Dickens had a conversation with DiSabatino about discussions happening on campus. As a result, the two organized a forum for students to talk about the verdict. At the forum, students also addressed race and diversity at Tech. no.

No.

78

After several alcohol-related deaths in the late ’90s on other college campuses, Tech held an alcohol summit with alumni, faculty, staff, students, and community members to discuss binge drinking.

Bert Reeves, Mgt no.79 00, was president of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) when the Dean’s office tasked the IFC with implementing a new alcohol policy. DiSabatino gave Reeves the chance to create a better policy. The IFC spent the next six months developing a new one. “It worked and it was because Dean Gail extended us the courtesy and trust to solve this problem,” he says.

#

82

81

The Office of Diversity was founded by the Student Affairs Department.

In 1997, Stephanie Ray joined Tech as the inaugural Associate Dean and Director of Diversity Programs. Working with DiSabatino, Ray was instrumental in launching diversity initiatives at Tech.

No.

83

DiSabatino helped create Ramblin’ Nights, an alcohol-free party held the night before home football games. In 2001, campus groups created “When The Whistle Blows” to honor the memory of enrolled students and employees who had died during the previous year. In 2005, the Tyler Brown Pi Mile Running Course was named in honor of 1st Lt. Tyler Brown, Mgt 01, who was killed in combat in Iraq in 2004.

If a student was in the hospital, Dean DiSabatino or one of her staff went 84 to the hospital. At the time, changes to federal privacy laws eased some restrictions on schools notifying parents in emergencies. “If I was a parent and my child was in the hospital, I can’t imagine how it would feel if a school didn’t let me know,” DiSabatino says. “People felt that parents should be kept at a distance, but I felt very differently.” no.

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#

85

When Georgia Tech Basketball made it to the Final Four in 2004, DiSabatino traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to see Tech play in the championship game.

#

86

88

Dean Stein attends SGA weekly meetings every Tuesday—a longstanding practice of the Dean of Students. “It’s amazing to see the growth in students over the years,” Stein says. “You see them from the beginning all the way up to when they graduate as mature and confident adults ready to take on anything. For those of us doing this work, it’s a proud moment.”

No.

“This role has always been highly respected by the institution,” says DiSabatino.

“I attribute that to my predecessors, and it’s great to see that John [Stein] has continued that tradition.

At Tech, the position is about care and concern.

You did discipline, of course, but you did it from a whole different perspective.”

no.

87

John Stein became the Dean of Students in 2006, after serving as director of Success Programs from 2002 to 2006. He is assistant vice president for Student Engagement & Well-being and Brandt-Fritz Dean of Students Chair.

no.

89

Stein is an avid runner.

He’s completed 46 half-marathons.

No.

91

When a student group organized a “flash mob” in the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, Stein joined in, dancing down the staircase.

#

92

Student life activities have expanded under Dean Stein to include 56 Greek organizations, 13 honor societies, and more than 400 student organizations. Being a good sport and advocate for student groups, Dean Stein has been hit in the face with a pie and submerged in a dunk tank—all to help student organizations raise funds.

No.

90

The Office of the Dean of Students is housed in the Charles A. Smithgall Jr. Student Services Building, often referred to as the “flag building” because it displays flags representing the countries of international students.

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no.

93

Part of negotiations when Stein was offered his current role was that he could continue teaching GT 1000, a course that supports first-year students’ transition to Georgia Tech. Stein has taught the course for 20 years.

In Times of Grief and Crisis It could be 3 a.m. in a hospital or mid-day in a living room with a grieving parent.

When the Georgia Tech community experiences a tragedy, the Dean of Students is often the first to respond. At the heart of campus life, the Dean’s office plays a central role in helping the community heal in times of grief and crisis.

Dennis Gast, BA 14, met Dean Stein in his third year as a Tech student after losing an immediate family member and taking time away from school. Gast wasn’t expecting Dean Stein to request a meeting with him a few days after he started back at Tech to check on him. “In a vacuum, Tech is already academically rigorous, so when you get thrown a curveball of either loss or another crisis, things can get very overwhelming,” Gast says. “Knowing that there was someone in the Tech hierarchy that recognized my loss, I think that did more to help me adjust and pick myself back up, than even I recognized at the time. Looking back, it was certainly powerful.”

Later, Gast was part of a student organization that lost a student member, and Dean Stein stepped in again to offer resources and support to the group. “He never shied away from loss. He always stepped in to make sure the whole group knew that they had support,” Gast says.

No.

#

95

97

94

No.

The Dean’s office is where students with a physical or mental health issue can request academic relief and support. While protecting student privacy and confidentiality, Dean Stein also provides strategies to faculty and staff on supporting a student.

There is a 24/7 “Dean on Call” ready to assist students in need.

no.

#

96

While at Tech, Dennis Gast, BA 14, came to Dean Stein with an idea to help students experiencing grief. Stein helped Gast create “Dear Yellow Jacket,” a walletsized card that the Dean’s office could give students experiencing grief that told them they weren’t alone.

98

In August of 2019, the Center for Assessment, Referral, and Education (CARE) opened on campus to help streamline the process of students seeking mental-health resources and services.

no.

99

A hundred years from now, what will the Dean of Students position look like? “My wish is that we hold onto the essence of this role. Even a hundred years later, it still matters to have a person and office that serves as a friend of the students, where students know they can always go to seek guidance and counsel.” –Dean Stein.

100

No.

The celebration continues: Know your Deans of Students? Take our “Dean’s Quiz” on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram on August 31.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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VOLUME 98

ALUMNI HOUSE

ISSUE 2

PHOTOGRAPH

SCOTT DINERMAN, STC 03

GET INTO THE SWING OF THINGS The Georgia Tech Alumni Association hosted its second annual Golf Tournament June 6 at East Lake Golf Club. The club was the home course of legendary golfer and Tech alumnus Bobby Jones.

68

MEET THE BOARD

70

BUZZ BASH RETURNS

72

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

74

A LASTING LEGACY

76

RAMBLIN’ ON REVELRY AT BOBBY DODD

78

RAMBLIN’ ROLL

84

IN MEMORIAM

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

67

ALUMNI HOUSE

The Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees met at the Barnsley Resort in Adairsville, Ga., for its annual retreat this May.

MEET THE BOARD

WELCOME YOUR NEW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION LEADERS AND TRUSTEES.

LEARN ABOUT the Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s new Executive Committee and inductees to the Alumni Association’s Board of Trustees for fiscal year 2023.

These dedicated volunteers demonstrate a high level of

service and support of Georgia Tech and the Alumni Association, as well as engagement in their professional activities and communities. Trustees are elected to serve staggered, three-year terms.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MAGD RIAD I E 01, C H A I R

President of Marmi Natural Stone >> Atlanta

68 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

SHAN PESARU

C m p E 0 5 , PA S T C H A I R , VICE CHAIR OF FINANCE

CEO and owner of Sharp Hue

>> Atlanta

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE NEW ASSOCIATION TRUSTEES LATANZA ADJEI, IE 98, is vice president of Corporate Services at Georgia Power Company and lives in Atlanta.

SYBRINA ATWATERS, EE 94, MS HSTS 09, PHD HSTS 14,

TOMMY HERRINGTON IM 82, VICE CHAIR

Project Executive with Gay Construction Company

>> Atlanta Herrington will become chair of

BETSY BULAT TURNER I A M L 0 4 , C H A I R - E L E C T, VICE CHAIR OF ROLL CALL

Partner of Martenson, Hasbrouck & Simon LLP

>> Atlanta

the Alumni Association in fiscal year 2025.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AT-LARGE MEMBERS

is director of the Office of Minority Educational Development (OMED) at Georgia Tech and lives in Atlanta.

MICHAEL BOGACHEK, IE 00, is COO of VativoRx and lives in Bal Harbour, Fla.

JASMINE BURTON, ID 14, is founder, CEO & executive director of Wish for WASH and lives in Dunwoody, Ga. AURÉLIEN COTTET, MS AE 03, is international sales director at INSTANT System and lives in Vaucresson, France. Cottet was nominated and is invited to serve a second term.

JOY JORDAN, CHE 92, is an innovation leader at Kimberly-Clark and lives in Alpharetta, Ga. Jordan was nominated and is invited to serve a second term.

ANNIE I. ANTÓN ICS 90, M S I C S 9 2 , P h D C S 97

Professor and former chair of Tech’s School of Interactive Computing >> Atlanta Antón will serve the second year of her two-year term through fiscal year 2022.

B R I A N T YS O N E E 10 Manager of Clean Energy Planning & Implementation at Puget Sound Energy >> Seattle, Wash.

Tyson will serve the second year of his two-year term through fiscal year 2022.

RANDY MCDOW, IE 95, MS PP 03, is executive director of the Stamps Scholars Program and lives in Atlanta.

MEREDITH MOOT, MGT 08, is senior client partner at Korn Ferry International and lives in Atlanta.

JACQUELYN RENEE SCHNEIDER, BC 06, MBA 18, is a senior manager at Jabian Consulting and lives in Brookhaven, Ga. COURTNEY SMITH, MGT 00, is president of Midtown Neighbors’ Association and lives in Atlanta.

J.R. SPRIGGLE, ME 02, is vice president of Global Operations & Sustainability for ABB’s Power Conversion division and lives in Dallas, Texas.

J A S O N BYA R S M E 9 6

A M Y R I C H M B A 12

Vice president at MAS

Area director with Chick-fil-A

Energy LLC >> Atlanta

>> Fayetteville, Ga.

Byars will join the Executive

Rich will join the Executive Com-

Committee for a two-year term as

mittee for a two-year term as an

an At-Large member.

A t -Large member.

MOE TREBUCHON, IE 86, is the Edenfield executive in residence in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, retired from IBM and PwC Consulting, and lives in Atlanta.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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ALUMNI HOUSE

4 REASONS BUZZ BASH 2022 WILL BE EPIC THROW IT BACK to the early “aughts” at Buzz Bash, an all-alumni Homecoming celebration that had its heyday in the early 2000s and is making a comeback this year.

In honor of its much-anticipated return, we’ve pulled together a list of why it’s the place to be at Homecoming 2022, written in a way that might sound familiar to Yellow Jackets from the Y2K era.

Need a refresher on your early 21st Century lingo? Check the key to decode.

1. IT’S BACK AFTER A 10-YEAR HIATUS First thrown in 2000, for more than 10 years Buzz Bash was a celebration of Tech’s heritage where alumni could “party like it’s 1999.”

You’re not trippin’, Buzz Bash has been over like Brangelina for a decade, but it’s making an epic return for Homecoming 2022. It’s a new spin on a classic Tech tradition, and trust us, you don’t want to be stuck with FOMO.

2. SHAWTY’S GOT THE JUNIOR’S HOOKUP Our hips don’t lie; we have our hands on Junior’s coveted French toast 70 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

recipe. Maybe we’ll serve it. Maybe you’ll go home with the recipe. Maybe the taste will have you “coming out of your cage and doing just fine, gotta, gotta be down because you want it all…”

3. SINCE U BEEN GONE (WE’VE MISSED YOU) Grab your Myspace Top 8 from your Tech days and reminisce on T9 text shorthand with a blast from Yellow Jacket past.

It won’t look the same as the Homecoming party you went to in 2008, but you can be sure the atmosphere will still be “crunk.”

4. SWAG “Hey hey, you you, I don’t like your T-shirt. Hey hey, you you, I think you need a new one.” –Buzz, probably.

Need we say more?

Sure, we could go on about why you should be at Buzz Bash, but we think you get the picture. Buzz Bash is taking over Tech’s newest venue, the Exhibition Hall, on October 7 for Homecoming 2022. Registration opens in August. C U There?

BY MATT SOWELL

K EY BRANGELINA – the early 2000s celebrity super couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

FOMO – Fear of Missing Out.

“HIPS DON’T LIE” Shakira’s 2006 hit song.

“COMING OUT OF YOUR CAGE...”

– lyrics from the 2004 anthem, Mr. Brightside, by The Killers

“SINCE U BEEN GONE” Kelly

Clarkson’s 2004 hit.

MYSPACE TOP 8 – the eight people Myspace users ranked as their best friends on their profile.

T9 TEXT SHORTHAND – in Text on 9 keys, acronyms that were used for longer words during the flip phone era.

CRUNK – a state of euphoria typically associated with partying.

“HEY HEY, YOU YOU...”

a variation on the chorus of Avril Levine’s 2004 punk song, Girlfriend.

C U THERE – an example of T9 text shorthand.

An all-alumni Homecoming party in the Exhibition Hall, Tech’s newest event venue.

Friday, October 7, 2022 6 – 10 p.m.

Planning a reunion of your student group or best Tech friends? Contact us about reserving a designated meet-up area at Buzz Bash! events@gtalumni.org

Registration opens in August.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Ginger Amoni was chosen by her colleagues for the 2022 Golden Teammate Award in recognition of her service and commitment to the organization’s values.

A GOLDEN TEAMMATE

MEET GINGER AMONI, DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES.

BY JENNIFER HERSEIM

AT T H E A L U M N I H O U S E , we take care of alumni, and Ginger Amoni takes care of us. As director of Administrative Services, she handles everything from check processing to daily accounting to office supply procurement. She also leads the Alumni Association’s social committees, which organize staff outings and celebrations for birthdays, 72 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

engagements, retirements, and more. Through her work, she ensures that every employee—whether on the job a day or a decade—feels welcome. Earlier this year, she celebrated 25 years at the Alumni Association, and she was chosen by staff as the recipient of this year’s Golden Teammate Award for living out the organization’s values.

Q: HOW DID YOU JOIN THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION? At the time, I was doing part-time work as a sales rep. One day, I was cooking, and there was an ad in one of those weekly flyer newspapers. I saw it, and said, “Oh, that sounds like fun.”

I interviewed, and I really wanted the job. I thought it sounded great—and it was. Allison Hickman (vice president of Administration) hired me, and we still work together, 25 years later.

PHOTOGRAPHS

SCOTT DINERMAN, STC 03

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE EVENTS THAT YOU’VE ORGANIZED WITH THE SOCIAL COMMITTEES? The Halloween party is usually wonderful. We haven’t had it in recent years because of the pandemic, and Homecoming falling on the same weekend, but normally, everyone would participate and dress up in costume. We also had a superlatives event once, which was fun. We’ve had some great staff outings, too. One year, we went to a rainforest in Georgia. Of course, it poured rain on us. Everyone got drenched, except for one woman who used to work here who always had perfectly coifed hair. She somehow came prepared with an umbrella,

so she was the only one who didn’t look like a drowned rat.

Q: SPEAKING OF UNEXPECTED EVENTS, TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU HOSTED A TRAVEL TOUR TO EGYPT FOR ALUMNI IN MARCH 2020?

We were about midway through the trip when the news started coming out about Covid. We were on a ship going down the Nile and we stopped for an excursion on land to view ruins in the area. A big sandstorm comes in that’s so bad that our flight gets canceled.

The tour director was unbelievable.

He somehow got all our luggage off the plane and put us on a tour bus to drive back to Luxor, a city in Egypt. Driving back on the bus, you couldn’t see but maybe three feet in front of you because the sandstorm was so bad. We stopped for a restroom break, and I remember going into the bathroom and it looked like the toilet seat was moving because it was covered with sand.

Miraculously, we get back to the town safely and we’re heading to Cairo to fly home, but flights are starting to get canceled because of Covid. The U.S. had closed its borders. Next thing you know, the electricity grid goes down

GETTING TO KNOW

GINGER AMONI HOMETOWN: New Orleans, La.

HIGHER EDUCATION: History degree from the University of Kentucky and an MBA from the University of New Orleans

FAMILY MEMBERS WHO WENT TO GEORGIA TECH: One of her three brothers, David Haddow, M CP 79, graduated from Tech.

YEARS AT THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: 25

FAVORITE PART OF HER JOB: The people.

in Cairo, so there’s no electricity and no flights out. At that point, one of the other passengers says, “All we need now are the locusts, and then we’ve had it all!” But it all got straightened out and everyone returned to the U.S. safely, and none of us got Covid.

Q: WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING OUTSIDE OF WORK? I play tennis in an Atlanta tennis league. I play doubles and have been playing with the same group for many years. In our group, we’ve been together so long that we’ve watched each other’s children grow up.

I also enjoy reading, gardening, traveling, and spending time with my family. My husband, David, and I have two children and five grandkids.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO BEING CHOSEN FOR THE GOLDEN TEAMMATE AWARD? I was surprised! It felt amazing though.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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ALUMNI HOUSE

Members of the Georgia Tech ROTC at the rededication ceremony for the Tyler Brown Pi Mile.

Alumni and Tyler Brown’s family (below) at the start of the running path.

A L ASTING LEGACY WHAT BEGAN 17 YEARS AGO AS A WAY TO HONOR THE IMPACT OF TYLER BROWN HAS GROWN INTO A CHERISHED PART OF CAMPUS.

BY MATT SOWELL O N A P R I L 2 8 , the Georgia Tech Alumni Association hosted a rededication of the Tyler Brown Pi Mile, a treasured running path that provides students with a safe route to jog through Tech’s scenic campus.

“Over my last four years here, the Tyler Brown Pi Mile has been more than just a route that I’ve run regularly,” said Army Cadet Association President Zach McGee, CS 22, at the rededication. “It represents Tyler’s mission to implement a safe, well-lit running path on campus and his mission to selflessly serve members of this campus and citizens of this country.”

74 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

First conceptualized in 2000 by Lt. Tyler Hall Brown, Mgt 03, HTS 03, the Pi Mile was inspired by Brown’s daily morning runs with the ROTC. He visualized a trail that would allow more students to be involved on the Tech campus in a safe manner. Using his platform as president of the Student Government Association, Brown laid the groundwork to make his vision a reality.

Brown was killed in Iraq on active duty in 2004, and to honor his legacy, the Pi Mile was dedicated to him the following year.

Since then, the route has been

improved to better fit the campus as it evolved over the 17 years since the first iteration of the trail. Beginning and ending at the Campus Recreation Center, the redesigned path includes sturdy granite inlay markers, vertical signs to signal key entry points, and mile markers—all with the goal of increasing the visibility of the trail.

Tyler’s brother, Brent Brown, Mgt 96, said, “The fact that the Pi Mile trail continues to evolve 17 years later tells our family two things: Tyler had a huge impact while he was on campus, and the simple idea of the Pi Mile trail has transformed into something great for all Georgia Tech. We can’t wait to see what happens over the next 17 years.”

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ALUMNI HOUSE

RAMBLIN’ ON REVELRY AT BOBBY DODD THE CLASS OF 2022 CELEBRATES SUCCESS IN WHITE & GOLD.

BY MATT SOWELL

F I R E W O R K S illuminated a crowded Bobby Dodd Stadium in April as the Class of 2022 celebrated graduation at the Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s beloved event, Ramblin’ On. The annual bash serves as a warm welcome for the newest class of Yellow Jackets to the close-knit community of Georgia Tech alumni.

With Chick-fil-A and refreshments provided by the Alumni Association, students were invited to enjoy a treat in the stands overlooking the Atlanta skyline.

O n h istor i c Gr ant F i el d b e low, they had the opportunity to 76 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

take pictures with the Ramblin’ Wreck, Buzz, and a variety of Techinspired displays.

By using the hashtag #RamblinOn22, grads could post a selfie and message that was displayed on the scoreboard above the field. Congratulatory messages and well wishes flooded in—as well as one potential engagement proposal, which fueled much “will-they-won’t-they” speculation (congrats to Lily and Nic if it happened!).

After a brief speech from Alumni Association President Dene Sheheane, Mgt 91, to congratulate

Fireworks light up the Atlanta skyline in celebration of the newest Yellow Jackets to join the Georgia Tech alumni family.

students on their hard work at Tech, fireworks provided a spectacular sendoff and brought their time on campus to a magnificent close.

New this year, students could enter a sweepstakes at Ramblin’ On for the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime photo shoot at the top of Tech Tower.

Out of thousands of entries, Julia Leftwich, Arch 22, was the lucky winner.

On the Monday following the celebration, Leftwich climbed to the top of the famed tower and posed between the neon letters, where her photo was taken by a hovering drone.

The Alumni Association congratulates the Class of 2022 on all their accomplishments and welcomes them to the alumni family. Go Jackets!

PEOPLE WILL HOLD

AN AVERAGE OF

12 JOBS

OVER THEIR *

We offer programs, both online and on-site, in high-demand subject areas to help working professionals keep pace with ever-changing market forces and business demands.

Computing and Cybersecurity Data Science & Analytics Defense Engineering FinTech Language, Culture & Communications Management and Leadership Occupational, Safety, & Health Personal Development Supply Chain Logistics For more information scan or visit pe.gatech.edu/skills. *National Longitudinal Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

RAMBLIN’ ROLL

CL ASS NOTES & ALUMNI UPDATES

David Pham, ME 94, and an Afghan child during his service there.

The Afghan officer who contacted Pham was considered “at risk,” a target of the Taliban fighters seeking revenge because of his connection to the military.

Pham advised him to go into hiding until the group could evacuate him.

Pham’s group made maps of routes that Afghan allies, including families, could take to sneak past Taliban checkpoints and reach the Abbey Gate at the airport in Kabul, where U.S. Marines were stationed and letting allies through.

“We were able to sneak him in at night,” Pham says. “He left with his mother and six of his family members.”

During that month, on August 26, a suicide bomb was detonated at Abbey Gate, killing 13 service members and at least 169 civilians. Pham and his group continued to evacuate more Afghan allies before the last U.S. plane left Kabul four days later. Pham is now working to raise money to support the evacuees as they resettle in the U.S.

AFGHAN RESCUE MISSION

“The only reason I am here is be-

“I’M IN DANGER. DO YOU KNOW ANYONE AT THE AIRPORT?”

contractors in Afghanistan. I called

cause of the kind Americans who

everybody,” says Pham, a reservist Ma-

helped my mom,” Pham says. “It

The Facebook message came from an

rine Corps major who earned awards

took a lot of people to save these ref-

Afghan officer who served with David

for valor and a Purple Heart during his

ugees,” he adds. “I love the Afghan

Pham, ME 94, in 2012.

active service.

people. They are good people who

Pham, whose mother escaped Viet-

As Afghanistan began falling to the

nam as one of the “boat people” six

Taliban in late August of 2021, Pham

years after the fall of Saigon, felt a pull.

joined a coalition of veterans and others

This story originally ran in the Univ. of

working to evacuate thousands of peo-

San Francisco Magazine. Pham holds a

ple from the country.

master’s in Public Leadership from USF.

“I called everyone I knew—senators who I have built relationships with,

78 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

wa n t t o l i ve i n p e a c e .” — M A RY McINERNEY

CLASS NOTES JIM BORDERS, ME 83, was recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as a visionary honoree at the Best in Real Estate Awards this April.

DR. JOY BUOL AMWINI, CS 12, was named to the 2022 class of Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. Buolamwini is the founder and executive director of the Algorithmic Justice League.

JORGE COLÓN , ARC H 95, has been promoted to associate principal at CO Architects of Los Angeles, Calif.

MELODY DeBUSSEY, PP 06, has been named deputy commissioner of the Office of Family Independence in the Georgia Department of Human Services. In this role, DeBussey will help oversee 2,600 employees working in Georgia’s eligibility system for Medicaid, SNAP assistance, and other social safety net services. In 2018, DeBussey received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy.

IM ER DeCARRERA , MGT 03, was recently named a “2022 Pros to Know” recipient by Supply & Demand Chain Executive. The award is given to professionals who pave the way for other leaders working to leverage supply chain for competitive advantage. Currently, DeCarrera serves as the chief financial and legal officer of Elite Transit Solutions, a company that works to improve the freight management logistics industry.

ATWATERS RECEIVES DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD S Y B R I N A AT W AT E R S , E E 9 4 , M S H S T S 0 9 , P H D H S T S 1 4 , received the 2022

which is OMED’s five-week summer ac-

Distinguished Alumni Award from the

and Edge, which is a peer mentor and

Georgia Tech School of History and

student development program. In the

Sociology. Atwaters is the director of

last two years, she’s been instrumental in

OMED: Educational Services at Geor-

launching three new initiatives focused

gia Tech. As director, she oversees

on advancing equity and expanding ac-

several programs and grant initiatives,

cess. A Triple Jacket, she also joins the

including Tech’s award-winning African

Georgia Tech Alumni Association board

American Male Initiative; Challenge,

of trustees this year.

ademic intensive residential program;

YELLOW JACKETS NAMED TO PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE ON MARCH 23, Dr. Valerie Montgom-

woman to hold this position.

ery Rice, Chem 83, and Rafael L. Bras

In 2020, she received the Georgia

were appointed as members of the

Tech Alumni Association’s Dean Griffin

President’s Committee on the National

Community Service Award.

Medal of Science. The two will evaluate

Bras currently serves as a professor in

nominees for the National Medal of Sci-

both the School of Civil and Environmen-

ence, which recognizes extraordinary

tal Engineering and the School of Earth

contributors to the scientific field.

and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia

Dr. Montgomer y Rice is the cur-

Tech.

rent president and CEO of Morehouse

He holds the Harrison J. Brown Family

School of Medicine, and she is the first

Chair and has served as the provost and executive vice president of Academic Affairs at Tech.

WANT TO SHARE YOUR NEWS?

B ra s wa s n a m e d a n h o n o ra r y

You can submit your personal news, birth and wedding announcements (with photos!),

alumnus by the Georgia Tech Alumni

and out-and-about snapshots online at gtalumni.org/life.

Association at the 2022 Gold & White Honors Gala.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

79

RAMBLIN ROLL C O L B E R T N A M E D P R E S I D E N T, C E O O F B O E I N G ’ S D E F E N S E , S PA C E A N D S E C U R I T Y B U S I N E S S TED COLBERT, IE 96, was named president and CEO of The Boeing Company’s

government, space, intelligence, and security customers.

Defense, Space and Security Business

This year, Colbert also received

(BDS). In this role, Colbert will oversee

the Black Engineer of the Year award

all aspects of the company’s business

from The Black Engineer of the Year

unit, which saw revenue of $26 billion

Awards (BEYA). Colbert served two

in 2021 and which provides technolo-

terms on the Georgia Tech President’s

gy, products, and solutions for defense,

Advisory Board.

CLASS NOTES MATT DUBNIK, MGT 03, was named Young Man of the Year by the Gainesville (Ga.) Jaycees. He represents District 29 in the Georgia House of Representatives and serves as CEO of Forum Communications.

He is a trustee of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.

ALUMNUS-OWNED NONPROFIT FEATURED O N T H E K E L LY CL ARKSON SHOW

LUCY GILSON , MS MGT 93, PHD MGT 00, has been appointed dean of the Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire.

B R A N D O N M I L L E R , B M E 1 4 , cofounder

AC AR RE OR, MS AE 04, P D AE 07, has been appointed president and CEO of Stratolaunch, LLC. Prior to this role, Krevor served as the company’s president and COO.

of the Too Fly Foundation, was recently a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show along with his cofounder Bola Ibidapo.

The Too Fly Foundation is a Texas-based nonprofit that provides passports, travel grants, and educational experiences for

Perry donated a combined $100,000 to

youth in under-resourced communities.

the Too Fly Foundation to help change

After sharing their story, H-E-B and Tyler

the lives of students nationwide.

J A C O B S J O I N S C A L S TA T E E A S T B A Y L E A D E R S H I P Academic Affairs at Cal State East Bay. Jacobs has served as the dean of the College of Social Sciences at San José State University since 2015. Prior to his arrival in California, he was the founding dean of the College of Social Sciences and Professional Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside.

Earlier, Jacobs was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities for 14 years, including five years as chair of

WALT JACOBS, EE 90, accepted the position of provost and vice president for

the department of African American & African Studies.

80 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

RONG PAN , MS CS 17, recently launched AI for Ainnocence, a drug discovery company. This marks the achievement of the dream she once described in her graduate school application to Georgia Tech years ago.

KATHY PHAM, CS 07, MS CS 09, has been appointed the deputy chief technology officer for product and engineering at the United States Federal Trade Commission. Prior to this role, Pham worked as a senior advisor with Mozilla.

E TOMASO IC, C E 21, was recently accepted to the combined MD-PhD program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He plans to pursue his PhD in biomedical engineering, and as a future physician-scientist, he hopes to develop protein-based therapeutics that target cancer metastasis.

Y E L L O W J A C K E T S N A M E D T O L E A D E R S H I P A T L A N TA C L A S S O F 2 0 2 3 FOUR GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI, one staff

Stewart, Cls 91, Owner, Xana Manage-

named to this year’s class are Shan Aro-

member, and a member of the Georgia

ment LLC; Carl Hanna, ME 01, MS ME

ra, director of The Kendeda Building

Tech President’s Advisory Board were

04, PhD ME 07, CEO/Co-Founder, Evva

for Innovative Sustainable Design, and

named to Leadership Atlanta’s Class of

Health; Jon Keen, IE 05, Head of Busi-

Sarah Brown, Trustee of The John and

2023. The new members will participate

ness Development, Treaty Oak Clean

Rosemary Brown Family Foundation

in a nine-month, executive-level pro-

Energy; and Michael Lan, BME 04, Ex-

and a member of the Georgia Tech Ad-

gram. Alumni in the class include: Jeb

ecutive Director, Jabian Consulting. Also

visory Board.

FA C U LT Y M E M B E R , A L U M N U S S E R V E O N I N A U G U R A L C L I M A T E S E C U R I T Y R O U N D TA B L E S U S A N L O Z I E R , Dean and Betsy Mid-

National Academies.

dleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair

Morris is a professor of Chemistry

of the College of Sciences at Geor-

and Environmental Sciences and the

gia Tech, and Vernon R. Morris, PhD

director of the School of Mathemati-

GeoS 91, will serve on the inaugural

cal and Natural Sciences in the New

Climate Security Roundtable, a joint ini-

College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sci-

tiative across the U.S. Congress and the

ences at Arizona State University.

WINNEFELD NAMED CHAIR OF PRESIDENT’S INTELLIGENCE A D V I S O RY B OA R D ADM. JAMES A. “SANDY” WINNEFELD, AE 78, was named chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. The board, which includes up to 16 members, advises the President on the effectiveness of the Intelligence Community in meeting the nation’s intelligence needs and the

Adm. Winnefeld is a Distinguished

senior fellow in the School’s Center for

vigor and insight with which the commu-

Professor in Georgia Tech’s Sam Nunn

International Strategy, Technology and

nity plans for the future.

School of International Affairs and a

Policy.

NICHOLS PROMOTED TO USAF COLONEL AFTER NEARLY 22 YEARS of service as

participant of the Air Force ROTC’s De-

a civil engineer officer, George Nichols,

tachment 165. He is currently chief of the

CE 00, was promoted to colonel in the

Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Stra-

U.S. Air Force during a pinning-on cere-

tegic Design & Construction Division at

mony Dec. 28, 2021.

Joint Base San Antonio in Texas.

During his time at Tech, Nichols was a

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

81

RAMBLIN ROLL

BIRTHS 1.

MARK ANDERSON, AE 06, and his wife, Caroline, welcomed the birth of their daughter, Juliette Autumn, on Feb. 17.

Juliette is the couple’s first child and a future GT fan.

2.

LAURA GIGLIO, EE 10, MS ECE 11, and DANNY GIGLIO, EE 09, MBA 17, welcomed the birth of Theodore “Teddy” Hans Westin Giglio (THWg) on Feb.

1

2

3

4

3. Teddy joins big brother Tommy as the youngest Yellow Jacket fan in an alumni- filled family! Tommy and Teddy are also the grandsons of BONNIE GIGLIO, IM 77, and JEFF GIGLIO, EE 77. In total, Teddy is related to nine Tech alumni who together hold 12 degrees.

3.

HANNY KNUTZEN GILMORE, IE 17, and husband Brant Gilmore celebrated the birth of their son, Callahan Shafer Gilmore, on Jan. 22. The couple is excited for Cal to be part of the next generation of Yellow Jackets!

4.

C RISTOP ER POO , EN E 09, MS EN E 10, and DANIELLE (SIMPSON) POOL, CE 09, MS CE 10, welcomed the birth of Theodore Pool on Jan. 9. Theodore is the couple’s first child, and all four of his aunts and uncles are GT alumni! The family resides in Chamblee, Ga.

5.

JENNA (CASTLE) WATSON, IAM 09, and husband BRIAN WATSON, ME 09, MS ME 10, welcomed Sylvie Jayne Watson on Dec. 19, 2021.

5

82 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

WEDDINGS 1.

RACHEL (BEYERSDORFER) GARCIA, ME 18, MBA 21 and ADRIAN GARCIA, AE 17, were married on Oct. 2, 2021.

2.

JAKOB ROBINSON, IE 19, and MADDIE MI ER, EE 19, were married on April 9. They started dating during their summer abroad at Georgia Tech-Lorriane.

The couple resides in Atlanta, where Maddie is pursuing her PhD in bioengineering at Tech and Jakob works as a forensic data scientist.

1

3.

A IE OOD ARD, ID 13, married Paul Hannot on March 25 in Roswell, Ga. Rachel (Beauchamp) Ness, Mgt 11, Megan McDonough, Arch 13, and Lindsey Hubbard, ME 13, were in attendance.

Also joining were Carey Brown, IE 69, and Sally Brown. Allie and her husband live in Ennigerloh, Germany, and Allie manages Gold Lee Designs, her own creative consulting business. She is also a marketing director at PDI Software.

OUT & ABOUT

2

3

ALOHA, JACKETS! Eight alumni and friends of Tech visited Hawaii this spring on an excursion organized by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Participants included (L-R) Jerry O’Brien, JOYCE SCANLON, MS CHEM 84, JACK SAPP, ME 73, Rebecca Sapp, Martha Battle, Peach Clodfelter, GARY CLODFELTER, IE 66, and Jim Battle.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

83

IN MEMORIAM

WE REMEMBER & HONOR THE FOLLOWING

1940s JACK F. CLEARMAN, ME 46, of

ERE

. GO DSMIT

I , IM 56, of

RICHARD C. “DICK” RUSSELL,

Poulsbo, Wash., on Dec. 9, 2021.

Atlanta, on Feb. 9.

CHE 55, of Houston, Texas, on

JACK K. FLETCHER, CLS 46, of For-

THOMAS L. “TOM” GOSSAGE,

syth, Ga., on Feb. 27.

CHE 56, MS CHE 57, of Atlanta, on

WILLIAM K. SAUNDERS, ME 52, of

March 27.

Orlando, Fla., on March 2.

MAN, CE 49, of Aventura, Fla., on

SPENCER P. GROTHEER JR., IE 55,

JOHN J. “JACK” SCALLEY, IM 51,

Feb. 11.

of Aiken, S.C., on March 22.

of Atlanta, on Jan. 21.

WILLIAM “MAC” HAMMOND, EE

JAMES R. “JIMMIE” HODGE JR.,

MEREDITH C. SCHAFF, CE 58, of

49, of Winter Park, Fla., on March 1.

IE 50, of Atlanta, on March 12.

Scottsbluff, Neb., on Feb. 22.

JAMES H. MURPHY, CLS 46, of

DONALD O. HUTCHINSON, CHE

THOMAS E. STONECYPHER, CHE

Atlanta, on March 3.

51, of Baton Rouge, La., on Jan. 31.

55, PHD CHE 61, of Albany, Ga., on

March 24.

MARTIN B. “MARTY” GOOD-

Jan. 31.

ASHLEY D. “DICK” PACE JR., CLS

FREDERICK A. “FRITZ” KILPATRICK,

41, of Pensacola, Fla., on Feb. 20.

CE 53, MS CE 58, of Haymarket, Va.,

GORDON . TRA IS, ME 55, of

on Jan. 23.

Kingsport, Tenn., on Feb. 13.

WILLIAM E. “ED” KING, IE 58, of

GEORGE B. TYLER, IM 55, of Elber-

McDonough, Ga., on March 12.

ton, Ga., on Jan. 29.

WILLIAM M. “BILL” SCHOTANUS, ME 40, of Richmond, Va., on Feb. 4.

JULE C. SPACH, CHE 49, of WinstonSalem, N.C., on March 26.

THOMAS E. LAIR, TEXTCHEM 59,

O N . AN

O TEN R., C EM

of San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 15.

59, of Athens, Ga., on March 24.

DANIEL C. “DAN” AUSTIN SR., IM

ROBERT G. “BOB” MARBUT, IE 57,

MAURICE R. “RAY” WALKER, CE

52, of Raleigh, N.C., on March 9.

of San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 19.

50, of Duluth, Ga., on April 8.

MACK F. BINGHAM, CLS 54, of

WALTER L. “LANDY” NEW, IE 56,

Knoxville, Tenn., on March 22.

of Savannah, Ga., on Feb. 13.

1950s

1960s JESSE T. “TOM” BECKHAM JR., CHE 61, of Peachtree City, Ga., on

RICHARD E. “DICK” COLLETT, IE

ARTHUR G. “ART” POWELL II, IM

58, of Greenville, S.C., on Jan. 27.

57, of Birmingham, Ala., on March 12.

ROBERT L. EAST, IM 55, of Dublin,

C EMENT C. CAR

Ga., on Jan. 29.

TEXT 54, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., on Feb. 5.

March 20.

THOMAS W. “TOM” BLEICK, IM

REE ES R.,

66, of Talladega, Ala., on April 9.

EDITOR’S NOTE We have changed the format for the In Memoriam section of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine. We will include an abbreviated version of each obituary in print, while publishing the full obituaries online under Alumni Updates at gtalumni.org/magazine.

To report a death, please email bioupdate@gtalumni.org.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

85

IN MEMORIAM FRANCIS B. “DUKE” MEWBORN II: AUDIO PIONEER & PROUD YELLOW JACKET at Baker Audio, which he grew to a pre-

OLIN S. BULLOCK, IE 60, of Flor-

mier audio/visual service firm. Retiring

ence, S.C., on March 1.

as president and chairman, his career milestones included providing the sound

JOHN M. BUTLER JR., IM 69, of

for the Beatles concert in 1965 and

Yonges Island, S.C. on March 31.

designing the first digital microphone system for the Atlanta airport.

Mewborn was named a member of

MONTE A. FRANKLIN, MS AM 68, of Memphis, Tenn., on Feb. 6.

the Hill Society in 2013. He served on

FRANCIS B. “DUKE” MEWBORN II, CLS 56, OF MARIETTA, GA., ON MARCH 25.

the boards of the Georgia Tech Alum-

STAN E

ni Association (1993 to 1996) and the

62, of Kathleen, Fla., on Feb. 25.

. STAN GANN, IM

Born in Washington, D.C., Mewborn

Georgia Tech Foundation (2003 to

attended Georgia Tech, where he met

2006), continuing on the Foundation

JEFFREY L. GORDON, IM 66, of

Shirley, his first love and mother of his

Board as Trustee Emeritus. He was in-

Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Feb. 7.

two daughters, Michele and Virginia.

strumental in building the Georgia Tech

He and Shirley, who was one of Tech’s

Living History Program by donating

JOSEPH E. “JOE” GRABUSKIE, IM

first female students, enjoyed 46 years

recording equipment, hours of narra-

60, of Pocono Lake, Pa., on Feb. 28.

together before she died in 2003. After

tion services, and a significant gift that

four years, Mewborn married Gail, his

helped endow the program. He served

WILLIAM F. HARMON JR., IE 60,

second love, and they enjoyed almost

on the advisory board for the Georgia

of Asheville, N.C., on April 1.

15 years together.

Tech Ferst Center for the Arts from 2007

Mewborn spent his illustrious career

to 2011.

EUGENE S. “GENE” HATCHER, IM 69, of Macon, Ga., on Feb. 3.

S T E W A R T P. E VA N S , A R C H 94 : BUSINESSMAN AND CHURCH LEADER

MALCOLM D. JONES, IE 63, of Meridian, Idaho, on March 7.

EDWARD P. “ED” MARTIN, EE 62, of Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24.

STEWART P. EVANS, ARCH 94, OF JOHNS CREEK, GA., DIED APRIL 8, AFTER A TRAGIC SKIING ACCIDENT IN BEAVER CREEK, COLO.

JOHN L. McCRANIE, IM 60, of Jacksonville, Fla. on April 2.

Evans was born in Orangeburg, S.C.,

Beers Construction, CCL Associates,

the son of Robert Evans and Anne Ev-

Integral-Gude, Macallan Construction,

MAXIMO F. “MAX” MUÑOZ,

ans. Evans’ passion was intentional

and most recently as a partner in Great-

CERE 63, of Atlanta, on Feb. 16.

relationships with both his family and

er Georgia Concrete. He was an elder,

others, whether in business, church,

discipleship group leader, children’s

GEORGE E. NEWTON, EE 65, of

or social life. These relationships all

ministry teacher, and nursery volunteer

Mount Pleasant, S.C., on April 1.

stemmed from his rootedness in his faith.

at Perimeter Church. He will be remem-

Evans graduated from Athens Academy

bered for his great sense of humor, his

R T ER ORD I. IR

in Athens, Ga., and was a member of

servant-heartedness, and his warm, en-

67, of Crescent City, Fla., on Feb. 16.

Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Tech.

dearing personality. Evans is survived by

He spent his working years in the construction industry employed by

86 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

RAE R., EE

his wife, Mary Lynn McCoy Evans, and

WILLIAM H. SIMS, MS AE 62, of

daughters Perry, Louise, and Meredith.

Hilliard, Fla., on Feb. 27.

R O B I N B RYA N T G R A Y: V E R T I C A L F L I G H T E X P E R T ROBIN BRYANT GRAY, MS AE 47, OF BROOKHAVEN, GA., ON APRIL 6.

Gray was considered one of the leadSHMUEL “MOOKIE” STERNBERG,

ing experts on vertical flight. He helped

CHE 62, of Lake Worth, Fla., on

build the School of Aerospace Engi-

Feb. 19.

neering at Georgia Tech into one of the top aerospace schools in the world. He

STEP EN P. STE E TO ESON,

was instrumental in Tech acquiring the

IE 69, of Cornelius, N.C., on Feb. 2.

U.S. Army’s Rotorcraft Center, which has educated numerous Army leaders

American Helicopter Society, American

in helicopter design, engineering, and

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronau-

operations. As a professor, the school’s

tics, American Society for Engineering

assistant director, acting director, and

Education, and Society of the Sigma Xi.

Regents’ Professor, he taught thousands

Gray served in the U.S. Navy during

RANDOLPH W. “RANDY” BATTLE,

of students, including several future as-

WWII, achieving the rank of Lieutenant.

MGT 73, of Nichols, Okla., on

tronauts and Army leaders.

DA ID R.

AGNER, IO 65, of

Marquez, Texas, on Feb. 4.

1970s

Gray was a councilman and vice

Gray’s 43 years of research covered

mayor of the city of North Atlanta (now

more than 20 investigations into roto-

Brookhaven). He was a devoted church-

craft technology and fluid mechanics

goer and served as a deacon, treasurer,

and earned him numerous awards and

and chair of the Oglethorpe and the

accolades, including development of the

Providence Presbyterian Churches. He is

CARL B. DAY JR., CHE 75, of Fuquay

world’s first practical helicopter and in-

survived by his wife, Fran; his sons, Rob-

Varina, N.C., on Feb. 18.

duction into the Vertical Flight Society’s

in Gray, Jr. (Sally) and Carl Gray (Lois);

Hall of Fame. He was a member of the

and two grandchildren.

Feb. 24.

CA

IN .

RNE , M CP 78, of

Jacksonville, Fla., on March 24.

STEPHEN E. DRAPER, MS CE 71, PHD CE 81, of Atlanta, on Feb. 1.

JOSEPH SALEH: TECH PROFESSOR AND MENTOR THOMAS D. FOWLER, MGT 71, of Stone Mountain, Ga., on Jan. 26.

in spacecraft systems and risk prevention. His research covered spacecraft

BERT A. HALL, IM 76, of Augusta,

reliability and analysis, programmat-

Ga., on March 8.

ic systems engineering, and accident causation and system safety. Saleh’s

WILLIAM G. “BILL” HENRY, CLS

genuine curiosity and exceptional tal-

71, of Augusta, Ga., on Feb. 9.

ents led him to write many publications shared around the world. He received

STEP EN D. STE E

IRES, PS

70, of St. Simons Island, Ga., on Jan. 29.

JOSEPH SALEH, OF ATLANTA, ON APRIL 12.

numerous awards for his teaching and

A beloved professor, mentor, col-

Faculty Award, the Lockheed Dean’s

mentoring, including the Outstanding

league, and researcher, Saleh was

Excellence in Teaching Award, and the

EDWARD S. “ED” KOWYNIA, CE

known for his unique teaching style and

Most Valuable Professor Award at Tech.

72, MS CE 79, of Gilbertville, Mass.,

wisdom, but his dedication and mentor-

On April 25, the Georgia Tech chapter

on Feb. 9.

ship toward students was unparalleled.

of Sigma Gamma Tau awarded Saleh

DA ID . MA OO , P Heart Lake, Pa., on Feb. 17.

S 74, of

Saleh joined Tech’s School of Aero-

the Most Valuable Professor Award

space Engineering in 2007 as an

posthumously.—Daniel Guggenheim

associate professor, bringing expertise

School of Aerospace Engineering

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

87

IN MEMORIAM

FRIENDS ROBERT S. “STUART” MURRAY,

RICHARD W. “DICK” DETRICK, of

MGT 71, of Alpharetta, Ga., on

Midlothian, Va., on Jan. 10.

RACHEL W. “SKIP” REED, of Gainesville, Ga., on Jan. 27.

ROGER F. RUPNOW, of Atlanta, on

Feb. 27.

DEWEY H. HODGES, of Dunwoody, DWIGHT P. RUDOLPH JR., EE 77,

WANDA W. SIMON, of Decatur,

MS EE 78, of Littleton, Colo., on JANE (STACY) MULAIK, of Marietta,

Feb. 24.

Feb. 24.

Ga., on Jan. 31.

Ga. on April 7.

Ga., on March 11.

JAMES D. “JIM” SHELANDER, PHYS 73, of Sugar Land, Texas, on

WILLIAM J. “JEFF” PENDER-

March 24.

GRAST, of Atlanta, on Feb. 3.

MIC AE

O NS

I AN, ME

79, of Simpsonville, S.C., on Nov. 15, 2021.

R CE C. ANDER OO , AE 70, MS IM 77, of Gloucester, Mass., on March 23.

O N

. ER IC

, P D C EM

78, of White Lake, Mich., on Jan. 27.

1980s

ROBERT STEWART “ B O B BY ” C A L D W E L L , JR.: SEC FOOTBALL OFFICIAL ROBERT STEWART “BOBBY” CALDWELL, JR., IM 63, OF COLUMBUS, MISS., ON FEB. 13.

Caldwell was a scholarship football player and team captain; a member of

Senior Bowls, and hundreds of regular-

the Ramblin’ Reck Club, “T” Club, Alpha

season games. A strong supporter of

GARY S. HIMMELWRIGHT, ME 82,

Kappa Psi, Student Council, Judiciary

his community, Caldwell was on sever-

of White Pine, Wyo., on Aug. 25, 2021.

committee, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon

al boards, including for the Columbus

fraternity; and a lifelong member of the

Lowndes Chamber of Commerce, Frank

HARRY G. RICE, M CRP 81, MS CE

Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Upon

Phillips Memorial YMCA, Habitat for

81, of Norcross, Ga., on Jan. 16.

graduation he was drafted by the Wash-

Humanity, American Red Cross, First

ington Redskins, but returned home

Federal Bank for Savings, Cadence

to run his family’s business. An enlist-

Bank, and more. He was a Baptist Me-

ed officer in the U.S. Army Reserves,

morial Hospital volunteer, member of

he was an aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen.

the New Hope Service Club, trustee of

MAR

.

EA ER, IM 80, MS IM

82, of Smyrna, Ga., on March 22.

1990s

Shields Sims of the Mississippi National

East Mississippi Community College,

SCOTT B. DUNBAR, PHYS 94, of Al-

Guard. Caldwell owned and operated

and sponsor chairman for Ducks Unlim-

pharetta, Ga., on March 25.

Caldwell Properties and Caldwell Fur-

ited. An active member of First United

niture Company, was a member of the

Methodist Church of Columbus, he

JENNIFER C. “CARIN” BURFORD,

National Retail Furniture Association,

was a member of the Ivy Bible Sun-

HTS 97, of Hoover, Ala., on

and was a director of the Mississippi Re-

day School Class. Caldwell is survived

Feb. 6.

tail Furniture Association.

by his wife, Toni Newsom Caldwell, his

2000s

Caldwell was a Southeastern Con-

children, Robert Stewart Caldwell, III

ference football official for more than

(Elizabeth), Mary Frances Griffin (An-

RONALD P. PETERSON, MS CS 00,

30 years and officiated 13 major bowl

drew Moak), Kathleen Hilbun (William

of Atlanta, on Feb. 28.

games, two SEC Championships, 15

Walker), and his seven grandchildren.

88 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

ISOM “IKE” RIGELL, EE 50: WWII VET AND NASA LEADER ISOM A. “IKE” RIGELL, EE 50, OF TITUSVILLE, FLA., ON FEB. 24.

They married in September 1954 and

After high school, Rigell enlisted in the

Rigell was on the launch team for

Marine Corps and was with the 6th De-

the free world’s first satellite, Explorer

fense Battalion on Midway Island when

1, in 1958, and for the first American

the Japanese forces attacked on June

into space, the sub-orbital flight of Alan

4, 1942. In 1943, he was reassigned to

Shepard in 1961. During the Apol-

the 4th Marine Division and made four

lo years, he was deputy director and

assaults on Japanese territory. Upon dis-

chief engineer of Launch Vehicle Op-

Jima Survivors of America, Veterans of

charge from the Marines, Rigell played

erations. During the Apollo-Soyuz

Foreign Wars, Space Pioneers, Nation-

a year of professional baseball in the Al-

Program, he was director of Launch Ve-

al Space Club, the American Legion,

abama State League before enrolling at

hicle Operations and then director of

and past President of the Florida Chap-

Georgia Tech.

Shuttle Payload and Unmanned Vehi-

ter, NASA Alumni League, Confederate

moved to Florida.

Joining the Army Ballistic Missile

cles. Rigell retired from NASA in 1981

Sons of America, and the Great Out-

Agency in Huntsville, Ala., Rigell was a

and joined the United States Boosters

doors Community Church. He received

charter member of the launch team for

International as head of the USBI Field

many awards during his career, includ-

the first Redstone rocket launch in 1953

Engineering Office at Kennedy Space

ing “Man of the Year” from the Seventh

at the Cape Canaveral Test Range.

Center. He retired in 1991 as vice presi-

Space Congress, was twice awarded

He met the love of his life, Kathryn

dent of USBI, Florida Operations.

the NASA Exceptional Service Medal,

Gillespie, who worked in the Engineer-

Rigell was a member of the 4th Ma-

ing Data Center at Redstone Arsenal.

rine Division Alumni Association, Iwo

and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Space Club.

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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91

TECH HISTORY

CAMPOUTS, COUNTERFEITS, AND AVOIDING THE NIGHT WATCHMAN A STORY ABOUT LOVE AND THE LENGTHS ONE MAN WOULD GO IN PURSUIT OF AN 8 A.M. TIMECARD. B Y D O N A L D C . H U F F, B C E 6 7 B E F OR E THE INTE R NET and even before the computer labs set up for registration in the basement of the A. French Building, Yellow Jackets marched to the Old Gym on the south end of Grant Field to sign up for classes in person. To avoid a mad rush on registration day, students received a timecard with a time slot for when they could enter the gym. Timecards with earlier time slots were in high demand because they offered the best chance of securing your spot in a popular class and avoiding a notoriously

92 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

tough professor, or worse—a Saturday morning lab. For those unfortunate souls (usually first-year students) who received late-afternoon timecards, they were all but doomed to choose picked-over course offerings left behind by the early birds, er, in this case, Yellow Jackets. Need an in-demand class to graduate? Good luck with a 2 p.m. timecard. In this way, the timecard could set your destiny at Georgia Tech. And the 8 a.m. timecard—the earliest time slot available—was your golden ticket to a bright quarter.

SCOTT DINERMAN, STC 03 PHOTOGRAPH

GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

93

TECH HISTORY

G

GROWING UP IN ATLANTA, I always wanted to attend Georgia Tech. The Institute, however, wasn’t sure it wanted me to attend. My high school grades were good enough to make me salutatorian of my 1962 graduating class of 70 at Mount Berry School for Boys. However, our principal advised me not to attend Georgia Tech because he thought my SAT scores were too low for me to be successful at a place like the Institute. Likewise, Tech evaluated my application and told me my record was not as strong as the average student they accepted. They agreed, however, to place my name on a waiting list and requested that I attend evening school in the summer.

The deal was if I made a grade of “C” or better in a math and English course, then I would be accepted as a day school student the Fall Quarter, space permitting.

After making a “C” in English and 94 SUMMER 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE

“B” in math, I ended up working fulltime and attending night school the fall quarter to save money for tuition, which at the time was $103 per quarter plus the cost of books. By 1963, I became a full-time day student and worked part-time.

After struggling through two quarters in day school and barely making the grades to remain a full-time student and maintain my student deferment from the draft, I quickly learned the value and importance of having a good class schedule.

THE “GOOD” SCHEDULE For me there were three important reasons to have a “good” class schedule. First, it meant having professors who were excellent teachers. Second, it meant better classes and a better chance at a sufficient grade point average to remain in school and avoid Don and Malia met at Daytona Beach, Fla., when they were 17 years old. They began a four-year long-distance romance while Don was a student at Tech. This June 2022 marked their 56th anniversary.

being drafted. And third, a “good” class schedule meant no classes or labs on Saturdays, and no late classes on Friday afternoons, which for me meant I could work part-time, but more importantly, on the weekends I could visit the love of my life who lived 260 miles away in Nashville, Tennessee. Being able to leave for Nashville on Friday afternoon when I did not have an exam the following week was especially close to my heart.

It was all these reasons, but mostly the last, that gave me the courage to brave the cold, to face down the night

Long lines formed outside the Old Gym on registration day. Students could only register during a specific time slot.

watchman, and to tackle anything else that tried to get in my way as I pursued an 8 a.m. timecard.

EARLY BIRD GETS THE CLASS What’s an 8:00 a.m. timecard and what does it have to do with a good class schedule? Near the end of every quarter, the Technique would include course offerings for the next quarter with the course’s schedule and professor’s name. Each quarter on registration day, we signed up for courses

in the gym to register, the more likely you could get your preferred class schedule. Students with an 8:00 a.m. timecard entered the gym first. Timecards were distributed by your School to manage the flow of students entering the gym throughout the day. I thought that the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the unit that provided my timecard, distributed these on an arbitrary basis. The best timecard I received for my first three quarters of day school was a 2:00 p.m. timecard, and that late in the day, it was impossible to pick your preferred schedule and courses.

But then I learned I could get an 8:00 a.m. timecard if I was first in line when the School office opened on the day they gave out timecards. The best way to be first in line was to camp out on the front porch of the building the night before. I started that quarterly ritual by coming as early as 6:00 p.m. the night before, equipped with cot, sleeping bag, drinks, and snacks.

Other students with the same purpose joined me throughout the night,

“THE BEST WAY TO BE FIRST IN LINE WAS TO CAMP OUT ON THE FRONT PORCH OF THE BUILDING THE NIGHT BEFORE REGISTRATION.” at the Old Gym on the south end of Grant Field by going from table to table to pick up IBM cards for our desired courses and classes. There was a limited number of IBM cards for each course, so the earlier you could get

hoping to secure one of the few early timecards available. On one very cold January night before winter quarter, I noticed a partially opened window to a restroom. Crawling through the window, I opened the front door from the

inside and pulled my gear inside. Later that night, the night watchman came by and asked me what I was doing in the building. I tried to quickly explain the importance of the timecard— kind professors, draft-proof GPAs, my Nashville sweetheart—but he ran me out. Later, another student had a key to one of the back doors and let us in the warm building to wait the rest of the night. On another stake-out, a person claiming to be a student came by

SINGLE-USE ONLY: Upon entry to the gym to register for courses each quarter, the person at the door ripped a corner off your timecard so it could not be reused.

trying to sell us counterfeit 8:00 a.m. timecards for $10. We knew better, so we refused.

The extra efforts to acquire 8:00 a.m. timecards were successful. I was able to work enough in the summer and part-time the rest of my quarters to pay my way through school. Despite dropping a six-hour physics course and failing a five-hour math course as well as a six-hour physics course, even with good professors, I made the grade in enough courses to remain on student deferment 2-S draft status. I avoided the military until after I had finished my degree requirements in GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

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TECH HISTORY

REGIS TRATION REMEMBERED: Have a story about timecards or online registration? We want to hear from you.

Submit your story at www.gtalumni.org/timecards.

NO LINE, NO PROBLEM: Fearing that a class would fill before they made it through the line, some students would pick classes based on which line at registration was the short-

Before online registration, students received IBM punch cards to register for classes.

est, says Alumni Historian Jennifer Rogers.

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When registration moved online, FASET counselors helped first-year students register for classes from computer labs on campus.

December 1966 with a 2.3 GPA, which was high enough to be in the top half of the class. And most importantly, with no late classes or labs on most Fridays, I made 65 trips during my four undergraduate years at Tech, most by hitchhiking, to Nashville to visit my then-girlfriend, Malia, now my wife of 56 years.

Between 1962 when I enrolled at Tech until we were married in June 1966, we wrote each other a total of 2,263 letters—many of which include tales of my campouts at the CE Building in pursuit of an 8 a.m. timecard.

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TECH’S FOSSIL HUNTERS

“CITIZEN SCIENTISTS” WELCOME DURING FOSSIL FRIDAYS AT GEORGIA TECH.

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ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD MATTHEW and his brother Joey, age 7, are hunched over a small pile of dirt in Tech’s Spatial Ecology and Paleontology Lab. The brothers aren’t students at Georgia Tech— at least not yet, says their mother, Christine Conwell, PhD Chem 04, who works at Georgia Tech and is married to fellow Yellow Jacket David Gaul, PhD Chem 98. Nevertheless, the two young fossil hunters are doing important work for the lab: helping researchers find fossilized bones, some of which could be 30,000 years old.

Matthew and Joey are just two of the citizen scientists who have lent a hand during “Fossil Fridays,” an open, two-hour session when members of

(L-R) Researcher Ben Shipley and Matthew Gaul sort through fossil specimens.

BY JENNIFER HERSEIM the community can come learn about paleontology and dig through dirt samples in search of real fossils.

“We’re interested in ‘citizen science’ and making sure our community knows what we’re working on and feels included,” says Julia Schap, a thirdyear PhD candidate and one of the hosts of Fossil Fridays. “We don’t like this idea that science happens behind closed doors.”

The program started in 2014 as a hands-on community activity, but also, partly, as a much-needed solution to help researchers in Jenny McGuire’s Spatial Ecology & Paleontology Lab at Georgia Tech sift through literally a ton of dirt pulled from the Natural Trap Cave in Wyoming.

As the name implies, the cave’s unique geography has made it an ideal spot for paleontologists—a large hole in a plateau above the cave acts as a natural trap. For hundreds of thousands of years, animals have fallen through the hole to an 80-foot drop below, explains Schap. The stack of bones below the hole is a treasure trove for researchers like Schap. She visited the cave with McGuire last summer.

Their team bagged and shipped 2,000

pounds of sediment back to Atlanta.

Some of the fossils found in the samples come from rodents, rabbits, lizards, snakes, birds, frogs, and occasionally fish that get brought in by the birds. “A lot of Tech students like Fossil Fridays, especially those who are interested in medical school, because they become more familiar with what animal bones look like compared to humans,” Schap says. “Also, people think it’s just fascinating that you can touch fossils.”

The lab uses the fossils in a variety of research areas. Schap studies fossils of small mammals to find out how these species were affected by climate at different periods of history. Her findings are useful for current conservation efforts.

Fossil Fridays are on pause for the summer but will resume in the fall.

During a typical session, Schap likes to play movie soundtracks in the background to help fossil hunters unwind.

“I sometimes play the Jurassic Park soundtrack to really help everyone get in the mood and to feel like they’re doing really important work—because they are.”

F O S S I L F R I D A Y S will resume in the Ford Environmental Science & Technology Building this fall. For more information, sign up for the mailing list at mcguire.gatech.edu/outreach/.

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