Interim President Gary B. Schuster, Ph.D.
Gary Schuster became interim president of Georgia Tech on July 1, 2008.
In addition to his role as interim president, Schuster also serves as provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs and holds the position of professor and Vasser Woolley Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Prior to being named Georgia Tech's provost in 2006, he served as dean of the College of Sciences for twelve years.
Schuster's research interests focus on the interaction of light with matter and the investigation of small molecules that bind and cut DNA selectively when irradiated with light. This work has application to understanding the origin of certain diseases—such as cancer—and aging.
Author of more than 230 papers in peer reviewed scientific journals, Schuster has written on topics ranging from biochemistry to physical chemistry. One of his best-known discoveries is called chemically initiated electron exchange luminescence. It provides the mechanistic basis that allows the understanding of the bioluminescence of the North American firefly. This discovery forms the basis for new clinical diagnostic procedures that have recently been commercialized.
Schuster holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Clarkson College of Technology and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Rochester. After twenty years in the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois, he became dean of the College of Sciences and professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Georgia Tech in 1994. He was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, a fellow of the Sloan Foundation, and a Guggenheim fellow. He also received the 2006 Charles Holmes Herty Medal recognizing his work and service contributions since his arrival at Georgia Tech.
Schuster and his wife, Anita, have two sons, a granddaughter, and a grandson.