Dr. G. P. "Bud" Peterson

To the Georgia Tech Community:

It’s hard to believe, but Val and I recently marked our first year here at Georgia Tech. I can empathize with President Emeritus Wayne Clough, who in his return to campus for last week’s groundbreaking of the Undergraduate Learning Commons noted that in both of his residencies at Tech — as a student and then as an administrator — he wasn’t quite prepared for what he encountered during the first year. Speaking for myself, I have benefitted immensely from the strong and loyal support network that exists both within the Institute as well as with our alumni around the state and the world, for that matter. Our gratitude goes to all of you who have welcomed us so warmly and shown us just what it means to be a part of the Georgia Tech community.

Despite the external pressures on higher education around the country, we have accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time: moving forward on a new strategic plan, growing our research enterprise, attracting more and better qualified students, and bringing new leaders to campus. In spite of the present challenges, I remain optimistic about the future of our great institution, and look forward to marking many more anniversaries here at Georgia Tech.

Diversity Roundtable

This week, Georgia Tech sponsored its first diversity forum, exclusively for staff members. The Diversity Roundtable — and future events of its kind — is intended to take advantage of the leadership skills acquired by senior staff leaders through a mentorship program that will support the professional development of our diverse pool of talent here at Tech. I was pleased to be able to participate in the inaugural discussion, joining the offices of Academic Diversity and Human Resources in this important new initiative.

New Leadership for Ivan Allen, Computing

The campus is also excited to welcome two new college deans: Dr. Jacqueline Jones Royster and Dr. Zvi Galil, who will be leading the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and the College of Computing, respectively. Both are renowned scholars, proven administrators, and respected leaders, and I would like to thank both search committees for volunteering their time, energy, and efforts to ensuring that we were able to attract the best possible leaders for these very important positions. I also want to thank Drs. Ken Knoespel and Jim Foley for the great job they both did in their respective tenures as interim dean.

Ethics and Responsibility

Georgia Tech is the beneficiary of a variety of public monies that help to fund virtually every aspect of our campus; for that reason, a demonstrated commitment to ethics and integrity must be an integral and visible part of our Institute. We must continue to articulate these standards to demonstrate that we deserve the public trust we have been accorded as a public institution. In addition, conducting the business of a public research university requires that we act according to the core values and code of conduct spelled out by the University System of Georgia. For these reasons, we require all faculty, staff, and administrative leaders to complete the annual online ethics training module, reaffirming a commitment to protect the Institute’s reputation and resources. If you have not yet completed this training module, please do so.

Computation Collaboration

To better coordinate our activities in one of Georgia Tech’s strategic research arenas, the recent formation of the Institute for Data and High Performance Computing is a welcome announcement, and will provide the organizational framework needed to maximize our resources in and contributions to this field. Because we see computation as a driver of future advances in science and engineering, we expect this to enable greater collaboration, bringing the expertise of our internationally renowned faculty together to indentify and test solutions for some of society’s most challenging problems.

Drafting the Strategic Plan

We are putting the final touches on the first public draft of our strategic plan, with the intention of distributing it to campus for general review and comment by the end of the month. It represents the hard work and best ideas from hundreds of individuals and groups from both here on campus and around the country. It is intended to serve as a roadmap for how we as one of the leading technological institutes in the world move forward. I hope you will find it both compelling and representative of where we collectively think that Georgia Tech should focus its energy for the next quarter-century. Once released, the strategic plan document will be available on our Web site, www.gatech.edu/vision.

In Memoriam

Georgia Tech recently lost two of its legendary historic figures: Henry Bourne and Anne Marie Eaton. Both are role models for the type of institution we aspire to be and the type of students we want to produce. Annemarie and her story of perseverance and determination is an inspiration to all Tech students, while the endowment to create the Margaret and Henry Bourne Chair in Poetry is a testament to Henry’s belief that the humanities support a foundation for life-long learning. Georgia Tech is a better place because of their affiliation with us.

Ramblin’ On

In a couple of weeks I’ll have the good fortune to shake hands with more than 2,800 new graduates of Georgia Tech, the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice. Congratulations to our graduates; I know you will represent the Institute well no matter where the future takes you. Most importantly, stay in touch!