History of Georgia Tech - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The history of the Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

can be traced back to Reconstruction-era plans to develop the industrial base of the Southern United States

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

. Founded on October 13, 1885 in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

as the Georgia School of Technology, the university opened in 1888 after the construction of Tech Tower

Tech Tower

The Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Administration Building, commonly known as Tech Tower, is a historic building located at 225 North Avenue NW in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and a focal point of the central campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology...

and a shop building and only offered one degree in mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

. By 1901, degrees in electrical, civil, textile, and chemical engineering were also offered. In 1948, the name was changed to the Georgia Institute of Technology to reflect its evolution from an engineering school

Engineering education

Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles related to the professional practice of engineering. It includes the initial education for becoming an engineer and any advanced education and specialization that follow...

to a full technical institute

Institute of technology

Institute of technology is a designation employed in a wide range of learning institutions awarding different types of degrees and operating often at variable levels of the educational system...

and research university.

Georgia Tech is the birthplace of two other Georgia universities: Georgia State University

Georgia State University

Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...

and Southern Polytechnic State University

Southern Polytechnic State University

Southern Polytechnic State University is a public, co-educational state university located in Marietta, Georgia, USA just northwest of Atlanta...

. Georgia Tech's Evening School of Commerce, established in 1912 and moved to the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

in 1931, was independently established as Georgia State University in 1955. Although Georgia Tech did not officially allow women to enroll until 1952 (and did not fully integrate the curriculum until 1968), the night school enrolled female students as early as the fall of 1917. The Southern Technical Institute (now Southern Polytechnic State University) was created as an extension of Georgia Tech in 1948 as a technical trade school for World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

veterans and became an independent university in 1981.

The Great Depression saw a consistent squeeze on Georgia Tech's budget, but World War II-inspired research activity combined with post-World War II enrollment more than compensated for the school's difficulties. Unlike the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech's longtime rival, Tech desegregated

Desegregation

Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...

peacefully and without a court order in 1961. Similarly, it did not experience any protests due to the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. The growth of the graduate and research programs combined with diminishing federal support for universities in the 1980s led President John Patrick Crecine

John Patrick Crecine

John Patrick "Pat" Crecine was an American educator. After receiving his early education in Lansing, Michigan, Michigan public schools, he earned a bachelor's degree in industrial management, and master's and doctoral degrees in industrial administration from the Graduate School of Industrial...

to restructure the university in 1988 amid significant controversy. The 1990s were marked by continued expansion of the undergraduate programs and the satellite campuses in Savannah, Georgia

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

and Metz, France. In 1996, Georgia Tech was the site of the athletes' village and a venue for a number of athletic events for the Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

. Recently, the school has gradually improved its academic rankings and has paid significant attention to modernizing the campus, increasing historically low retention rates, and establishing degree options emphasizing research and international perspectives.

Establishment

Early years

Includes the administration of Isaac S. Hopkins

Isaac S. Hopkins

Isaac Stiles Hopkins was a former professor and the first President of Georgia Tech as well as pastor of the First Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.-Biography:...

(1888–1896)

The Georgia School of Technology opened its doors in the fall of 1888 with only two buildings, under the leadership of professor and pastor Isaac S. Hopkins

Isaac S. Hopkins

Isaac Stiles Hopkins was a former professor and the first President of Georgia Tech as well as pastor of the First Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.-Biography:...

. One building (now Tech Tower

Tech Tower

, the main administrative complex) had classrooms to teach students; the other featured a workshop

Workshop

A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...

with a foundry

Foundry

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

, forge

Forge

A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...

, boiler room

Mechanical room

A mechanical room or a boiler room is a room or space in a building dedicated to the mechanical equipment and its associated electrical equipment. Unless a building is served by a centralized heating plant, the size of the mechanical room is usually proportional to the size of the building...

, and engine room

Engine room

On a ship, the engine room, or ER, commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage survivability of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be segregated into various spaces, the engine room is one of these spaces, and is generally the largest...

. It was designed specifically as a "contract shop" where students would work to produce goods to sell, creating revenue for the school while the students learned vocational skills in a "hands-on" manner. Such a method was seen as appropriate given the Southern United States' need for industrial development. The two buildings were equal in size and staffing (five professors and five shop supervisors) to show the importance of teaching both the mind and the hands. At the time, there was some disagreement as to whether the machine shop should have been used to turn a profit. The contract shop system ended in 1896 due to its lack of profitability, after which point the items produced were used to furnish the offices and dorms on the campus.

The first class of students at the Georgia School of Technology was small and homogeneous, and educational options were limited. 85 students signed up on the first registration day, October 7, 1888, and the enrollment for the first year climbed to a total of 129 by January 7, 1889. The first student to register was William H. Glenn

William H. Glenn

William H. Glenn was an 1891 graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and president of the Southeastern Compress and Warehouse Company.-Early life and education:...

. All but one or two of the students were from Georgia. Tuition was free for Georgia residents and $150 ($ today) for out-of-state students. The only degree offered was a Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

in Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineering

, and no elective courses were available. All students were required to follow exactly the same program, which was so rigorous that nearly two thirds of the first class failed to complete it. The first graduating class consisted of two students in 1890, Henry L. Smith and George G. Crawford, who decided their graduation order on the flip of a coin.

Tech began its football program

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in collegiate level football. While the team is officially designated as the Yellow Jackets, it is also referred to as the Ramblin' Wreck. The Yellow Jackets are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

with several students forming a loose-knit troop of footballers called the Blacksmiths. The first season saw Tech play three games and lose all three. Discouraged by these results, the Blacksmiths sought a coach to improve their record. Leonard Wood

Leonard Wood

Leonard Wood was a physician who served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba and Governor General of the Philippines. Early in his military career, he received the Medal of Honor. Wood also holds officer service #2 in the Regular Army...

, a local Atlantan, heard of Tech's football struggles and volunteered to player-coach the team. In 1893, Tech played its first game against the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

(Georgia). Tech defeated Georgia 28-6 for the school's first-ever victory. The angry Georgia fans threw stones and other debris at the Tech players during and after the game. The poor treatment of the Blacksmiths by the Georgia faithful gave birth to the rivalry now known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate is the nickname given to an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team of the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Georgia Bulldogs football team of the University of Georgia. The two Georgia universities are...

The words to Georgia Tech's famous fight song, Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech

Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech

" Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" is the fight song of the Georgia Institute of Technology, better known as Georgia Tech. The composition is based on "Son of a Gambolier", composed by Charles Ives in 1895, the lyrics of which are based on an old English and Scottish drinking song of the same...

, are said to have come from an early baseball game against rival Georgia

University of Georgia

. Some sources credit Billy Walthall, a member of the first four-year graduating class, with the lyrics. According to a 1954 article in Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

, "Ramblin' Wreck" was written around 1893 by a Tech football player on his way to an Auburn game. In 1905, Georgia Tech adopted it as its official fight song, in roughly the current form, although it had apparently been the unofficial fight song for several years. It was published for the first time in the school's first yearbook, the 1908 Blueprint

Blueprint (yearbook)

Blueprint is Georgia Tech's official student yearbook. It was established in 1908 and is the second oldest student organization on campus. Their staff meets Thursday nights at 7 pm in Room 137 of the Student Services Building.-History:...

. Entitled "What causes Whitlock to Blush," words such as "hell" and "helluva" were censored as "certain words [are] too hot to print." After Michael A. Greenblatt, the first bandmaster

Bandmaster

A bandmaster is the leader and conductor of a band, usually a military band, brass band or a marching band.-British Armed Forces:In the British Armed Forces, a Bandmaster is always a Warrant Officer Class 1 . A commissioned officer who leads a band is known as the Director of Music...

of the Georgia Tech Marching Band

Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Marching Band

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Marching Band is the official marching band of the Georgia Institute of Technology...

, heard the band playing the song to the tune of Charles Ives's A Son of a Gambolier, he wrote a modern musical version. In 1911, Frank Roman

Frank Roman

Frank Roman was a musician, composer, and band director of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Marching Band at the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1913 to 1929...

succeeded Greenblatt as bandmaster; Roman embellished the song with trumpet flourishes and publicized it. Roman copyrighted the song in 1919.

Tech's first student publication was the Technologian, which ran for a short time in 1891. The next student publication was established in 1894 and was called The Georgia Tech. The Georgia Tech published a "Commencement Issue" that reviewed sporting events and gave information about each class. The Technique

The Technique

The Technique, also known as the "Nique," is the official student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia and has referred to itself as "the South's liveliest college newspaper" since 1945...

was founded in 1911; its first issue was published on November 17, 1911 by editors Albert Blohm and E.A. Turner, and the content revolved around the upcoming rivalry football game against the University of Georgia. The Technique has been published weekly ever since, with the exception of a brief period that the paper was published twice weekly. The Georgia Tech and the Technique operated separately for several years following the Techniques establishment, though the two publications eventually merged in 1916.

Engineering school

Includes the administration of Lyman Hall

Lyman Hall (academic)

Lyman Hall was a professor and president of the Georgia School of Technology . He is perhaps best known for bringing what is now the School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering to Georgia Tech...

(1896–1905)

In 1888, Captain

Captain (OF-2)

The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...

Lyman Hall

Lyman Hall (academic)

Lyman Hall was a professor and president of the Georgia School of Technology . He is perhaps best known for bringing what is now the School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering to Georgia Tech...

was appointed Georgia Tech's first mathematics professor, a position he held until his appointment as the school's second president in 1896. He had a solid background in engineering due to his time at West Point and often incorporated surveying and other engineering applications into his coursework. He had an energetic personality and quickly assumed a leadership position among the faculty. As president, Hall was noted for his aggressive fundraising and improvements to the school, including his special project, the A. French Textile School. In February 1899, Georgia Tech opened the first textile engineering school in the Southern United States

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

, with $10,000 from the Georgia General Assembly, $20,000 of donated machinery, and $13,500 from supporters. It named the A. French Textile School, after its chief donor and supporter, Aaron S. French

Aaron S. French

Aaron Samuel French was a Pennsylvanian philanthropist who played a large part in the establishment of Georgia Tech's textile engineering department, which opened in February 1899, and was the young school's fourth department...

. The textile engineering program would move to the Harrison Hightower Textile Engineering Building in 1949.

Lyman Hall's other goals included enlarging Tech and attracting more students, so he expanded the school's offerings beyond mechanical engineering; the new degrees introduced during Hall's administration included electrical engineering

Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...

and civil engineering

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

in December 1896, textile engineering in February 1899, and engineering chemistry

Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...

in January 1901. Hall also became infamous as a disciplinarian, even suspending the entire senior class of 1901 for returning from Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

vacation a day late.

The Tech football team

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football

noted a particular coach during their initial abysmal run: their first game of the 1903 season was a 73-0 destruction at the hands of John Heisman

John Heisman

John William Heisman was an American player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College , Buchtel College, now known as the University of Akron , Auburn University , Clemson University , Georgia Tech , the...

's Clemson Tigers

Clemson Tigers

The Clemson Tigers are any team that represents Clemson University as a member of the NCAA's Division I or in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference....

. Tech went after Heisman following the 1903 season, and hired him for $2,250 a year and 30% of the home ticket sales. Heisman would not disappoint the Tech faithful as his first season was an 8-1-1 performance. He would also muster a 5-game winning streak against the hated Georgia Bulldogs from 1904-1908 before incidents lead up to the cutting of athletic ties with Georgia in 1919.

Lyman Hall died on August 16, 1905 during a vacation at a New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

health resort. His death while still in office was attributed to stress from his strenuous fund raising activities (this time, for a new Chemistry building). Later that year, the school's trustees named the new chemistry building the "Lyman Hall Laboratory of Chemistry" in his honor.

On October 20, 1905, U.S. President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

visited the Georgia Tech campus. On the steps of Tech Tower, Roosevelt presented a speech about the importance of technological education:

He then shook hands with every student. Tech was later visited by president-elect

President-elect

An -elect is a political candidate who has been elected to an office but who has not yet been sworn in or officially taken office. These may include an incoming president, senator, representative, governor and mayor.Analogously, the term "designate" An -elect is a political candidate who has been...

William H. Taft on January 16, 1909 and president Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

on November 29, 1935.

World War I

Includes the administration of Kenneth G. Matheson

Kenneth G. Matheson

Kenneth Gordon Matheson was a professor at and a chancellor of several educational institutions.-Early life:...

(1906–1922)

Upon his hiring in 1904, John Heisman

John Heisman

(for whom the Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

is named) insisted that the Institute acquire its own football field. Previously, the team had used area parks, especially the playing fields of Piedmont Park

Piedmont Park

Piedmont Park is a urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's farm and residence...

. Georgia Tech took out a seven-year lease on what is now the southern end of Grant Field

Bobby Dodd Stadium

Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is the football stadium located at the corner of North Avenue at Techwood Drive on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, who completed the 2011 season with a loss to rival UGA...

, although the land wasn't adequate for sports, due to its unleveled, rocky nature. In 1905, Heisman had 300 convict laborers

Penal labour

Penal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...

clear rocks, remove tree stumps, and level out the field for play; Tech students then built a grandstand on the property. The land was purchased by 1913, and John W. Grant

John W. Grant

John W. Grant was a member of the Georgia School of Technology board of trustees and a well-known Atlanta merchant sometime around the 1880s.He was the grandson of John T. Grant and the son of William D...

donated $15,000 ($ today) towards the construction of the field's first permanent stands; the field was named Grant Field

Bobby Dodd Stadium

in honor of the donor's deceased son, Hugh Inman Grant.

Attempts at forming an alumni association had been made since 1896, until a charter was applied for by J. B. McCrary and William H. Glenn

William H. Glenn

William H. Glenn was an 1891 graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and president of the Southeastern Compress and Warehouse Company.-Early life and education:...

on June 28, 1906 and was approved two years later by Fulton County on June 20, 1908. The Georgia Tech Alumni Association

Georgia Tech Alumni Association

The Georgia Tech Alumni Association is the official alumni association for the Georgia Institute of Technology . Originally known as the Georgia Tech National Alumni Association, it was chartered in June 1908 and incorporated in 1947. Its offices have been in the L. W. "Chip" Roberts, Jr...

published its first annual report in 1908, but was largely dormant due to the pressures of World War I. The organization played an important role in the 1920s Greater Georgia Tech Campaign, which consolidated all existing alumni clubs and funded a significant expansion of Georgia Tech's campus.

Georgia Tech's Evening School of Commerce began holding classes in 1912. The school admitted its first female student in 1917, although the state legislature did not officially authorize attendance by women until 1920. Anna Teitelbaum Wise became the first female graduate in 1919 and went on to become Georgia Tech's first female faculty member the following year.

World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

caused several changes at the school. During the conflict and for some time afterwards, Georgia Tech hosted a school for cadet aviators and supply officers, army technicians, and started the a Reserve Officer Training Corps unit that would become a permanent addition to the school, the first in the Southern United States

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

. World War I would also affect the school academically: the United States government asked and paid for an automotive school for army officers, a rehabilitation program for disabled soldiers, and a geology department. Federal aid also helped to establish Tech's Industrial Education Department, courtesy of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917

Smith-Hughes Act

The Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act of 1917 was an act of the United States Congress that promoted vocational agriculture to train people "who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon the work of the farm," and provided federal funds for this purpose...

. The war also placed on hold extensive fundraising efforts for a new power plant, and made it difficult to find engineers willing to teach at the school; Matheson's tour of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and MIT in 1919 failed to secure a single hire, as none of the students wished to work for such low wages.

The bitter rivalry between Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia flared up in 1919, when UGA mocked Tech's continuation of football during the United States' involvement in World War I. Because Tech was a military training ground, it had a complete assembly of male students. Many schools, such as Georgia, lost all of their able-bodied male students to the war effort, forcing them to temporarily suspend football during the war. In fact, Georgia did not play a game from 1917-1918.

When UGA renewed its program in 1919, their student body staged a parade, which mocked Tech's continuation of football during times of war. The parade featured a tank

Tank

A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

shaped float

Float (parade)

A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the...

marked "Argonne

Forest of Argonne

The Forest of Argonne is a long strip of rocky mountain and wild woodland in north-eastern France.In 1792 Charles François Dumouriez outmaneuvered the invading forces of the Duke of Brunswick in the forest before the Battle of Valmy....

" with a sign "Georgia in France 1917" followed by an automobile with three people in Tech sweaters and caps bearing a sign "Tech in Atlanta". A printed program was subsequently distributed in the stands with a similar point. While the Tech faculty was able to prevent a riot, no apology was made, and thus this act would lead directly to Tech cutting athletic ties with UGA and canceling several of UGA's home football games at Grant Field

Bobby Dodd Stadium

(UGA commonly used Grant Field as its home field). Tech and UGA would not compete in athletics until the 1921 Southern Conference

Southern Conference

The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...

basketball tournament. Despite intense pressure on Tech to make amends, President Matheson stated that he would never change his mind unless "due apologies" were offered, and if he was overruled, he would resign. Regular season competition would not renew until after Matheson's retirement in a 1925 agreement between the two institutions, negotiated by athletic director

Athletic director

An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...

s J. B. Crenshaw and S. V. Sanford

Steadman Vincent Sanford

Steadman Vincent Sanford was President of the University of Georgia in Athens from 1932 until 1935. He subsequently served as Chancellor of the University System of Georgia from 1935 until 1945....

.

In 1916, Georgia Tech's football team

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football

(still coached by John Heisman) defeated Cumberland 222-0, the largest margin of victory in college football history. Cumberland's total net yardage was -28 (minus 28), and it had only one play for positive yards. Cumberland beat Georgia Tech's baseball team 22 to 0 the previous year, reportedly with the help of professional players Cumberland had hired as "ringers," an act which infuriated Heisman. Heisman coached Tech all the way up until 1919. He had amassed 104 wins over 16 seasons, and lead Tech to its first national title in 1917. However in 1919, he had divorced his wife and felt that he would embarrass his wife socially if he remained in Atlanta. Heisman moved to Pennsylvania, leaving Tech's Yellow Jackets in the hands of William Alexander.
In its first decades of existence, the school slowly grew from a trade school into a university. However, the state and federal governments provided little initiative for the school to grow significantly until 1919. That year, the Georgia General Assembly passed an act entitled "Establishing State Engineering Experiment Station at the Georgia School of Technology." This change coincided with federal debate about the establishment of Engineering Experiment Stations in a move similar to the Hatch Act of 1887

Hatch Act of 1887

The Hatch Act of 1887 gave federal funds, initially of $15,000 each, to state land-grant colleges in order to create a series of agricultural experiment stations, as well as pass along new information, especially in the areas of soil minerals and plant growth...

's establishment of agricultural experiment station

Agricultural experiment station

An agricultural experiment station is a research center that conducts scientific investigations to solve problems and suggest improvements in the food and agriculture industry...

s; each Engineering Experiment Station would be a consultant

Consultant

A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...

group dedicated to assisting a region's industrial efforts. Thus, the EES at Georgia Tech was established with the goal of the "encouragement of industries and commerce" within the state. However, the coinciding federal effort failed and the state did not finance the Georgia Tech's EES, so the new organization existed only on paper.

The latter years of Matheson's presidency were marred by a chronic shortage of funds. In 1919-1920, the school had 1,365 students using facilities designed for 700, and had the same appropriation in 1919 that it had in 1915, $100,000; 1915's appropriation was worth $ today, and 1919's appropriation was worth $; the value was nearly halved due to inflation. Matheson was able to acquire a $25,000 increase from the General Assembly that year. In 1920-1921, though, an increase of $125,000 (to $250,000) was passed but subsequently tabled due to differences between the House and Senate version of the bill unrelated to Tech. To continue running the school, a frantic scramble for funds was undertaken, resulting in $40,000 from the General Education Board

General Education Board

The General Education Board was a philanthropy created by John D. Rockefeller and Frederick T. Gates in 1902. Rockefeller gave it $180 million, which was used primarily to support higher education and medical schools in the United States, and to help rural white and black schools in the South, as...

, $30,000 from a loan fund organized by the Georgia Rotary Club, and a grant from the Atlanta City Council

Atlanta City Council

Atlanta City Council is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia. It consists of 15 members elected from districts within the city. The Atlanta City Government is divided into three bodies: the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The Atlanta City Council serves...

. The University of Georgia

University of Georgia

, in a similar financial condition, was forced to cut its faculty's salary. After this drama, the situation did not improve, though; in 1922-1923, only $112,500 of the requested $250,000 had been appropriated, leading Matheson to reluctantly start charging tuition of in-state students. The rates were $100 for in-state students ($ today) and $175 for out-of-state students ($ today). Georgia Tech still needed a $125,000 line of credit against its first professional fund-raising effort, the "Greater Georgia Tech Campaign".

As Matheson was leaving for the presidency of Drexel Institute in late 1921, he wrote in the Atlanta Constitution that while Georgia Tech was "my first love" he found it a "humiliating burden" to get enough money from the state legislature to run and enlarge the school. The Georgia Tech's Board of Trustees offered him a substantial pay increase, but his issue was with the politics of the time, and not with his financial situation.

Technological university

Includes the administration of Marion L. Brittain

Marion L. Brittain

Marion Luther Brittain, Sr. was an American academic administrator and president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1922 to 1944. Brittain was born in Georgia and, aside from a brief stint at the University of Chicago for graduate school, spent most of his life serving the educational...

(1922–1944)

On August 1, 1922, Marion L. Brittain

Marion L. Brittain

was elected as the school's president. During his tenure, Brittain was able to convince the state of Georgia to increase the school's funding. He had noted in he 1923 annual report that "there are more students in Georgia Tech than in any other two colleges in Georgia, and we have the smallest appropriation of them all." Additionally, a $300,000 grant ($ today) from the Guggenheim Foundation

Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation

The Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation is located at 950 Third Avenue in Manhattan.New York, NY 10022.-History:The Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation was founded in 1924.Between 1930 and 1941 the foundation financed Robert H. Goddard...

allowed Brittain to establish the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics. In 1930, Brittain's decision to use the money for a School of Aeronautics was controversial; today, the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering boasts the second largest faculty in the United States behind MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

. Other accomplishments during Brittain's administration included a doubling of Georgia Tech's enrollment, accreditation for the Institute by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...

, and the creation of a new ceramic engineering

Ceramic engineering

Ceramic engineering is the science and technology of creating objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials. This is done either by the action of heat, or at lower temperatures using precipitation reactions from high purity chemical solutions...

department, building, and major that attracted the American Ceramics Society's national convention to Atlanta.

During this era, William Alexander ran the Yellow Jackets football

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football

program. Tech resumed playing against the University of Georgia in 1925. In 1927, Alexander instituted "the Plan." Georgia was highly rated to start the 1927 season

1927 college football season

The 1927 college football season ended with the Illini of the University of Illinois being recognized as champion under the Dickinson system. In the Rose Bowl, the Pittsburgh Panthers were invited to play against the Pacific Coast Conference champion...

and justified their rating throughout the season going 9–0 in their first 9 games. Alexander's plan was to minimize injuries by benching his starters early no matter the score of every game before the UGA finale. On December 3, 1927, UGA rolled into Atlanta on the cusp of a National Title. Tech's well-rested starters shut out the Bulldogs 12–0 and ended any chance of UGA's first National Title. Alexander's 1928 team would be the very first Tech team to attend a bowl game. The team had amassed a perfect 9–0 record and was invited to the 1929 Rose Bowl

1929 Rose Bowl

The 1929 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game and the 15th annual Rose Bowl Game. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defeated the California Golden Bears by a score of 8-7. The game was notable for a play by California All-American Roy Riegels in which he scooped up a Georgia Tech fumble and ran...

to play California

California Golden Bears football

The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium, however the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium was being renovated, the team will return to...

. The game was a defensive struggle with the first points being scored after a Georgia Tech fumble. The loose ball was scooped up by California Center Roy Riegels

Roy Riegels

Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels played for the University of California, Berkeley football team from 1927 to 1929...

and then accidentally returned in the wrong direction. Riegels returned the ball all the way to Georgia Tech's 3 yard line. After Riegels was finally tackled by his own team, the Bears opted to punt from the end zone. The punt was blocked and converted by Tech into a safety giving Tech a 2–0 lead. Cal would score a touchdown and point after but Tech would score another touchdown to finally win the game 8–7. This victory made Tech the 10–0 undefeated National Champions of 1928

1928 college football season

The 1928 college football season had the USC Trojans recognized as champions under the Dickinson System, but the Rose Bowl was contested between the #2 and #3 teams, California and Georgia Tech...

. It was Tech's second National Title in 11 years.

In 1929, some Georgia Tech faculty members belonging to Sigma Xi

Sigma Xi

Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential...

started a Research Club at Tech that met once a month. One of the monthly subjects, proposed by ceramic engineering professor W. Harry Vaughan

W. Harry Vaughan

William Harry Vaughan, Jr. was a professor of ceramic engineering at the Georgia School of Technology and the founder and first director of what is now the Georgia Tech Research Institute.-Education:...

, was a collection of issues related to Tech, such as library development, and the development of a state engineering station. Such a station would theoretically assist local businesses with engineering problems via Georgia Tech's established faculty and resources. This group investigated the forty existing engineering experiments at universities around the country, and the report was compiled by Harold Bunger

Harold Bunger

Harold Alan Bunger was the head of Georgia Tech's chemistry department and the director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute from 1940 until his death in 1941....

, Montgomery Knight, and Vaughan in December 1929.

The Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

threatened the already tentative nature of Georgia Tech's funding. In a speech on April 27, 1930, Brittain proposed that the university system be reorganized under a central body, rather than having each university under its own board. As a result, the Georgia General Assembly

Georgia General Assembly

The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, being composed of the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate....

and Governor Richard Russell, Jr.

Richard Russell, Jr.

Richard Brevard Russell, Jr. was a Democratic Party politician from the southeastern state of Georgia. He served as state governor from 1931 to 1933 and United States senator from 1933 to 1971....

passed an act in 1931 that established the University System of Georgia

University System of Georgia

The University System of Georgia is the organizational body that includes 35 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The System is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates general policy to educational institutions as well as administering...

and the corresponding Georgia Board of Regents

Georgia Board of Regents

The Georgia Board of Regents oversees the University System of Georgia as part of the state government of Georgia in the United States. The University System of Georgia is composed of all state public institutions of higher education.-History:...

; unfortunately for Brittain and Georgia Tech, the board was composed almost entirely of graduates of the University of Georgia. In its final act on January 7, 1932, the Tech Board of Trustees sent a letter to the chairman of the Georgia Board of Regents outlining its priorities for the school. The Great Depression had effects on the school beyond organizational ones, though; enrollment dropped from 3,271 in 1931-1932 to a low of 2,482 in 1933-1934 and gradually increased afterwards. It also caused a decrease in funding from the State of Georgia, which in turn caused a decrease in faculty salaries, firing of graduate student assistants, and a postponing of building renovations.

As a cost-saving move, effective on July 1, 1934, the Georgia Board of Regents

Georgia Board of Regents

transferred control of the relatively large Evening School of Commerce to the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

and moved the small civil engineering program at UGA to Tech. The move was controversial, and both students and faculty protested against it, fearing that the Board of Regents would take other programs from Georgia Tech and reduce it to an engineering department of the University of Georgia. Brittian suggested that the lack of Georgia Tech alumni on the Board of Regents contributed to their decision. Despite the pressure, the Board of Regents held its ground. Some of the other effects included dramatically reduced enrollment (as seen in the numbers above) and a significant impact on the athletic program, as most athletes were in the commerce school; the depression also eliminated athletic scholarship

Athletic scholarship

An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...

s, which were replaced by a loan program. Plans for an industrial management department to replace and supersede the Evening School of Commerce were first made in fall 1934. The department was established in 1935, and evolved into Tech's College of Management

Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management

The College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology was established in 1934, and is consistently ranked in the top 30 management programs in the nation. It draws its distinction from its roots in a world-renowned technical university....

. The commerce school eventually split from UGA and became Georgia State University

Georgia State University

.

In 1933, S. V. Sanford, president of the University of Georgia, proposed that a "technical research activity" be established at Tech. President Marion L. Brittain

Marion L. Brittain

and Dean William Vernon Skiles

William Vernon Skiles

William Vernon Skiles was a professor of mathematics and dean at the Georgia Institute of Technology...

asked for and examined the Research Club's 1929 report, and moved to create such an organization. Vaughan

W. Harry Vaughan

was selected as its acting director in April 1934, and $5,000 in funds were allocated directly from the Georgia Board of Regents

Georgia Board of Regents

. These funds went to the previously established EES; its initial areas of focus were textiles, ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

s, and helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

engineering. Georgia Tech's EES later became the Georgia Tech Research Institute

Georgia Tech Research Institute

The Georgia Tech Research Institute is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

(GTRI).
The EES's early work was conducted in the basement of the Shop Building, and Vaughan's office was in the Aeronautical Engineering Building. By 1938, the Engineering Experiment Station was producing useful technology, and the station needed a method to conduct contract work outside of the state budget. Consequently, the Industrial Development Council (IDC) was formed. It was created by the Chancellor of the University System and the president of Georgia Power Company, and the Engineering Experiment Station's director was a member of the council. The IDC later became the Georgia Tech Research Corporation

Georgia Tech Research Corporation

The Georgia Tech Research Corporation is an organization that supports research and technological development at Georgia Tech. It was founded in 1937 as the Industrial Development Council to be a contract organization for the Engineering Experiment Station...

, which currently serves as the sole contract organization for all Georgia Tech faculty and departments.

In 1939, Engineering Experiment Station director Vaughan became the director of the School of Ceramic Engineering. He was the director of the station until 1940, when he accepted a higher-paying job at the Tennessee Valley Authority

Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...

and was replaced at EES by Harold Bunger

Harold Bunger

Harold Alan Bunger was the head of Georgia Tech's chemistry department and the director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute from 1940 until his death in 1941....

(the first chairman of Georgia Tech's chemical engineering department). The ceramics department was subsequently (but temporarily) discontinued due to World War II

World War II

, and all of the current students found wartime employment. The department would be reincarnated after the war under the guidance of Lane Mitchell

Lane Mitchell

Lane Mitchell was a ceramic engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the head of the Department of Ceramic Engineering there, now known as Georgia Tech's School of Materials Science and Engineering.-Education:Born in Atlanta, Mitchell attended the Georgia Institute of Technology ,...

.

The Cocking affair

Cocking affair

The Cocking affair was an attempt in 1941 by Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge to exert direct control over the state's educational system, particularly through the firing of Professor Walter Cocking and the subsequent removal of members of the Georgia Board of Regents who disagreed with the decision...

occurred in 1941 and 1942; Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge

Eugene Talmadge

Eugene Talmadge was a Democratic politician who served two terms as the 67th Governor of Georgia from 1933 to 1937, and a third term from 1941 to 1943. Elected to a fourth term in 1946, he died before taking office...

to exert direct control over the state's educational system, particularly through the firing of University of Georgia professor Walter Cocking

Walter Cocking

Walter Cocking was an academic administrator and the namesake for the 1941 controversy, the Cocking affair.-Early life and education:Cocking was born in Iowa, and earned a doctorate from Columbia University in New York.-Early career:...

, who had been hired to raise the relatively low academic standards at UGA's College of Education

University of Georgia College of Education

The University of Georgia College of Education is one of fifteen colleges and schools within the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States....

. Governor Talmadge justified his actions by asserting that Cocking intended to integrate a part of the University of Georgia. Cocking's removal and the subsequent removal of members of the Georgia Board of Regents

Georgia Board of Regents

(including the vice chancellor) who disagreed with the decision were particularly controversial. In response to the actions by Governor Talmadge, the Southern Association of Independent Schools

Southern Association of Independent Schools

The Southern Association of Independent Schools is a U.S.-based voluntary organization of more than 340 independent elementary and secondary schools through the South, representing more than 180,000 students...

withdrew accreditation

Accreditation

Accreditation is a process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented.Organizations that issue credentials or certify third parties against official standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies ; hence they are sometimes known as "accredited...

from all Georgia state-supported colleges for whites, including Georgia Tech. The controversy was instrumental in Talmadge's loss in the 1943 gubernatorial elections to Ellis Arnall

Ellis Arnall

Ellis Gibbs Arnall was an American politician, a progressive Democrat who served as the 69th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1943 to 1947.-Education:...

.

World War II

World War II

resulted in a dramatic increase of sponsored research, with the 1943-1944 budget being the first in which industry and government contracts exceeded the engineering station's other income (most notably, its state appropriation). Director Vaughan had initially prepared the faculty for fewer incoming contracts as state had cut the station's appropriation by 40 percent, but increased support from industry and government eventually counteracted low state support. The electronics and communications research that Directors Gerald Rosselot

Gerald Rosselot

Gerald A. Rosselot was a physicist and engineering executive at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Georgia Tech Research Institute and Bendix Corporation . He was an IEEE Fellow.-Early life:As a child, Rosselot traveled to France and England and was somewhat proficient in French...

and James E. Boyd

James E. Boyd (scientist)

James Emory "Jim" Boyd was an American physicist, mathematician, and academic administrator. He was director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute from 1957 to 1961, president of West Georgia College from 1961 to 1971, and acting president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1971 to...

attracted is still a mainstay of GTRI research. Two of the larger projects were a study on the propagation of electromagnetic waves

Radio propagation

Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves when they are transmitted, or propagated from one point on the Earth to another, or into various parts of the atmosphere...

, and United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

-sponsored radar research.

Until the mid 1940s, the school required students to be able to create a simple electric motor regardless of their major. During the second world war

World War II

, as an engineering school with strong military ties through its ROTC program, Georgia Tech was swiftly enlisted for the war effort. In early 1942 the traditional nine-month semester system was replaced by a year-round trimester year, enabling students to complete their degrees a year earlier. Under the plan, students were allowed to complete their engineering degrees while on active duty

Active duty

Active duty refers to a full-time occupation as part of a military force, as opposed to reserve duty.-Pakistan:The Pakistan Armed Forces are one of the largest active service forces in the world with almost 610,000 full time personnel due to the complex and volatile nature of Pakistan's...

. During World War II, Georgia Tech was one of only five U.S. colleges feeding the U.S. Navy's

United States Navy

officer program

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

, and was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program

V-12 Navy College Training Program

The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...

which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

Postwar changes and unrest

Includes the administration of Blake R. Van Leer (1944–1956)

Founded as the "Georgia School of Technology," the school assumed its present name on July 1, 1948 to reflect a growing focus on advanced technological and scientific research. The name change was first proposed on June 12, 1906, but never gained momentum until Van Leer's presidency. Unlike similarly named universities (such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

and the California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

), the Georgia Institute of Technology is a public

Public university

A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...

institution. Concurrent with the name change, President Emeritus

Emeritus

Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

Marion L. Brittain

published The Story of Georgia Tech, the first comprehensive, book-length history of the Institute.

The Southern Technical Institute

Southern Polytechnic State University

Southern Polytechnic State University is a public, co-educational state university located in Marietta, Georgia, USA just northwest of Atlanta...

(STI) was established in 1948 in barracks

Barracks

Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

on the campus

Campus

A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...

of the Naval Air Station Atlanta

Naval Air Station Atlanta

General D. Lucius Clay National Guard Center is a military facility located south of Marietta, Georgia, United States. It is located immediately south of Dobbins Air Reserve Base and shares its runways....

(now DeKalb Peachtree Airport) in Chamblee, northeast of Atlanta. At that time, all college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

s in Georgia were considered extensions of the state's four research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

universities, and the Southern Technical Institute belonged to Georgia Tech. STI was established as an engineering technology school, to help military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

personnel returning from World War II

World War II

gain a hands-on experience in technical fields. Around 1958, the school moved to Marietta, to land donated by Dobbins Air Force Base. The Southern Technical Institute was later split from Georgia Tech in 1981. The split coincided with the separation of most other regional schools from the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

, Georgia State University

Georgia State University

, and Georgia Southern University

Georgia Southern University

Georgia Southern University is a national public university located on a campus in Statesboro, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1906, it is part of the University System of Georgia and is the largest center of higher education in the southern half of Georgia offering 117 academic majors in a comprehensive...

.

The only women that had attended Georgia Tech did so through the School of Commerce. After it was removed in 1931, women were not able to enroll at the school until 1952. In 1952 women could only enroll in programs not offered at other universities in Georgia. In 1968 the Board of Regents voted to allow women to enroll in all programs at Tech. Also in 1968, Helen E. Grenga

Helen E. Grenga

Helen Eva Grenga was the first female professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.-Early life and education:Grenga graduated from Shorter College in 1960 with a B.A. in Chemistry, and from the University of Virginia in 1967 with a Ph.D...

became Georgia Tech's first female professor. The first women's dorm, Fulmer Hall

Fulmer Hall (Georgia Tech)

Fulmer Residence Hall is a traditional-style female residence hall at Georgia Tech. It opened in 1969 as the first female dormitory on the campus. It is dedicated to Herman K. Fulmer, who was an associate professor of Mathematics at Georgia Tech....

, opened in 1969. Women constituted 31.1% of the undergraduates and 25.5% of the graduate students enrolled in Fall 2010.
Glen P. Robinson

Glen P. Robinson

Glen Parmelee Robinson Jr. , called the "father of high-tech industry in Georgia", is a founder of Scientific Atlanta, now a subsidiary of Cisco Systems...

and six other Georgia Tech researchers (including Robinson's former professor and future EES director Jim Boyd

James E. Boyd (scientist)

and EES director Gerald Rosselot

Gerald Rosselot

) each contributed US$100 and founded Scientific Associates (later known as Scientific Atlanta) on October 31, 1951 with the initial goal of marketing antenna structures being developed by the radar branch of the EES. Robinson worked as the general manager without pay for the first year; after the fledgling company's first contract resulted in a $4,000 loss, Robinson (upon request) refunded five of the six other initial investors. Despite its rocky start, the company managed to become a success. In 1951, there was a dispute over station finances and Rosselot's hand in the foundation of Scientific Atlanta against Georgia Tech vice president Cherry Emerson

Cherry Logan Emerson (engineer)

Cherry Logan Emerson, Sr. was an American engineer and academic administrator.-Education:Emerson graduated from Georgia Tech with two bachelor's degrees: one in mechanical engineering and one in electrical engineering...

. Initially, Rosselot was president and CEO of Scientific Atlanta, but later handed off responsibility to Glen P. Robinson

Glen P. Robinson

Glen Parmelee Robinson Jr. , called the "father of high-tech industry in Georgia", is a founder of Scientific Atlanta, now a subsidiary of Cisco Systems...

; at issue was potential conflicts of interest

Conflicts of Interest

"Conflicts of Interest" is an episode from the fourth season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5.-Arc significance:* Garibaldi begins to work for William Edgars. In the process Garibaldi is reintroduced to his ex-girlfriend, Lise, who is currently married to Edgars.* The "Voice of...

with his role at Georgia Tech and what, if any, role Georgia Tech should have in technology transfer

Technology transfer

Technology Transfer, also called Transfer of Technology and Technology Commercialisation, is the process of skill transferring, knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing, samples of manufacturing and facilities among governments or universities and other institutions to ensure that...

to the marketplace. Rosselot eventually resigned his post at Georgia Tech, but his participation ensured the eventual success of Scientific Atlanta and made way for further technology transfer efforts by Georgia Tech's VentureLab

VentureLab

VentureLab is a technology commercialization project launched at Georgia Tech in 2001. It has since been adopted by the Georgia Research Alliance for other research universities in the state of Georgia...

and the Advanced Technology Development Center

Advanced Technology Development Center

The Advanced Technology Development Center is a science and business incubator in Georgia. It is part of the Enterprise Innovation Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and is headquartered in Technology Square. ATDC was formed in 1980 to stimulate growth in Georgia's technology...

.

This period also saw a significant expansion in Georgia Tech's postgraduate education

Postgraduate education

Postgraduate education involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of higher education...

programs, driven largely by the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

and the launch of Sputnik; this effort received substantial support from the EES. Despite its slow start, with the first Master of Science

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

programs in the 1920s and the first Doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

in 1946, the program became firmly established. In 1952 alone, around 80 students earned graduate degrees while working at EES. Herschel H. Cudd

Herschel H. Cudd

Hershel Herbert Cudd was the director of the Georgia Institute of Technology's Engineering Experiment Station from 1952 to 1954, succeeding Gerald Rosselot in that position. He would later become the president of Amoco Chemical Company and serve on the board of the R. J...

, EES director from 1952 to 1954, created a new promotion system for researchers that is still in use. Many EES researchers held the title of professor

Professors in the United States

In the U.S., "Professors" commonly occupy any of several positions in academia, typically the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor....

despite lacking a doctorate (or a comparable qualification for promotion as determined by the Georgia Board of Regents

Georgia Board of Regents

), something that irritated members of the teaching faculty. The new system, approved in spring 1953, used the Board of Regents' qualifications for promotion and mirrored the academic tenure track.

Sugar Bowl controversy

After a successful (8-1-1) 1955 American football season, Tech was invited to play in the 1956 Sugar Bowl

1956 Sugar Bowl

The 1956 Sugar Bowl featured the 7th ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and the 11th ranked Pitt Panthers. The game was played on January 2, since New Year's Day was a Sunday. Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl...

in New Orleans against the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

. It would be the school's fifth straight bowl appearance under renowned coach Bobby Dodd

Bobby Dodd

Robert Lee Dodd was an American college football coach at Georgia Tech. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player and coach, something that only three people have accomplished....

. Pittsburgh had a black starting player, fullback Bobby Grier, but as Tech played a 1953 game against a desegregated Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

team, and the University of Georgia had very recently played out-of-state games against desegregated opponents, president Blake Van Leer and the Tech Athletic Association

Georgia Tech Athletic Association

The Georgia Tech Athletic Association is a non-profit organization responsible for maintaining the intercollegiate athletic program at Georgia Tech. The Athletic Association is overseen by the Georgia Tech Athletic Board....

saw the game's contract as acceptable. However, racial tension in the South was high following the recent Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...

decision. Privately, Georgia Governor Marvin Griffin

Marvin Griffin

Samuel Marvin Griffin, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Georgia. He served as the 72nd Governor of Georgia from 1955 to 1959.-Early life:...

had given head coach Bobby Dodd his support, but surprised the campus and the state on Friday, December 2, 1955 by bowing to pressure from segregationists and sending a wire to the Georgia Board of Regents

Georgia Board of Regents

chairman, Robert A. Arnold, requesting not only that Tech not play the game, but all University System of Georgia teams play only segregated games.

Enraged, Tech students organized an impromptu protest rally on campus. At midnight, a large group of students hung the governor in effigy and ignited a bonfire. They then marched to Five Points

Five Points (Atlanta)

Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the primary reference for the downtown area. The name refers to the convergence of Marietta Street, Edgewood Avenue, Decatur Street, and two legs of Peachtree Street Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the...

, the Georgia State Capitol

Georgia State Capitol

The Georgia State Capitol, in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States, is an architecturally and historically significant building. It has been named a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the main office building of Georgia's government...

, and the Georgia Governor's Mansion

Georgia Governor's Mansion

The Governor's Mansion is the official home of the governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. The mansion is located at 391 West Paces Ferry Road NW, in the affluent Buckhead district of Atlanta.-Construction:...

, hanging the governor in effigy at each location. The students did some minor damage to Governor's Mansion before the march was dispersed by state representative "Muggsy" Smith at 3:30 a.m.
Van Leer's only comment to the media came on Saturday, December 3, 1955: "I am 60 years old and I have never broken a contract. I do not intend to start now." At a tense meeting of the Board of Regents on Monday, it was decided that Georgia Tech would be allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl. The new policy was that "all laws, customs and traditions of host states would be respected but all games played in Georgia would be segregated," a policy that would remain until 1963. The regents, with the exception of Tech alum David Rice, condemned the "riotous" behavior of Tech students. Rice instead criticized Marvin Griffin, and was lauded by The Technique

The Technique

as the "only man with the moral conviction to stand up against Griffin, ... and co." Ironically, Tech defeated Pittsburgh 7-0 because of a pass interference call on the black player in question (Bobby Grier). Blake Van Leer died six weeks after this incident, on January 23, 1956; the stress of the incident was believed to have shortened his life.

Integration and expansion

Includes the administrations of Paul Weber

Paul Weber (academic)

Paul Weber was the interim president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from previous president Blake Ragsdale Van Leer's death until a replacement was found in Edwin D...

(interim, February 1956-August 1957), Edwin D. Harrison

Edwin D. Harrison

Edwin Davies Harrison was the sixth president of the Georgia Institute of Technology , from 1957 to 1969. It was in Harrison's honor that the first 'T' was stolen from the face of Tech Tower....

(1957–1969) and Arthur G. Hansen

Arthur G. Hansen

Arthur Gene "Art" Hansen was a philanthropist and former chancellor of several American universities.-Education:...

(1969–1971)

After Georgia Tech president Blake Van Leer died in office, Paul Weber

Paul Weber (academic)

Paul Weber was the interim president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from previous president Blake Ragsdale Van Leer's death until a replacement was found in Edwin D...

was acting president from January 1956 to August 1957, while still holding the title of Dean of Faculties. After the selection of a replacement in Edwin D. Harrison

Edwin D. Harrison

Edwin Davies Harrison was the sixth president of the Georgia Institute of Technology , from 1957 to 1969. It was in Harrison's honor that the first 'T' was stolen from the face of Tech Tower....

, Weber remained a Georgia Tech administrator and was named Vice President for Planning in 1966.

On January 17, 1961, a meeting of 2,741 students in the Old Gym voted by an overwhelming majority to endorse integration of qualified applicants, regardless of race. Three years after the meeting, and one year after the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

's violent integration, Georgia Tech became the first university in the Deep South

Deep South

The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...

to desegregate without a court order, with Ford Greene, Ralph A. Long, Jr. and Lawrence Michael Williams becoming Georgia Tech's first three African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

students. The ANAK Society

ANAK Society

The ANAK Society is the oldest known secret society and honor society at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1908, ANAK's purpose is "to honor outstanding juniors and seniors who have shown both exemplary leadership and a true love for Georgia Tech"...

claims to have met with their families and discreetly kept an eye on the students once they enrolled to ensure peaceful integration.

There was little reaction to this by Tech students who, like the city of Atlanta described by former mayor William Hartsfield, were "too busy to hate." However, Lester Maddox

Lester Maddox

Lester Garfield Maddox was an American politician who was the 75th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971....

chose to close his restaurant (near the modern-day Burger Bowl

Burger Bowl

Burger Bowl is an athletic field on the West Campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology, at the intersection of Hemphill Avenue and Ferst Street. It is located behind the Fitten, Freeman, and Montag dorms....

) rather than desegregate, after losing a year-long legal battle in which he challenged the constitutionality of the public accommodations section (Title II) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...

. In 1965, John Gill became The Technique

The Technique

s first black editor, and Tech's first black professor, William Peace, joined the faculty of the Department of Social Sciences in 1968.

The iconic 1930 Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

Model A

Ford Model A (1927)

The Ford Model A of 1927–1931 was the second huge success for the Ford Motor Company, after its predecessor, the Model T. First produced on October 20, 1927, but not sold until December 2, it replaced the venerable Model T, which had been produced for 18 years...

Sport coupe that serves as the official mascot of the student body, the Ramblin' Wreck, was acquired in this era. The Wreck is present at all major sporting events and student body functions and leads the football team

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football

into Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field

Bobby Dodd Stadium

, a duty it has performed since 1961. Dean of Student Affairs Jim Dull recognized a need for an official Ramblin' Wreck when he observed the student body's fascination with classic cars. Fraternities, in particular, would parade around their House Wrecks as displays of school spirit and enthusiasm. It was considered a rite of passage

Rite of passage

A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....

to own a broken down vehicle. In 1960, Dull began a search for a new official symbol to represent the Institute. He specifically wanted a classic pre-war

World War II

Ford. Dull's search would entail newspaper ads, radio commercials, and other means to locate this vehicle. The search took him throughout the state and country, but no suitable vehicle was found until the autumn of 1960. Dean Dull spotted a polished 1930 Ford Model A outside of his apartment located in Towers Dormitory

Towers Hall (Georgia Tech)

Towers Residence Hall is an all male residence hall in the Georgia Tech Freshman Experience located on the east side of campus. Towers is dedicated to Donigan Dean Towers.-History:...

. The owner was Captain Ted J. Johnson, Atlanta's chief Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

pilot. When Johnson returned to his car, he found a note from Dean Dull attached to his windshield. Dull's note offered to purchase the car to serve as Georgia Tech's official mascot. Johnson, after great deliberation, agreed to take $1,000 but would eventually return the money in 1984 so that the car would be remembered as an official donation to Georgia Tech and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund. The Ramblin' Wreck would be officially transferred to the Athletic Association on May 26, 1961.
James E. Boyd

James E. Boyd (scientist)

was promoted to Assistant Director of Research at the Engineering Experiment Station

Georgia Tech Research Institute

The Georgia Tech Research Institute is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

in 1954, and then appointed as Director of the station from July 1, 1957 until 1961. While at Georgia Tech, Boyd wrote an influential article about the role of research centers

Research institute

A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research...

at institutes of technology, which argued that research should be integrated with education, and correspondingly involved undergraduates in his research. Under Boyd's purview, the Engineering Experiment Station gained many electronics-related contracts, to the extent that an Electronics Division was created in 1959; it would focus on radar and communications. The establishment of research facilities was also championed by Boyd. In 1955, Georgia Tech president Blake R. Van Leer

Blake Ragsdale Van Leer

Blake Ragsdale Van Leer was the fifth president of Georgia Institute of Technology from 1944 until his death.-Early life and education:...

appointed Boyd to Georgia Tech's Nuclear Science Committee. The committee recommended the creation of a Radioisotopes Laboratory Facility and a large research reactor. The $4.5 million ($ today) Frank H. Neely Research Reactor

Neely Nuclear Research Center

The Frank H. Neely Nuclear Research Center, also known as the Neely Research Reactor and the Georgia Tech Research Reactor is a nuclear engineering research center on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus, which had a live, 5 megawatt heavy-water-cooled research reactor from 1961 until 1996....

would be completed in 1963 and would be operational until 1996.

Students across the nation protested the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

, even at similar institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

, where students picketed and blocked access to the Draper Laboratory

Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

Draper Laboratory is an American not-for-profit research and development organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Draper focuses on the design, development, and deployment of advanced technology solutions to problems in national security, space exploration, health care and energy.Originally...

that was producing guidance systems for the Poseidon missile. While The Technique

The Technique

did publish editorials against the United States' involvement, the Student Council easily defeated a bill endorsing the Vietnam Moratorium in the fall of 1969. While there were significant protests at other institutions that conducted military research, there were no protests against the military electronics research at the Georgia Tech Research Institute

Georgia Tech Research Institute

The Georgia Tech Research Institute is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

.

There was similar nationwide concern over the United States' involvement in the Cambodian Civil War

Cambodian Civil War

The Cambodian Civil War was a conflict that pitted the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and their allies the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Viet Cong against the government forces of Cambodia , which were supported by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam The Cambodian...

, resulting in the Kent State shootings

Kent State shootings

The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...

, which in turn caused about 450 colleges to suspend classes. In Georgia, the student response was largely restrained. Several hundred students at the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

marched on the home of president Frederick Corbet Davison

Frederick Corbet Davison

Frederick Corbet "Fred" Davison was the President of the University of Georgia in Athens. He served in that capacity from 1967 until his resignation in 1986.-Early life and education:...

demanding that the school be closed; consequently, all schools in the University System of Georgia

University System of Georgia

were closed on May 8 and 9. While there were no protests at Tech, the students were still concerned over the events at Kent State; on May 8, four hundred students and faculty filled Bertha Square for a student-organized memorial, after which the students left quietly.

A 1965 plan signaled the beginning of Tech's expansion to include what is now West Campus. The area west of Hemphill Avenue

Hemphill Avenue

The Hemphill Avenue neighborhood was until the late 1960s a multi-racial working class neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia roughly bounded by 10th Street, Hemphill Avenue, North Avenue and Marietta Street...

, for decades the campus' western border, was then a working-class multiracial neighborhood, and Hemphill itself was a major city thoroughfare connecting Buckhead, the Atlantic Steel Mill, Techwood Homes

Techwood Homes

Techwood Homes was the first public housing project in the United States, opened just before the First Houses. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, it replaced a shantytown known as Tanyard Bottom or Tech Flats. It was completed on August 15, 1936, but was dedicated on November 29 of the previous year by...

and Downtown

Downtown Atlanta

Downtown Atlanta is the first and largest of the three financial districts in the city of Atlanta. Downtown Atlanta is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters, city, county, state and federal government facilities, sporting facilities, and is the central tourist attraction of the city...

Reorganization and tradition

Includes the administrations of James E. Boyd

James E. Boyd (scientist)

(interim, 1971-1972), Joseph M. Pettit

Joseph M. Pettit

Joseph Mayo Pettit was an engineer who became president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1972 to 1986.-Biography:...

(1972–1986) and John Patrick Crecine

John Patrick Crecine

(1987–1994)

In a little under a month after James E. Boyd had assumed vice chancellorship of the University System of Georgia, then-Georgia Tech president Arthur G. Hansen

Arthur G. Hansen

Arthur Gene "Art" Hansen was a philanthropist and former chancellor of several American universities.-Education:...

resigned. Chancellor George L. Simpson appointed Boyd as Acting President of Georgia Tech, a post he held from May 1971 to March 1972. As president, Boyd resolved two long-standing issues: the attempted takeover of the Georgia Tech Research Institute by departing president Hansen, and intense alumni pressure to fire football coach Bud Carson

Bud Carson

Leon H. "Bud" Carson was an American football coach best known for his role on the Pittsburgh Steelers' championship teams of the 1970s.-Player:Carson played defensive back for North Carolina from 1949 to 1951, then entered the Marines.-Georgia Tech:...

. Boyd held the position until a president was found in March 1972; he was succeeded in the position by Joseph M. Pettit

Joseph M. Pettit

Joseph Mayo Pettit was an engineer who became president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1972 to 1986.-Biography:...

.

Georgia Tech's mascot Buzz

Buzz (mascot)

Buzz is one of the two official mascots of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Buzz is usually represented as a stylized yellowjacket with yellow-and-black fur, white wings, a yellow head, and antennae. He is almost never drawn with six legs, but rather with arms, legs, hands and feet , like a...

got his start in the 1970s. The original Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket mascot was Judi McNair who donned a homemade yellowjacket costume in 1972 and performed at home football games. She rode on the Ramblin' Wreck and appears in the 1972 Georgia Tech Blueprint yearbook. McNair's mascot was considered a great idea, as it was a big hit with the fans. In 1979, McNair's idea for a Yellow Jacket was reintroduced by another Georgia Tech student, Richie Bland. Bland, who was apparently unaware of McNair's prior initiative, paid $1,400 to have a local theme park costume designer make a yellowjacket costume that he first wore at a pep rally prior to the Tennessee football game. Rather than obtain permission from Georgia Tech as Judi had done in 1972, this student simply snuck onto the field in costume during a football game and ran across the field. The fans naturally believed that this costumed character was acting as an official member of the cheerleading

Cheerleading

Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...

squad and responded accordingly. By 1980, this new incarnation of the yellow jacket mascot was given the name Buzz Bee and was adopted as an official mascot by Georgia Tech. This new Buzz character would be the model for a new Georgia Tech emblem, designed in 1985 by Mike Lester.

Thomas E. Stelson

Thomas E. Stelson

Thomas Eugene Stelson was an American civil engineer. He was the Vice President for Research at the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1974 to 1988 and Executive Vice President of the Institute from 1988 until 1990 when he left Georgia Tech to become a founding administrator at Hong Kong...

was Georgia Tech's Vice President for Research from 1974 to 1988, where he emphasized the importance of both basic research and applied research, given that the relative merits of each formed somewhat of a longstanding cultural war at the school. An increased focus on research activities allowed more funding for academics, which allowed the school's ranking to start a long and continuing rise from the 20s. Stelson simultaneously served as the interim director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute

Georgia Tech Research Institute

The Georgia Tech Research Institute is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

from 1975 to 1976, during which time he reorganized the station into eight semi-autonomous laboratories in order to allow each to develop a specialization and clientele, a model that GTRI retains (with slight modifications) to this day. From 1988 to 1990, Stelson was the Executive Vice President (Provost

Provost (education)

A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....

) of the Institute from 1988 until 1990. During Stelson's tenure at Georgia Tech, annual research spending grew from $8 million to $122 million. Stelson had hoped to become the next president of Georgia Tech, but John Patrick Crecine

John Patrick Crecine

was selected instead.

The Institute celebrated its centennial in 1985. Among other observances, a time capsule

Time capsule

A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...

was placed in the Student Center, and a team of historians wrote a comprehensive guide to Georgia Tech's history, Engineering the New South: Georgia Tech 1885-1985 (ISBN 0-8203-0784-X). A companion course was taught that year by two of the book's six authors. The course was offered again in 1999 as a swan song

Swan song

"Swan song" is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan is completely silent during its lifetime until the moment just before death, when it sings one beautiful song...

to the quarter system.
Institute President John Patrick Crecine

John Patrick Crecine

proposed a controversial restructuring of the university in 1988. The Institute at that point had three colleges: the College of Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology College of Engineering

The College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technologyprovides formal education and research in more than 10 fields of engineering, including:...

, the College of Management

Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management

, and the catch-all COSALS, the College of Sciences and Liberal arts. Crecine reorganized the latter two into the College of Computing

Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing

The College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology has roots stretching back to an Information Science degree established in 1964. In 1988, Georgia Tech president John Patrick Crecine elevated the School of Information and Computer Science to become the College of Computing, making...

, the College of Sciences

Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

The College of Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the six colleges in the institute.-History:Until 1990, there was no independent college for the sciences. Before then, there had been three colleges: the College of Engineering, the College of Engineering, and COSALS, the...

, and the Ivan Allen College of Management, Policy, and International Affairs. Crecine announced the changes without asking for input, and consequently many faculty members disliked him for his top-down management style. The administration sent out ballots in 1989, and the proposed changes passed, with very slim margins. The restructuring took effect in January 1990. While Crecine was seen in a poor light at the time, the changes he made are considered visionary. In January 1994, Crecine resigned. According to historian August Geibelhaus, "There was controversy in every step. Management fought this, because they were the big losers... Crecine was under fire."

In October 1990, Tech's first overseas campus, Georgia Tech Lorraine

Georgia Tech Lorraine

Georgia Tech Lorraine is a campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Metz, France and plays a pivotal role in Georgia Tech's International Plan.-History:...

(GTL), opened. It is a non-profit corporation operating under French law. GTL primarily focuses on graduate education, sponsored research, and an undergraduate summer program. In 1997, GTL was sued under Toubon Law

Toubon Law

The Toubon Law , is a law of the French government mandating the use of the French language in official government publications, in all advertisements, in all workplaces, in commercial contracts, in some other commercial communication contexts, in all government-financed schools, and some other...

because the course descriptions on its internet site were not provided in French; these course descriptions constituted an advertisement for this private college and thus fell under the Toubon Law. The case was dismissed on a technicality, though the GTL site now offers course descriptions in English, French and German.

John Patrick Crecine was instrumental in securing the 1996 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

for Atlanta. A dramatic amount of construction occurred, creating most of what is now considered "West Campus" in order for Tech to serve as the Olympic Village

Olympic Park

An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics complex in the case of the summer games, or the main...

. The Undergraduate Living Center, Fourth Street Apartments, Sixth Street Apartments, Eighth Street Apartments

Eighth Street Apartments

Eighth Street Apartments are apartment-style residence halls at Georgia Tech. They opened in 1995 as housing for the athletes and journalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA as a part of the Olympic Village....

, Hemphill Apartments, and Center Street Apartments housed athletes and journalists. The Georgia Tech Aquatic Center

Georgia Tech Aquatic Center

]The Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center is part of the Georgia Tech campus.-History:...

was built for swimming events, and the Alexander Memorial Coliseum

Alexander Memorial Coliseum

The Alexander Memorial Coliseum is an indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the home of the basketball teams of Georgia Tech and hosted the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA from 1968–1972 and again from 1997–1999...

was renovated.

Modern history

Includes the administrations of G. Wayne Clough

G. Wayne Clough

Gerald Wayne Clough is President Emeritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a position he has held since July 2008...

(1994–2008) and George P. "Bud" Peterson

George P. "Bud" Peterson

George P. "Bud" Peterson is the 11th president of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Peterson is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he earned B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics and an M.S. in Engineering, and Texas A&M University, where he earned a Ph.D in...

(2009-present)

In 1994, G. Wayne Clough

G. Wayne Clough

Gerald Wayne Clough is President Emeritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a position he has held since July 2008...

became the first Tech alumnus to serve as the President of the Institute, and was in office during the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1998, he separated the Ivan Allen College of Management, Policy, and International Affairs into the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology has gradually evolved to contain a wide variety of liberal arts subjects at a school known predominantly for engineering...

and returned the College of Management

Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management

to "College" status. During his tenure, research expenditures have increased from $212 million to $425 million, enrollment has increased from 13,000 to 18,000, Tech received the Hesburgh Award

Hesburgh Award

The Hesburgh Award is an award, established in 1993, given by TIAA-CREF to a university that has exceptional faculty development programs. It is named for Theodore M...

, and Tech's U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...

rankings have steadily improved.
Clough's tenure especially focused on a dramatic expansion and modernization of the institute. Coinciding with the rise of personal computers, computer ownership became mandatory for all students in 1997. In 1998, Georgia Tech was the first university in the Southeastern United States to provide its fraternity and sorority houses with internet access. A campus Local Area Wireless/Walkup Network (LAWN) was established in 1999, and now covers most of campus.

In 1999, Georgia Tech began offering local degree programs to engineering students in Southeast Georgia, and in 2003 established a physical campus in Savannah, Georgia

Savannah, Georgia

, called Georgia Tech Savannah

Georgia Tech Savannah

Georgia Tech Savannah is a satellite campus of the Atlanta-based Georgia Institute of Technology. It is located in Savannah, Georgia, near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. The Savannah campus offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in four engineering majors: Civil, Computer,...

. Clough's administration has also focused on improved undergraduate research opportunities and the creation of an "International Plan" degree option that requires students to spend two terms abroad and take internationally focused courses.

A "Master Plan

Comprehensive planning

Comprehensive planning is a term used in the United States by land use planners to describe a process that determines community goals and aspirations in terms of community development. The outcome of comprehensive planning is the Comprehensive Plan which dictates public policy in terms of...

" for the physical growth and development of the institute has existed since 1912, and has seen significant revisions in 1952, 1965, 1991, 1997, and 2002. The latter two of those major revisions have been under Clough's guidance. While Clough was in office, around $1 billion was spent on expanding or improving the campus. These projects include the construction of the Manufacturing Related Disciplines Complex, 10th and Home, Tech Square, The Biomedical Complex, the completion and subsequent renovations of several west campus dorms, the Student Center renovation, the expanded 5th Street Bridge, the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center

Georgia Tech Aquatic Center

]The Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center is part of the Georgia Tech campus.-History:...

's renovation into the CRC, the new Health Center, the Klaus Advanced Computing Building

Klaus Advanced Computing Building

The Christopher W. Klaus Advanced Computing Building is a three-story academic building at the Georgia Institute of Technology that houses a portion of its College of Computing, College of Engineering, and related programs.-Financing:...

, the Molecular Science and Engineering Building, and the Nanotechnology Research Center

Nanotechnology Research Center

The Marcus Nanotechnology Research Center is a nanotechnology research center located in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus. Formally opened on April 24, 2009, the NRC was constructed on the site of the Electronics Research Building, the former home of...

.

The school has also taken care to maintain its Historic District, with several projects dedicated to the preservation or improvement of Tech Tower

Tech Tower

, the school's first and oldest building and its primary administrative center. As part of Phase I of the Georgia Tech Master Plan of 1997, the area was made more pedestrian-friendly with the removal of access roads and the addition of landscaping improvements, benches, and other facilities. The National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

has listed the Georgia Tech Historic District

Georgia Institute of Technology Historic District

The Historic District of the Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as the Old Campus of Georgia Tech or the Hill District, is significant in the areas of architecture, education, engineering and science, as well as landscape architecture. The area is a Registered Historic Place and part of...

since 1978. In the 2007 "Best of Tech" issue of The Technique

The Technique

, students voted "construction" as Georgia Tech's worst tradition.

On March 15, 2008, Clough was appointed to lead the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

, effective July 1, 2008. Dr. Gary Schuster

Gary Schuster

Gary Benjamin Schuster was the interim president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, a position he held from July 1, 2008, when former president G. Wayne Clough stepped down, until April 1, 2009, when George P. "Bud" Peterson was named Georgia Tech's permanent president...

, Tech's Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, was named Interim President, effective July 1, 2008. On February 9, 2009, George P. "Bud" Peterson

George P. "Bud" Peterson

, chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

of the University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

was named the finalist of the presidential search. On April 20, 2010, Georgia Tech was invited to join the Association of American Universities

Association of American Universities

The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...

, the first new member institution in nine years.

Establishment

Early years

Engineering school

World War I

Technological university

Postwar changes and unrest

Sugar Bowl controversy

Integration and expansion

Reorganization and tradition

Modern history

See also