Georgia Tech President Peterson Announces Plans to Retire as President

Georgia Institute of Technology President G.P. “Bud” Peterson today announced he will retire as president in the summer of 2019, a position he’s served in since 2009.

“The opportunity to serve as president of Georgia Tech the past 10 years has been one of the highlights of my career,” Peterson said. “Georgia Tech is a great institution and great institutions are built on great people, great faculty, great staff and great students. Since our very first visit to Georgia Tech in the fall of 2008, Val and I have continued to be impressed with the quality of the people of Georgia Tech and the dedication and commitment to making Georgia Tech the nationally recognized institution that it is today.”

“President Peterson’s extraordinary contributions to Georgia Tech, a top-10 public research university, are unmatched,” said Chancellor Steve Wrigley. “Under Bud’s leadership, Georgia Tech became the first institution in a decade to receive an invitation to join the prestigious Association of American Universities. His focus on research led to an increase in total awards from $445 million to $851 million. At the same time, he grew student enrollment, including the number of women enrolled in first-year classes and transformed the landscape of midtown Atlanta. Whether in academic distinction, student growth or reputation for research, Georgia Tech has flourished under Bud’s tenure. His vision and achievements will continue to leave their mark on the university and its graduates for years to come. I’m grateful for his service to our students and the University System of Georgia, and wish him well as he embarks on his next chapter.”

Other accomplishments during Peterson’s presidency include:

• Significantly expanded Georgia Tech’s presence in Tech Square along with individual “corporate innovation centers.” Since 2013, 30 corporations have established innovation centers in and around Tech Square, and several corporations have moved their world headquarters to Atlanta in part because of access to talent and technologies being developed Georgia Tech.

• Developed the collaborative relationship that has resulted in the construction of Coda in Tech Square. Slated to open in spring 2019, Coda is a $375 million, 750,000 square-foot facility that includes Tech’s high-performance computing, startups and corporations.

• Exceeded the $1.5 billion goal for Campaign Georgia Tech by 20 percent, raising over $1.8 billion in support of Georgia Tech.

• As part of its commitment to affordability and access for Georgia’s top students, in fall 2014 Georgia Tech began offering automatic acceptance and four-year in-state tuition scholarships to all Atlanta Public School valedictorians and salutatorians. The Georgia Scholars program was implemented in 2017, offering automatic acceptance for all valedictorians and salutatorians in accredited Georgia high schools.

• Initiated several online MS programs, increasing overall graduate student enrollment by 100 percent. Collaborations with AT&T resulted in the launch of the Online Master of Science in Computer Science. OMS CS now has 7,500 students. There have been more than 1,000 graduates, 8 percent of the MS degrees in Computer Science in the US. Two other programs have launched: Online MS degree in Data Analytics; Online MS in Cybersecurity that launched January 2019.

• Enhanced the campus with the addition of the Marcus Nanotechnology Building, Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, Roger A. and Helen B. Krone Engineered Biosystems Building. Projects under construction include Coda high performance computing building, library buildings, Campus Safety building, Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, Dalney building project, Georgia Tech Cobb Research Center, Campus Center and ACC Network Production Center.

• Increased Georgia Tech enrollment by 69 percent (24 percent for undergraduates and 159 percent for graduate students.) At the same time, undergraduate enrollment applications have more than tripled over the past decade, and graduate applications have doubled. The number of women in the first-year class has increased from 32 to 40 percent.

The University System of Georgia will organize a national search for Peterson’s replacement in the coming days.