Click here for the full list of Georgia Tech faculty and staff awardees.

College of Sciences faculty and teaching assistants were recently recognized for their educational and research excellence during the 2023 Georgia Tech Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon, held April 21 at the Exhibition Hall.

The awards included Institute-wide honors and those from Georgia Tech’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Honorees were recognized for their service, activities, and accomplishments over the past academic year. 

Please join us in congratulating College of Sciences faculty and teaching assistants who received 2023 Georgia Tech and CTL awards:

Georgia Tech Chapter, Sigma Xi Awards

Best Faculty Paper 

Itamar Kimchi, Assistant Professor, Physics


Institute Research Awards

Outstanding Achievement in Research Innovation

Younan Xia, Brock Family Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry 

 

Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor

John R. Reynolds, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

 

Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development

Spaceflight Project Group

Christopher Carr, Assistant Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences/Aerospace Engineering


ANAK Awards

Outstanding Faculty

Timothy Cope, Professor, Biological Sciences


Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Awards

Undergraduate Educator

Adam J. Decker, Senior Academic Professional, Biological Sciences

 

Geoffrey G. Eichholz Faculty Teaching

Mary E. Peek. Principal Academic Professional, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Emily Weigel, Senior Academic Professional, Biological Sciences

 

Center for Teaching and Learning/BP Junior Faculty Teaching

Anton Bernshteyn, Assistant Professor, Mathematics

Gongjie Li, Assistant Professor, Physics

 

Innovation in Co-Curricular Education 

Pamela Pollet, Senior Research Scientist, Chemistry and Biochemistry

 

International Initiatives Award

Steven A. Denning Faculty Award for Global Engagement

Anton Leykin, Professor, Mathematics

 

Faculty Honors Committee Awards

Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher

Dan Margalit, Professor, Mathematics

 

Center for Teaching and Learning Teaching Assistant (TA) and Future Faculty Awards

(These awards were presented April 19 in the Georgia Tech Exhibition Hall.) 

 

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant of the Year

Charlotte Carl, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences 

Bret Hendricks, Mathematics

Maeve Janecka, Biological Sciences

Benjamin Peer, Chemistry and Biochemistry 

 

Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year

Santana Afton, Mathematics

Alex Costa, Biological Sciences

Erin Griffith, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Tiffany Nguyen, Psychology

Markace Rainey, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Leo Wood, Physics

 

Graduate Student Instructor 

James Anderson, Mathematics

Terri Dunbar, Psychology

Cassandra Shriver, Biological Sciences and Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP)

 

Online TA of the Year

Mollene Denton, Mathematics
 

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) TA Awards

CIRTL Associate Certificates

Stephanie Bilodeau, Biological Sciences

Katherine Booth, Mathematics

Abigail Diering, Chemistry and Biochemistry 

Luke Foster, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Eliza Gazda, Physics

Chad Gomard-Henshaw, Physics

Sarah Gonzalez, Physics

Erin Griffith, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Abigail Hagwood, Chemistry

Kamisha Hill, Chemistry

Mary Kho, Biological Sciences

Na Liu, Physics

Ravyn Malatesta, Chemistry

Sarah Roney, Biological Sciences

Afaf Saaidi, Mathematics

Steven Tarr, Physics

Alisha Vera, Physics

Mengshi Zhang, Biological Sciences

 

CIRTL Associate and Tech to Teaching Certificates

Rebecca Guth-Metzler, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Taehun Kim, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Katie Kuo, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Kavita Matange, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Emily Saccuzzo, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Breanna Shi, Biological Sciences

 

Tech to Teaching Certificates

Austin Christian, Mathematics

Sierra Knavel, Mathematics

Andrew Kristof, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Athulya Ram Sreedharan Nair, Mathematics

Danielle Skinner, Physics

Yan Zhang, Chemistry and Biochemistry

 

Graduate Teaching Fellows

Maugan Lloyd, Psychology

Jelly Vanderwoude, Biological Sciences

 

International TA Liaisons

Chang Ding, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

 

Georgia Tech's 264th Commencement, held May 5 and 6 at Bobby Dodd Stadium, celebrated 5,673 graduates. Tap here for a few moments captured during the event.

More images from Spring Commencement are available on Flickr.

The College of Sciences at Georgia Tech continues to advance in the graduate school rankings published by the U.S. News and World Report.

Released on April 25, the 2023-2024 U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings features all six College of Sciences schools among its best science schools for graduate studies:

  • Biological Sciences – No. 37
  • Chemistry – No. 20
  • Earth Sciences – No. 33
  • Mathematics – No. 20
  • Physics – No. 21
  • Psychology – No. 39

The 2023-2024 rankings of doctoral programs in the sciences are based solely on the results of surveys sent by U.S. News to academic officials in fall 2022 and early 2023 in chemistry, earth science, mathematics, physics, and computer science (which is part of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, see here). Surveys for biological sciences, statistics and biostatistics were sent to academic officials in fall 2021 and early 2022.

Georgia Tech College of Sciences rankings

Biological Sciences retains its No. 37 rank from 2022, in a nine-way tie with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Dartmouth College, Indiana University-Bloomington, Ohio State University, University of Utah, and UT Health MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Chemistry and Biochemistry rises by one spot to No. 20, tied with Johns Hopkins University, Ohio State University, and University of California (UC)-San Diego.

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences ranks No. 33 (ranked No. 28 in 2022, No. 38 in 2019) in a tie with Ohio State University, University of Oregon, University of Southern California, Virginia Tech, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Mathematics advances by one to No. 20, tied with Carnegie Mellon University, Johns Hopkins University, UC-San Diego, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland-College Park, and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Physics rises by seven to No. 21, in a tie with Northwestern University, Pennsylvania State University-University Park, Rice University, Stony Brook University-SUNY, UC-San Diego, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Psychology retains its No. 39 rank from 2022 in a tie with Arizona State University, Michigan State University, Stony Brook University-SUNY, University of Florida, University of Iowa, and University of Pittsburgh.

U.S. News previously ranked graduate science programs in their 2022 Best Graduate Schools Edition, published in March 2022. Current rankings for Biological Sciences and Psychology were part of those 2022 rankings.

Among specialty science graduate programs at Georgia Tech, Analytical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Theoretical Chemistry all rank in the top 20. 

In Mathematics specialty graduate programs, Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics remains the top 5, while Analysis ties for No. 20, and Applied Math ties for No. 16. Uniquely organized across the Colleges of Sciences, Computing, and Engineering, the Institute’s Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization program kept its No. 5 spot from last spring.

Chemistry specialty graduate programs

  • Analytical Chemistry – No. 11
  • Inorganic Chemistry – No. 20 
  • Physical Chemistry — No. 14
  • Theoretical Chemistry — No. 18 

 Mathematics specialty graduate programs

  • Analysis — No. 20 (tie)
  • Applied Math — No. 16 (tie)
  • Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics — No. 5 (tie)

Fellow colleges across Georgia Tech are also on the rise in this year’s U.S. News “Best Graduate Schools” set, with Engineering remaining in the top ten in its overall disciplines — and Business, Computing, and Public Affairs also ranking among top programs in the nation. The full roster of current Georgia Institute of Technology graduate school rankings can be found here, along with U.S. News’ methodology for graduate rankings here.

 

Each spring, the Georgia Tech community gathers to recognize the academic achievements and excellence of undergraduate and graduate students across the Institute. Dozens of College of Sciences students were honored during Tech’s Student Honors Celebration, held on April 19 at the Academy of Medicine.

Teaching excellence was also honored through Georgia Tech Teaching Assistant Awards and special certificates during the Institute’s Teaching Assistant (TA) and Future Faculty Award ceremonies, also held on April 19, at the Exhibition Hall Midtown Ballroom.

Please join us in congratulating these special recipients across our College of Sciences community:

Provost’s Academic Excellence Award

Established in 2021, the Provost’s Academic Excellence Award was created to recognize the remaining finalists of the Love Family Foundation Award (awarded this year to College of Design student Karis Wang). Each student is a graduating senior and represents the most outstanding scholastic record from their college. Finalists receive a $2,000 award, generously sponsored by the Love Family Foundation, and recognition at the annual Student Honors program.

One of this year’s recipients of the Provost’s Academic Excellence Award is Elena Cabrera, who is graduating from the School of Psychology. Cabrera conducted three years of research in the Adult Cognition Lab, earning her the College of Sciences Dean’s Scholarship and Early Research Award. She has also served as Psychology Association president and received two Tower Awards from the Office of Minority Educational Development. After graduation, Cabrera plans to pursue social and cultural psychological research on her path to becoming a psychology professor.

Other recipients include Arul Gupta from the Scheller College of Business, Kevin Li from the College of Computing, Jacob Young from the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and Peter Lais from the College of Engineering. Read more.

Honors Program Outstanding Student Award

This award was established in fall 2022 to honor one graduating student who best exemplifies the Honors Program during their time at Georgia Tech.

The first ever recipient of this award is Sarah Sorme, a graduating neuroscience major who has been active in the Honors Program. Sorme has had many leadership roles within the Honors Program during her time at Georgia Tech, including serving on two committees — the New Student Committee and the Community Outreach Committee — acting as a first-year retreat guide, and serving as editor of the Honors Program newsletter (The HyPe). She also served as co-director of the Honors Leadership Council and was instrumental in guiding the Program through the Covid-19 pandemic.

After graduation, Sarah wants to use her cognitive science knowledge and leadership experiences to develop human-centered technology to improve society.

Read more about Sorme.

Roger M. Wartell and Stephen E. Brossette Award for Multidisciplinary Studies in Biology, Physics, and Mathematics

This award is presented to an undergraduate student with demonstrated accomplishments at the interface of biology with either physics or mathematics. The award was established by a generous donation from alumnus Stephen E. Brossette in recognition of the many contributions of Roger M. Wartell to the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The 2023 winner, Julianne Tijani, is a physics major who has conducted research on the evolution of yeast, antibiotic-resistant infections, and cystic fibrosis. She has participated in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, and was recognized as a Petit Scholar. Julianne has also served as a teaching assistant in the School of Physics, a student assistant for the EXPLORE living learning community, and a medical scribe at Emory University Hospital.

A. Joyce Nickelson and John C. Sutherland Undergraduate Research Award

This award was created by the endowment gift of Joyce E. Nickelson and John C. Sutherland to honor Joyce’s late mother, alumna A. Joyce Nickelson, and Sutherland. The scholarship, which recognizes excellence at the interface of mathematics and physics, is awarded to an undergraduate student who has jointly studied mathematics and physics, and who has engaged in scientific research.

Nickelson-Sutherland award winner Lance Lampert is completing degrees in physics and mathematics. He has been a research assistant at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, has taken part in the University of Michigan NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program, and will be conducting research at the CERN particle accelerator facility in Switzerland this summer. He is also a leader in the Quantum Computing Association, maintains the web infrastructure for Georgia Tech’s student radio station WREK, and hosts a show on the channel.

Cynthia L. Bossart and James Efron Scholarship

This honor was created by alumna Cindy Bossart to recognize high academic achievement by a student in the College of Sciences who is a non-Georgia resident.

Veronika Vessigault is the 2022-3 recipient of this award and is a mathematics major with a minor in computational data analysis. She is currently taking graduate-level numerical linear algebra, and she studied in Hungary as part of the Budapest Semester in Mathematics. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics and an academic career. While at Tech, she volunteered close to 100 hours teaching high school and community college students and served as a teaching assistant in both the School of Mathematics and the College of Computing.

Metha Phingbodhipakkiya Memorial Scholarship

This honor was established by Maranee Phingbodhipakkiya to honor her father, his love for physics, and the sacrifices he made to assure that she would have the finest education. This award is made to a junior or senior in the College of Sciences based on academic merit.

The recipient of this award, Saima Firoj, is a biochemistry major who is also completing minors in Spanish and health and medical sciences. She has conducted research on the structure and aggregation patterns of membranes through cryo-electron microscopy to aid in drug development and delivery, and on the biochemical origins of life. She has also volunteered extensively in the medical field.

Robert A. Pierotti Memorial Scholarship

The College of Sciences presents this scholarship in honor of Robert “Bob” Pierotti, past dean of the College and founder of the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC). The award is made to top graduating seniors in the College who have excelled both academically and in research.

The three recipients of the 2022 Pierotti Award are Thiago Esslinger, Andrew Ji, and Lila Nassar.

Esslinger is majoring in both biochemistry and earth and atmospheric sciences. During his time as an undergraduate, Esslinger conducted research with Kim Cobb, former professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences who now serves as the director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society. His research aimed to investigate the influence of symbiont community composition on coral geochemical proxy records in the central equatorial Pacific. In addition, he has worked as a study abroad teaching assistant, and has received a President’s Undergraduate Research Award as well as the Sustainability Student Champions Award.

Ji is a biology major with a minor in computing and intelligence. He is a researcher in the School of Biological Sciences, where he works with Francesca Storici — professor and associate chair for Graduate Education in the School — to sequence the genome of a species of yeast. He also serves as a teaching assistant for the Bioethics and Integrative Genetics course, for which he was recognized as the School of Biological Sciences Undergraduate Teaching Assistant of the Year. Ji has also done considerable volunteer work in clinics and hospitals.

Nassar is a physics major with a concentration in the physics of living systems. Nassar has a broad set of research experiences with faculty Martin Mourigal and Jennifer Curtis in the School of Physics. Nassar has also served as the secretary and president of the Georgia Tech Society of Women in Physics. In summer 2021, Nassar also participated in the NSF REU program at Vanderbilt University.

College of Sciences Undergraduate Research Awards

Undergraduate research awards are made to students in the College of Sciences who have made strong contributions to research over a number of semesters. This year’s winners were Chelsea Bekemeier, Lydia Kenney, Dimitrios Kidonakis, and Evelyn Gardolinski.

Bekemeier is graduating from the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences with a concentration in meteorology. Bekemeier conducts research with Greg Huey, professor and chair of the School, and has contributed to controlled burning experiments in Fort Columbus, GA, as well as the Asian Summer Monsoon Chemical and CLimate Impact Project (ACCLIP) based in South Korea. She has also been dedicated to outreach endeavors, serving as a STEM educator for iFLY Indoor Skydiving and a Superheroes Club Educator at Awaken Education LLC.

Kenney is a biochemistry major who began working with Raquel Lieberman, professor and Sepcic-Pfiel Endowed Chair in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2020. She was named a Beckman Scholar — a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional undergraduate students in chemistry and biological sciences — in 2021, conducting metagenomics research on deep sea sediments to identify novel binding proteins. Throughout her work with Lieberman, Kenney has won the best poster competition at the 36th Annual Protein Society Symposium in San Francisco, CA, and co-authored a manuscript.

Kidonakis is a mathematics major who began research as a high schooler in 2018. Working with Joseph Rabinoff, associate professor at Duke University formerly in Georgia Tech’s the School of Mathematics, Kidonakis conducted a research project on arithmetic geometry which won the award for best project in mathematics at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair. During his time at Tech, Kidonakis has also worked with School of Mathematics professors Igor Belegradek and Matt Baker.

Gardolinski is graduating from the Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, and began doing research with Tim Cope, professor in the School of Biological Sciences, in 2020. Gardolinski conducted her research thesis with Cope, which aimed to develop a large data base on molecular mechanisms underlying signaling by specialized sensory receptors responsible for movement perception. She has also served as a teaching assistant, a peer advisor, and as the vice president of finance for Georgia Tech’s Red Cross Club.

Larry O’Hara Graduate Scholarship

This honor is provided by an endowment bequeathed by alumnus Larry O’Hara. It is presented to outstanding graduate students in the College of Sciences.

All of the 2023 winners have established a strong record of research with multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as multiple conference presentations:

  • Xiaonan Liu, Ph.D. candidate, Mathematics
  • Aaron Pfennig, Ph.D. candidate, Quantitative Biosciences program, Biological Sciences

Liu is currently studying structural graph theory, extremal combinatorics, and graph coloring with Xingxing Yu, a professor in the School of Mathematics and the director of Graduate Studies.

Pfennig’s research interests include theoretical and empirical population genetics of admixed populations. He currently works with Joseph Lachance, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, to examine admixture of modern humans with archaic hominins.

Teaching Assistant Awards

The College of Science had several winners among the 2023 Georgia Tech Teaching Assistant Awardees. The awards are presented annually by the Center for Teaching and Learning to celebrate the contributions to teaching excellence at Georgia Tech made by graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants:

Several students also won Teaching Assistant Awards at the school level:

Tech to Teaching Certificates

Tech to Teaching Certificates are designed to prepare Georgia Tech graduate and postdoctoral associates for college teaching positions.

Through this certificate program, participants will develop a thorough understanding of the scholarship of teaching and learning, and will demonstrate their ability to apply these skills in the classroom.

The following College of Sciences students were awarded Tech to Teaching Certificates:

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Certificates

As a member institution in the CIRTL national network, Georgia Tech joins with 39 other universities on a mission to improve undergraduate education through the preparation of future faculty.

Participants in these certificate programs learn about how students learn, how differences among students affect their learning, evidence-based teaching and assessment practices, and teaching with technology.

Participants who complete these foundation-level learning outcomes through a combination of coursework, workshops, or online learning, receive the CIRTL Associate certificate.

The following College of Sciences students were awarded CIRTL Certificates:

Sustainable Development Goals Action and Awareness Week 2023 is March 6 – 10. The campus community is invited to participate in a variety of events that increase awareness of and encourage actions that advance the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They address the world’s most monumental challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and peace and justice. Some of the objectives are improved industry, innovation, and infrastructure; affordable and clean energy; and sustainable cities and communities. The SDGs appear by name in the Institute’s strategic plan as long-term goals that should guide teaching, research, and operations.

SDG Action and Awareness Week 2023 will focus primarily on SDG13: Climate Action and intersecting SDGs. Georgia Tech strives to be a leader in climate action across the Institute in operations, education, research, and economic development, and the development of a comprehensive Climate Action Plan is underway. President Ángel Cabrera encourages the Tech community to participate in virtual and in-person climate action events throughout the week.

On Thursday, March 9, at 8:30 a.m., Cabrera will convene a panel of faculty to discuss climate action. Joining him will be: Marilyn Brown, Regents’ Professor and the Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy; Andrea Calmon, assistant professor in the Scheller College of Business and faculty fellow in the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems; Tim Liewen, Regents’ Professor, David S. Lewis Chair, and executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute; and Brian Stone, professor in the School of City and Regional Planning and director of the Urban Climate Lab.

The panel is a hybrid event, with remote or in-person participation (at the Scholars Event Network Theater in Price Gilbert Library). RSVP here.

Other events during the week include a Green Cleaning DIY Workshop through the Office of Sustainability, a Social Impact Careers Alumni Panel through the Alumni Association, a Community Market through Auxiliary Services, a session on How to Afford Study Abroad and SDG Interactive Art Hours through the Office of International Education, a Seminar on Race and Gender through the Black Feminist Think Tank and the School of History and Sociology, two micro-workshops on aligning course objectives with the SDGs through the Center for Teaching and Learning and Serve-Learn-Sustain, a Corporate Carbon Accounting panel through Scheller College of Business, an information session and ice cream social through the EcoCar Vertically Integrated Project team, and a Climate Action Plan Stakeholder Engagement Session through the Office of Sustainability. View a listing of the week’s events for details and registration.

SDG Action and Awareness Week is part of a larger global effort through the University Global Coalition (UGC), which Cabrera chairs and helped found. The UGC is comprised of higher education leaders from around the world who work to advance the SDGs through education, research, service, and campus operations.

SDG Action and Awareness Week is an annual event occurring in early March. To collaborate next year, contact Drew Cutright, Office of Strategic Consulting.

The College of Sciences is pleased to share the appointment of Young-Hui Chang as associate dean of Faculty for the College. Chang, a professor and associate chair for Faculty Development in the School of Biological Sciences, will assume his new role July 1, 2023.

“In this new role,” Chang says, “I am looking forward to learning about how our faculty are leading and excelling across the College of Sciences. My hope is to support each school in recruiting the best faculty possible, to increase the diversity of our ranks, and to help our faculty succeed at Georgia Tech.”

The associate dean for Faculty is responsible for developing, implementing, and assessing programs that enhance the instructional, research, and career opportunities for faculty. Key areas of responsibility include faculty hiring, mentoring of faculty, faculty retention, promotion, and tenure; and diversity, equity, and inclusion at the faculty level.

“Because of his service to Biological Sciences as the associate chair for Faculty Development over the past six years, Young-Hui will bring a wealth of experience to this new position,” says Susan Lozier, dean of the College of Sciences, Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair, and professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS). “He impressed the search committee and me with his commitment to faculty excellence, support and advancement.

“I am grateful to Greg Huey, chair of EAS, for chairing the search committee and to Jennifer Leavey, Wing Li, and Lewis Wheaton for serving on the committee. Thanks also to Juliet Dawson-Dyce for providing administrative support to the committee,” Lozier added.

“I was really humbled, and [am] honored to be taking on this role,” Chang says. “I see it as an opportunity to support my colleagues in the College and give back to the Institute that has supported me through my own academic journey.

“In my role as associate chair for Faculty Development in Biological Sciences, I was able to see how exceptional our faculty are,” he added, “from the ones dedicated to teaching and serving our students, to those on the leading edge in their respective fields of research — and how I could use my position to support their individual professional goals.”

The College’s inaugural associate dean for Faculty, Matt Baker, appointed 2018, is one of 39 researchers around the country named to the 2023 Class of Simons Fellows. Baker, a professor in the School of Mathematics, will use the fellowship and a Georgia Tech Faculty Development Grant for a sabbatical in 2023-2024. 

“We will soon have a proper send-off to thank Matt Baker for his service over the past five years, but I would be remiss if I did not also take this opportunity to thank him for his many contributions to the College,” Lozier says.

About Young-Hui Chang

Chang is the director of the Comparative Neuromechanics Laboratory in the School of Biological Sciences, where he also currently serves as a professor and as associate chair for Faculty Development. 

His research program focuses on trying to understand how animals move through and interact with their environment. He integrates approaches and techniques from both biomechanics and neurophysiology to study both passive mechanical and active neural mechanisms that control limbed locomotion in humans and other vertebrates. 

Georgia Tech’s College of Sciences is pleased to announce that Jennifer Curtis, professor in the School of Physics, has been appointed the new ADVANCE Professor for the College. 

Curtis will serve as one of six ADVANCE Professors, one for each college at Georgia Tech. Her appointment is effective July 1, 2023.

“It is an honor,” Curtis says. “Having personally benefited from ADVANCE initiatives, I am grateful for the opportunity to build on my predecessors' work and to contribute to the well-being of all faculty at Georgia Tech. I look forward to partnering with the current ADVANCE professors, the College’s Center for Promoting Inclusion and Equity in the Sciences (C-PIES), and Georgia Tech leadership. 

“Jennifer has been a strong advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion for many years, and I am confident she will bring that advocacy to this new role,” says Susan Lozier, Dean of the College of Sciences, Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair and Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “In this role, Jennifer will work with ADVANCE professors from the other five colleges to advance Georgia Tech’s mission and will play an integral role in the College of Sciences Center for Promoting Inclusion and Equity in the Sciences. For my part, I look forward to a close partnership with her in the months and years ahead.”

"Jennifer has been a true champion of diversity and inclusion at Georgia Tech,” adds Feryal Özel, professor and chair in the School of Physics. “She has been working tirelessly toward providing education and career opportunities as well as a welcoming environment for everyone who is interested in physics and the sciences. I am looking forward to seeing all the exciting things she will do with her ADVANCE professorship."

Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, has served as the College’s ADVANCE Professor since 2022. Lynch-Stieglitz is among nine Jefferson Science Fellows selected this year by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to build STEM expertise in the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

“This announcement also gives me the opportunity to thank Jean for her service as our ADVANCE professor over the past year,” added Lozier. “As a reminder, Jean’s term in this role was limited since she accepted a prestigious Jefferson Fellowship that will take her to the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. next year.” 

Lynch-Stieglitz will be joined in that fellowship by Olga Shemyakina, associate professor in the School of Economics at Georgia Tech. 

“As the College of Sciences ADVANCE professor, there are three areas where I will focus my attention,” Curtis says. “The first area is the continued support for College women and minority faculty, including non-tenure track faculty members. A second area unique to my interests — and an extension of my ongoing work —  is to collaborate closely with C-PIES to identify accelerated solutions to increase the diversity of our faculty at Georgia Tech.”

Curtis adds, “The third area that I will pursue is at the Institute level in coordination and collaboration with the other Georgia Tech ADVANCE professors: I will leverage the experience and wisdom of my colleagues to guide my efforts in the College of Sciences and to support and lead Institute-wide ADVANCE initiatives.”

About ADVANCE

Supported by Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Georgia Tech’s ADVANCE Program builds and sustains an inter-college network of professors who are world-class researchers and role models to support the community and advancement of women and minorities in academia by “advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion, advising campus leadership on policy and structure, increasing awareness and reducing the impact of implicit bias, and making data-driven recommendations for faculty retention, advancement, and satisfaction.”

About Jennifer Curtis

Since 2016, Curtis has served as director or co-director of the School of Physics’ Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, funded by the National Science Foundation, which focuses on broadening participation in physics and strengthening ties with the Atlanta University Consortium (AUC), which includes Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University. At least 10 REU students have since entered graduate programs at Georgia Tech.

Working with Morehouse leadership, Curtis has arranged for College of Sciences faculty to present once a month in Morehouse’s weekly research seminar series. Curtis and School of Physics undergraduate Julianne Tijani are a Georgia Tech chapter of the National Society of Black Physicists.

Curtis’ research is primarily focused on the physics of cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions, in particular within the context of glycobiology (the study of sugar chains in nature) and immunobiology. 

Her lab’s newest projects focus on questions of collective and single cell migration in vitro and in vivo; immunophage therapy — an immunoengineering approach — that uses combined defense of immune cells plus viruses (phage) to overcome bacterial infections; and the study of the molecular biophysics and biomaterials applications of hyaluronan synthase, an enzyme. Learn more.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a disruptive technology transforming industries and governments across the world. At Georgia Tech, developments in AI span many disciplines with dozens of campus centers and institutes. The newly announced AI Hub at Georgia Tech will unite AI entities across campus, enabling the Institute to align on goals to become an international thought leader in AI. It will also drive AI education and research and development toward real-world, responsible applications.

As an AI-powered university, Georgia Tech is embracing AI throughout the Institute, incorporating it into academic programs and research to assist and amplify human intelligence in all areas of work. The vision of AI Hub at Georgia Tech is to advance AI through discovery, interdisciplinary research, responsible deployment, and next-generation education to build a sustainable future. 

“Georgia Tech’s integrated capabilities in the area of AI, machine learning, engineering, and interdisciplinary research are highly valuable to industry, government, and education,” said Chaouki Abdallah, executive vice president for research at Georgia Tech. “By bringing together researchers from across campus, we can harness our collective expertise in AI to work towards a common goal to become the leading university for AI research and application.”   

Co-led by faculty members Irfan Essa and Larry Heck, AI Hub at Georgia Tech will lead in developing new paths in educating and training the next generation of the AI workforce. Additionally, it will serve as a dedicated space for decision makers and other stakeholders to access best-in-class resources to guide them through the complexities of commercializing and deploying AI.    

“Georgia Tech is well positioned to pursue meaningful opportunities in AI by focusing our collective capabilities across campus not only in AI research but also in the integration and application of AI solutions,” said Larry Heck, interim co-director of AI Hub at Georgia Tech, GRA Eminent Scholar, Rhesa S. Farmer, Jr., Advanced Computing Concepts Chair, co-executive director of ML@GT, and professor with a joint appointment in the  Schools of Electrical and Computer Engineering and  Interactive Computing.   

 Georgia Tech has been actively engaged in AI research and education for decades, with more than 350 faculty working in fundamental and applied AI-related research across all six colleges, Georgia Tech Research Institute, and the majority of interdisciplinary research institutes and centers. The Institute has a strong foundation and advantage in AI, as the leading engineering university with an applied, solutions-focused approach. It was also the first public university to launch a computer science school.

“The discipline of AI has a deep history at Georgia Tech, and we continue to serve as leaders in many areas of AI research and education,” said Irfan Essa, interim co-director of AI Hub at Georgia Tech, distinguished professor, senior associate dean in the College of Computing, and co-executive director of ML@GT. “At present, we are seeing unprecedented growth in AI and responsible deployment is top of mind for many. AI Hub at Georgia Tech will bring all areas of AI under one umbrella to provide structure and governance as the Institute continues to lead and innovate in the discipline of AI, with the related disciplines of machine learning, robotics, and data science."

To become involved in AI Hub at Georgia Tech, contact  irfan@gatech.edu or larryheck@gatech.edu.

This feature supports Georgia Tech's presence at the International Conference on Machine Learning, July 23-29 in Honolulu. 

Honolulu Highlights | ICML 2023
Students and faculty have been focused and energized in their efforts this week engaging with the international machine learning community at ICML. See some of those efforts, hear from students themselves in our video series, and read about their latest contributions in #AI.

Georgia Tech’s experts and larger research community are invested in a future where artificial intelligence (AI) solutions can benefit individuals and communities across our planet. Meet the machine learning maestros among Georgia Tech’s faculty at the International Conference on Machine Learning — July 23-29, 2023, in Honolulu — and learn about their work. The faculty in the main program are working with partners across many domains and industries to help invent powerful new ways for technology to benefit all our futures.

One of the experts in Honolulu is Wenjing Liao, an assistant professor in the School of Mathematics. In addition to machine learning, Liao's research interests include imaging, signal processing, and high dimensional data analysis.

Learn more about the Georgia Tech contingent at the ICML here. Read more about machine learning research at Georgia Tech here.

Five Georgia Tech College of Sciences researchers have been awarded CAREER grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

These Faculty Early Career Development Awards are part of a five-year funding mechanism designed to help promising researchers establish a personal foundation for a lifetime of leadership in their field. The grants are NSF’s most prestigious funding for untenured assistant professors.

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One of the most exciting parts of the CAREER grants is that they support new faculty, who are often working at the frontier of their fields. “I am excited about the CAREER research because we are really focusing on fundamental questions that are central to all of chemistry,” says Jesse McDaniel (School of Chemistry and Biochemistry) about his project, which focuses on creating a new framework to predict the rates of chemical reactions, leveraging computer science.

Anton Bernshteyn’s (School of Mathematics) work in the recently emerged field of descriptive combinatorics is also on the cutting edge of discovery. “There’s this new communication between separate fields of math and computer science— this huge synergy right now— it’s incredibly exciting,” Bernshteyn explains. “Right now we’re only starting to glimpse what’s possible.”

Each award also includes a teaching and outreach component: Vinayak Agarwal (School of Chemistry and Biochemistry) plans to use his grant to not only investigate peptides, but also to train the next generation of leaders, emphasizing student inclusion from diverse backgrounds: “The training is broadly applicable,” says Agarwal. “It will prepare students to move forward in STEM – and especially graduate studies – but will also prepare them for industry careers, government and regulatory science, graduate studies, and more. This kind of background is applicable in all fields.”

Alex Blumenthal (School of Mathematics), who is investigating the intersection of chaos, turbulence– including fluid dynamics– mathematics, and computer-assisted proof, agrees. “There’s a whole lot of new stuff to do,” Blumenthal says. “There’s a growing community of people studying random dynamics, and a growing community of people doing computer proofs– it’s a great place for undergrads to have meaningful research experiences.”

Alex Robel (School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences), emphasizes the broad impacts of the CAREER grant projects. Robel is working to create a new ice sheet modeling tool, which will be accessible to anyone, and just require the use of a computer browser. “Ultimately,” Robel says, “this project will empower more people in the community to use these models and to use these models together with the observations that they're taking.”

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