In honor of staff appreciation month each of the eight school chairs and Dean May shared their thoughts about their staff.
To the CoE Staff:
I am incredibly lucky to work with a group of people who are extraordinarily smart, dedicated, and hard-working. Without a doubt, our staff rival those at the most prestigious institutions in the country.
Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of the day, we may not show our appreciation as effectively as we might. That is why it is so important that we take at least one day during the year to formally acknowledge the staff in the College who tirelessly work to meet the needs of our faculty, students, visitors, and alumni. I look forward to seeing you at our Staff Appreciation event on July 7th.
Our most precious possession is the people we have working here in the College. You are one of our greatest assets. We sincerely appreciate your role in the success of the College and I hope that you will keep up the good work in the future. When we are all working toward the same goal, it is amazing what we can accomplish.
Again, I want to thank each of you for helping make CoE such a special place to work and learn.
Gary S. May
Dean and Southern Company Chair, College of Engineering
Dear GT-AE staff,
I was pleased when the College of Engineering asked me to comment on the immense value you bring to the School of Aerospace Engineering. It is a topic of which I am reminded daily, and I am only too happy to share my thoughts.
You are the foundation of our remarkable reputation. No matter how hectic the schedule or stretched the budget, you are on top of every detail – helping students with questions about registration, advising, and courses; assisting faculty as they hire and retain the best research assistants; planning events to make our strengths known to the world, and, all the while, making every prospective student, parent or donor feel like the most important person in the world.
This has been particularly true this year, as the School has hosted several outside speakers, interviewed faculty candidates, and invited important funders to visit campus. In every instance, you have made an impression that I could not, alone, make. You have engaged and informed our partners, leaving them to marvel at the finesse of our operations.
If I needed proof – and I do not – it would be provided in abundance each time I visit a so-called “peer” institution in my travels. I always return with the same observation: our staff is, truly, peer-less.
With the utmost respect and gratitude,
Vigor Yang
To our BME staff,
Your passionate dedication to our students, faculty and fellow staff members anchor and enhance our day-to-day activities and business interactions. For example, during the past year, we successfully recruited some of the best and brightest faculty in the world. Careful planning, hospitality, and a lot of hard work by our entire department contributed immensely to a successful recruiting effort.
In terms of research support, you may not realize that our department has been awarded more than $115 million dollars during the past five years. It takes a highly skilled financial and business management team to properly manage our fiscal budgets, processes and practices. In regards to technology operations, we have built a technical support and web team that delivers IT excellence. Our redesigned Web page is a testament to our effort to better tell our story and improve our internal and external communication.
From tracking our financial information, maintaining world-class facilities, advising and supporting our 1,400 students, guiding philanthropic donors, nurturing corporate relations, communicating our news, and handling the day-to-day challenges inherent in academia – I truly appreciate the dedicated professionalism exhibited each and every day by BME staff.
I have always believed that it takes a village to build a world class Department. And indeed GT/Emory BME is one of the finest BME programs in the world. As staff, you are an important and critical part of the BME family. On behalf of our students and faculty, I'd like to formally recognize your contributions and thank you for all that you do every day. You help make GT/Emory BME the special place that it is - thank you!
Ravi Bellamkonda
Dear CEE staff,
So much of what happens to make the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering one of the best in the nation would not be possible without the hard work of our talented professional staff.
Often, that means toiling behind the scenes, doing far more than you’re asked to do, and treating your colleagues and our students like extended members of your family. That hard work does not go unnoticed, and I am grateful each day to work with all of you.
Whether it’s planning remarkable events for our students or alumni, equipping our students with all of the information they need to schedule classes, making sure all of our technology and laboratories work as expected, supporting the teaching and research efforts of our faculty, or taking care of anyone who interacts with our School, you do it with grace, enthusiasm and dedication.
We’re educating students to be the brightest, best prepared new generation of engineers. People who will change the world. Time and again, I hear from those students that our advisers are the best in the business or that our business office makes the complicated systems around scholarships and payroll much more manageable.
In every facet of our School, you make us shine. Thank you for all you do.
Reggie
Reginald DesRoches
Karen and John Huff School Chair and Professor
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dear ChBE Staff,
You all play a vital role in advancing ChBE’s mission of educational and research excellence. Thanks to your devoted service, ChBE continues to grow in prestige as a School at the leading edge of innovation.
While July is staff appreciation month at the College of Engineering, please know that I am grateful year-round for your collective efforts. Your dedication to meeting and regularly exceeding expectations is a tremendous source of strength for ChBE.
I commend you all for the talent, flexibility and professionalism you continually demonstrate in support of our students, faculty, alumni and programs. It truly is a privilege to count you among my ChBE colleagues. Working together, we will continue to thrive and ascend.
Sincerely,
David Sholl
School Chair and Michael. E. Tennenbaum Family Chair
Dear ECE staff,
The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering is fortunate to have an amazing group of hard-working and dedicated staff members. I am incredibly grateful for all that they do to support our faculty and students, oftentimes going above and beyond. They cover a wide variety of functions – academic affairs, accounting, administrative support, human resources, instructional and research lab support, computer and IT services, building operations and shipping/receiving, student retention, K-12 outreach, communications and marketing, fundraising, special event support, and much more. All of these functions are critical to the everyday life of our School and to our success as the largest ECE program in the country.
ECE staff members also care about one another and work hard to build a sense of community and positive morale within the School. One example is the ECE Buzz Bunch, a group of staff who organize social activities for the faculty and staff to enjoy each semester. They also help to facilitate community service activities that are part of the CoE Cares initiative such as school supply drives and canned food collections during the holidays.
I am happy to have this opportunity to salute our staff and all that they do to make “ECE the place to be.” Thank you for everything!
Steven W. McLaughlin
Steve W. Chaddick School Chair
Dear ISyE Staff,
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for your dedication and hard work. Your work has been and continues to be instrumental to the success of ISyE as we continue to enhance and enrich our students’ academic experience and pursue cutting edge research that pushes theoretical boundaries and solves problems of societal and global concern. Well done, and great job – we would not be who we are without you!
And on a more personal note, many thanks for your warm welcome earlier this year and your generous and kind efforts in helping me get situated as ISyE’s School Chair. Knowing that I have such a competent, enthusiastic, and devoted team working to keep ISyE running smoothly makes my job easier!
Thank you for everything you do.
H. Edwin Romeijn
H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart Chair and Professor
H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering
Dear ME Staff,
The Woodruff School staff members set the standard for exemplary professionalism and excellent customer service. Our folks go above and beyond the call of duty on a consistent basis. Georgia Tech has the biggest ME program in the country and we’re rated in the top 5 in the nation year after year because we have the people and passion to support our program and our students.
Recognizing the staff during the staff appreciation month of July does little to express my sincere gratitude for their hard work and dedication to our School. We are lucky to employ the best of the best.
William J. Wepfer
Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. School Chair
Dear MSE staff,
It is my honor to be affiliated with the outstanding group of individuals that comprise the MSE team. You, the staff, are the backbone of our school – you keep everyday operations running smoothly and efficiently for both the students and the faculty. Your hard work and dedication are what allows MSE to be a world leader in educating the next generation of materials scientists and engineers, and paves the way for us to pursue cutting-edge research that addresses the grand societal challenges. I am proud of the team work that you all always exhibit at our various events, as well as during challenging situations.
To all of you in MSE, I am truly grateful for the hard work and dedication you expend. Thank you and I look forward to our working together to take MSE to the next level of excellence in education and research.
Best regards,
Naresh
