Don P. Giddens, retiring dean of the College of Engineering, has been awarded the title of "Dean Emeritus" effective July 1, 2011. According to Georgia Tech President, Dr. G. P. "Bud" Peterson, "Don's leadership as Dean has been outstanding and the College has flourished under his guidance. Georgia Tech's reputation for excellence in teaching, research, and scholarship is solely to the credit of our faculty. Don's leadership role in building this reputation is valued and appreciated." The appointment follows the recommendations of the CoE school chairs and associate deans.

Dean Giddens received all of his degrees (BAE 1963, MSAE 1965, and Ph.D. 1966) from Georgia Tech and joined the Tech faculty in 1968, after two years in the aerospace industry. In 1992 he left his position as the Chair of Aerospace Engineering to serve as the Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University until 1997. In 1997, Giddens rejoined Georgia Tech to establish the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint department between Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering and Emory University’s School of Medicine. He served as the founding Chair until July 2002, when he became the Dean of the College of Engineering.

Following his retirement, Giddens plans to return to the faculty of the School of Biomedical Engineering as a part time faculty member with research and teaching responsibilities, and in addition, will assume the presidency of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) this summer.