College of Engineering Professor Rosario A. Gerhardt was recently awarded the Goizueta Foundation Faculty Chair. 

This position was created to recognize leaders for their outstanding educational work and dedication to diversity issues. Chosen leaders have a positive impact on students through mentorship, and they also affect the quality of research and educational programs and assist Georgia Tech in efforts to recruit students and faculty of Hispanic/Latino origin.

Gerhardt, a professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, will be receiving funds to support her programs. She will also be working closely with the Goizueta Early Career Professor, Julian Rimoli of the School of Aerospace Engineering, and the director of Hispanic Programs, Jorge Breton, in recruiting and mentoring Hispanic/Latino students and faculty.

Gerhardt joined Georgia Tech in 1991 as an associate professor, and she was promoted to full professor in 2001. She is involved in research that has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, and various industrial companies. Her current research focuses on determining structure-property-processing relationships in a wide range of materials.