Airbus Group and partner, the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) have honored College of Engineering Dean, Gary S. May, from the Georgia Institute of Technology, with an exceptional Jury’s Recognition for Outstanding Achievement as part of their third Annual Diversity Awards. The award acknowledges his career-long efforts and achievements in increasing diversity in engineering.

May created the Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Science (SURE) program, for which he has been granted $3 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF). SURE hosts minority students to perform research at Georgia Tech in the hopes that they will pursue a graduate degree, and over 73 percent of SURE participants enroll in graduate school. May was also the co-creator and co-director of the Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (FACES) and University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) programs, for which he has been granted over $17 million from NSF and the Sloan Foundation to increase the number of underrepresented Ph.D. recipients from Georgia Tech. Over the duration of FACES, 433 minority students have received Ph.D. degrees in science or engineering at Georgia Tech – the most in such fields in the nation. As a result of these efforts, May received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from President Barack Obama in 2015.

May is a member of the Board of Directors of Leidos, Inc., as well as executive vice president of the National GEM Consortium and a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Airbus Group is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2014, the Group – comprising Airbus, Airbus Defense and Space and Airbus Helicopters – generated revenues of 60.7 billion and employed a workforce of around 138,600.

The Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) was established in 2008 and  has now grown to include over 500 deans from over 30 countries, 5 regional chapters, 12 corporate and other partners.

The Mission of the GEDC is to serve as a global network of engineering deans and to leverage the collective strengths of the deans for the advancement of engineering education, research and service to the global community.