In 1952, Elizabeth Herndon and Diane Michel arrived at Tech, officially becoming the first women to enroll as undergraduate students at the Institution. Over the next 65 years, Tech welcomed more women to its campus and hit peak enrollment in 2017, admitting a first-year class that was 43% female.
According to the American Society of Engineering Education, today the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech is the largest producer of engineering degrees awarded to women and underrepresented minority students, and 32% of our students are female. Alongside this steady increase of female representation on campus over the years comes a rise in leadership and academic excellence. Every year, the Institute and the University System of Georgia (USG) honor students across the different colleges with prestigious awards in recognition of their academic excellence, leadership, service, scholarship, and more. This year, four undergraduate women from the College of Engineering were honored: Eleanor (Lily) Turaski, Morgan Knowlton, Hannah Huang, and Madeline Loui.
The stories below follow their path to recognition.
Tech's Highest Honor Awarded to Eleanor Turaski for Academic Excellence, Leadership, and Service
This year, Eleanor (Lily) Turaski, Materials Science Engineering senior, has been awarded the highest honor from the Georgia Tech College of Engineering: the Davidson Family Tau Beta Pi Senior Engineering Cup, recognizing academic excellence, leadership and service.
Turaski is a Stamps President’s Scholar with a 4.0 GPA. In addition to excelling in the classroom, she has seven semesters of research experience in two Georgia Tech labs and has presented her research at four national conferences. For her research endeavors, Turaski was selected for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship in 2019.
Morgan Knowlton Receives Top Academic Honor From the University System of Georgia
Each year at Academic Recognition Day, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) honors one undergraduate student from each of its 26 institutions who best represents the system’s highest scholastic ideals. This year’s representative from Georgia Tech is Morgan Knowlton, a standout student from the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE).
Senior Hannah Huang Wins 2021 Helen Grenga Outstanding Woman Engineer Award
For demonstrating outstanding scholarship, leadership, and service at the Georgia Institute of Technology, undergraduate student Hannah Huang has won the 2021 Helen Grenga Outstanding Woman Engineer Award from the Women in Engineering (WIE) program at Georgia Tech.
Computer Engineering Major Madeline Loui Wins 2021 Love Family Foundation Scholarship
Computer engineering major Madeline Loui has been selected to receive the 2021 Love Family Foundation Scholarship. The $10,000 scholarship is awarded annually to a Georgia Tech graduating senior with the most outstanding scholastic record. It represents one of the highest academic honors given to an undergraduate student.
