The civil engineer will join a group of Georgia Tech leaders who create and strengthen faculty opportunities across campus.
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The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s (CEE) Lauren Stewart has been selected as the College of Engineering’s new ADVANCE Professor and will serve as the leading advocate for engineering faculty. She joins a group of leaders representing five other Georgia Tech colleges who create opportunities that support faculty achievement, collaboration, and professional growth.
Stewart and her fellow ADVANCE Professors will work closely with the Office of the Provost, units across campus, staff, and students. The group is tasked with promoting transparency in all processes, including consistency in the hiring, reappointment, tenure, and promotion process. They also advocate for policy and practices that strengthen faculty productivity and career advancement.
“ADVANCE Professorship provides a platform, connections, and synergies to initiate and engage in activities with potentially larger and broader impact than can be achieved by any person or group alone,” said Mitchell Walker, dean of the College and Southern Company Chair. “For the past 13 years, Lauren has consistently created solutions that benefit entire groups of Georgia Tech faculty and students with leadership grounded in empathy, transparency, and action. She understands both the opportunities and challenges facing the faculty today, and I am confident she will help strengthen an environment where faculty members can thrive at every stage of their careers.”
Stewart is the Williams Family Associate Professor and CEE’s associate chair for graduate programs. Her research focuses on understanding the response of buildings, bridges, and other structures to manmade hazards such as blasts and explosions. She also directs the Structural Engineering and Materials Laboratory.
“Serving as our ADVANCE Professor is a mechanism to strengthen faculty experiences by advancing transparency, equalizing opportunity, and promoting a shared responsibility for faculty success,” Stewart said. “This must be done while recognizing faculty members as whole people: scholars, mentors, leaders, and individuals with complex lives. To me, success looks like an Institute where faculty members understand the system, trust its processes, feel supported in their professional growth, and are empowered to thrive throughout their careers.”
Stewart replaces Martha Grover, who served as the College’s ADVANCE Professor since 2020. Grover continues as professor and Thomas A. Fanning Chair in Equity Centered Engineering in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
“Through her collaborative leadership, Martha brought faculty and staff together for annual retreats that helped shape initiatives in curriculum development for artificial intelligence, annual review processes, and many other areas that strengthened our community,” Walker said. “Martha did a remarkable job of representing the College and building partnerships. I thank her for contributions and her lasting impact on our community.”
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