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| 2007 Allen Prize Honors College's First Donors In the spring of 1988, a remarkable letter arrived on the desk of Dr. John P. Crecine, then president of Georgia Tech. The letter began by thanking him for taking whatever action was necessary to name a proposed new college at Tech for Ivan Allen Jr., 1933 alumnus and former Mayor of Atlanta. The letter went on to confirm the writer's commitment of $3 million to Georgia Tech, but only “if it is able to honor Ivan Allen in the manner we have agreed.” Then the writer states, “It is of utmost importance to me that there be no public or private acknowledgement of my making these gifts and I appreciate your pledge to maintain the confidentiality I seek.” And so, for the next two decades, Georgia Tech honored the writer's wish to keep his gift a secret from his friend and classmate. Accordingly, when Ivan Allen Jr. died in 2003, he went to his grave never knowing of the extraordinary act of friendship and generosity that had led to the naming of a college in his honor—to date, still the only alumnus to be so honored at Georgia Tech. This year, almost 20 years after that fateful letter landed on President Crecine's desk, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts is proud to acknowledge this historic gift by awarding its donor, Charles Smithgall ('33), with the 2007 Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service. As in the past, the Prize will be awarded at the College's annual Founder's Day luncheon on Thursday, March 15, the birthday of Mayor Allen. This year the occasion will mark a new precedent, in that the prize will be awarded posthumously for the first time, inasmuch as Charles Smithgall died in 2000. And in also honoring his widow, Lessie Smithgall, as co-recipient, the 2007 Allen Prize breaks precedent again in being the first award made to a couple. The gift to name the college was hardly the first or the last that Charles and Lessie Smithgall bestowed on Georgia Tech, Atlanta, and the State of Georgia. All told, they have contributed more than $20 million in property and money over the course of their lifetimes, which has had an extraordinary impact upon both the natural and built environment. Their gifts to the state and city include:
At the University of Georgia, Lessie Smithgall's alma mater, the Smithgalls funded the Lambdin Kay Chair for the Peabodys, which endows the director of the prestigious annual broadcasting awards that Lessie Smithgall was instrumental in bringing to UGA. At Tech, the Smithgall's philanthropy is responsible for no less that three chairs in the College of Science as well as the building that houses the Student Services division and support for student athletic facilities. Last but by no means least on this distinguished list, of course, is the anonymous endowment of a new college in the name of their mutual friend and college classmate. Besides their gifts, the Smithgalls have had a significant impact on conservation philanthropy itself. Charles Smithgall's acquisition and gifting of Smithgall Woods is now considered a model for private land use development by conservationists nationally. Twice the Georgia State legislature voted unanimously to recognize his philanthropy and service on behalf of the citizens of the state. Besides being honored along with her husband for their many gifts, Lessie Smithgall has herself been recognized for her own philanthropic efforts, receiving the Global Conservation Award in 2004 from the Diane Fossey Gorilla Fund International. For information on attending the 2007 Ivan Allen College Founder's Day award ceremony, please contact Carol Silvers at 404.894.9539, on on-line at carol.silvers@iac.gatech.edu. |
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Winter Demo Day Featured on 11Alive News As the Fall semester drew to a close, Digital Media graduate students in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture (LCC), presented their final projects during the Winter Demo Day.
But this program is not just about churning out programmers to churn out new games. It's also about the sociology, even the philosophy involved in gaming.
“For example, they're very interested in what kind of values games contain, what kind of stories they tell, and what play has to do with the human experience,” said Celia Pearce, Assistant Professor, LCC. Click here to see the video. |
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Renovations Begin on Old CE Building The old Civil Engineering (CE) building located in the heart of the GT campus is getting renovated. Once the project is complete, it will house the School of Economics and the School of History, Technology, and Society providing class room space, computer labs, Ph.D. areas, and faculty offices. Renovations are expected to be complete in Spring/Summer '08. |
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CPBIS Receives Third-Year Funding  The Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies (CPBIS) has received $600k from the Sloan Foundation to underwrite its activities for another three years, marking th ethird three-year funding renewal the center has received. CPBIS was established in October 2000 with the aid of an initial $2 million Sloan grant together with an industry commitment of approximately $1 million. The center provides business-oriented research and other activities aimed at creating an academic community that understands and benefits the pulp and paper industry. The Sloan Foundation supports 26 industry centers at 19 universities across the country, each consisting of a multidisciplinary group of faculty and students who study key aspects of a single industry. |
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Georgia Tech Receives Unlimited Potential Grant from Microsoft Georgia Tech has received software valued at $120,280 and 70 copies of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Community Learning Curriculum through Microsoft's Unlimited Potential (UP) program. The program focuses on improving IT skills among underserved individuals and communities through community technology centers and telecenters. Designed especially for the community learner, the curriculum provides instruction in skills essential in today's global workplace, such as word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation. |
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Networking Nights and Shadow Days Coming Soon! Ivan Allen College will be hosting two events for students during two months. Networking Nights introduces current undergraduate students to representatives from a variety of career fields. These representatives advise students about how they broke into their respective fields, what types of degrees are needed for their positions, and what types of experiences students should get while in school to help them secure jobs in these fields after graduation. The first Networking Night will take place on Tuesday, February 13, 2007, and will focus on media, journalism, consulting, finance, teaching, international business, web design, editing, and more. The second will be held Wednesday, February 21, 2006, and will cover government, foreign affairs, law, security, policy, military defense, lobbying, and non-profit career paths. Both will be held in the Gordy Reception Room in the Wardlaw Building from 5:00-7:30pm. Shadow Day occurs in the spring term as well, and is open to
prospective students who have been admitted as undergraduates
interested in Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech. The focus of this event is about providing an inside look into the student's major and life as a Liberal Arts student and the entire day the student is surrounded by liberal arts students, faculty, and staff eager to answer questions and to make their visit productive and worthwhile. Invitations to admitted students will be mailed out in early February. This year, the Shadow Day events will be held on Monday, March 5 and Monday, March 12, 2006. Visit the Networking Nights website and the Shadow Day website for complete details. |
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Endicott Named Professor of the Month Dr. John E. Endicott, Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and Director of the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy, was named Professor of the Month in November by the Alpha Kappa Chapter of Lambda Sigma National Sophomore Honor Society. The award recognizes his excellence in teaching and was presented by David Schwartz, undergraduate student in Industrial Engineering, and Alpha Kappa Chapter President and Ranni Tewfik, undergraduate student in Bioengineering, and Professor of the Month Chairperson. |
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Lu Wins Distinguished Service Award Hanchao Lu, Professor, School of History, Technology, and Society, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Chinese Historians in the United States (CHUS), a national organization affiliated with the American Historical Association (AHA), during it's annual meeting held here in Atlanta. The award recognizes his contributions as editor of The Chinese Historial Review,
a fully refereed and vigorously edited transnational journal of history and
published by
CHUS. The journal publishes original research on the history of China in every period, China's historical relations with the world, the historical experiences of the overseas Chinese, as well as comparative studies of history.. . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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