History of Georgia Tech/to Do - Modern History

Modern History

Includes the administrations of G. Wayne Clough (1994–2008), Gary Schuster (interim, 2008–2009), and George P. "Bud" Peterson (2009–present)

In 1994, G. Wayne Clough became the first Tech alumnus to serve as the President of the Institute. The 1996 Summer Olympics took place in Atlanta early in Clough's tenure. In 1998, he split the Ivan Allen College of Management, Policy, and International Affairs, creating the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and returning the College of Management to "College" status. During his tenure, research expenditures increased from $212 million to $425 million, enrollment increased from 13,000 to 18,000, Tech received the Hesburgh Award, and Tech's U.S. News & World Report rankings steadily improved.

Clough's tenure especially focused on a dramatic expansion and modernization of the institute. Coinciding with the rise of personal computers, computer ownership became mandatory for all students in 1997. In 1998, Georgia Tech was the first university in the Southeastern United States to provide its fraternity and sorority houses with internet access. A campus wireless network, the Local Area Wireless/Walkup Network (LAWN), was established in 1999; it now covers most of the campus.

In 1999, Georgia Tech began offering local degree programs to engineering students in Southeast Georgia. In 2003 Tech established a physical campus in Savannah, Georgia, called Georgia Tech Savannah. Clough's administration also focused on improved undergraduate research opportunities and the creation of an "International Plan" degree option that requires students to spend two terms abroad and take internationally focused courses.

The master plan for the school's physical growth and development—created in 1912 and significantly revised in 1952, 1965, and 1991—saw two further revisions under Clough's guidance in 1997 and 2002. While Clough was in office, around $1 billion was spent on expanding and improving the campus. These projects include the construction of the Manufacturing Related Disciplines Complex, 10th and Home, Tech Square, The Biomedical Complex, the completion and subsequent renovations of several west campus dorms, the Student Center renovation, the expanded 5th Street Bridge, the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center's renovation into the CRC, the new Health Center, the Klaus Advanced Computing Building, the Molecular Science and Engineering Building, and the Nanotechnology Research Center.

The school has also taken care to maintain its Historic District, with several projects dedicated to the preservation or improvement of Tech Tower, the school's first and oldest building and its primary administrative center. As part of Phase I of the Georgia Tech Master Plan of 1997, the area was made more pedestrian-friendly by the removal of access roads and the addition of landscaping improvements, benches, and other facilities. The National Register of Historic Places has listed the Georgia Tech Historic District since 1978. In the 2007 "Best of Tech" issue of The Technique, students voted "construction" as Georgia Tech's worst tradition.

On March 15, 2008, Clough was appointed to lead the Smithsonian Institution, effective July 1, 2008. Dr. Gary Schuster, Tech's Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, was named Interim President, effective July 1, 2008. On February 9, 2009, George P. "Bud" Peterson, chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder, was named the finalist in the presidential search; he took office on September 3, 2009. On April 20, 2010, Georgia Tech was invited to join the Association of American Universities, as the first new member institution in nine years.

In 2011, Georgia Tech opened the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons building to honor Clough's commitment to undergraduate students; it was dedicated on his birthday, September 24, 2011.