Marion L. Brittain

Marion L. Brittain

Marion Luther Brittain, Sr. (November 11, 1866 – July 13, 1953) was an American academic administrator and president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1922 to 1944. Brittain was born in Georgia and, aside from a brief stint at the University of Chicago for graduate school, spent most of his life serving the educational community there. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory College in 1886, Brittain worked his way up the ranks from principal of an Atlanta high school to superintendent of education for the entire state of Georgia.

In 1922, Brittain accepted the position of president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, then called the Georgia School of Technology, an office he would hold until his retirement in 1944. During his 22-year tenure at Georgia Tech, Brittain was credited with doubling student enrollment, establishing what is now the second largest aerospace engineering faculty in the United States, and playing an influential role in securing Georgia Tech's position as a leading technical institute and research university. After his retirement, Brittain wrote The Story of Georgia Tech (1948), a history of the Institute published shortly before his death in 1953.