|
Meeting Recap
November 4
Speaker: Dr. Bud Peterson
 | | Our speaker Dr. Bud Peterson is the 11th President of Georgia Tech |
Invocation - Given by Clark Candler
Guests - Harl Pike from the Sierra Vista, AZ Club; Durl Jensen, Assistant District Governor; Debra Lowe, guest of Jim Philips; and Chad Greer, guest of the Club
From the Rotary Foundation - Debra Lowe with the Rotary Foundation delivered a wealth of information regarding our Club and our District's contributions to the Rotary Foundation. For example, did you know that District 6900 was #1 in Zone 34 in per capita giving? Did you know that District 6900 is #4 in polio giving in the world? Did you know that the Decatur Rotary Club was #1 in Zone 34 in giving to the Rotary Foundation? And finally, did you know that Jim & Donna Philips are among a select group of individuals of less than 200 in the world for their level of giving to the Rotary Foundation? Debra thanked us for our continued support of the Rotary Foundation and asked us to continue to remember the Rotary Foundation in our giving.
From the Speaker - Dave Jollay introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Bud Peterson who is the 11th President of Georgia Tech. noting that he is in the process of the implementaiton of a 25-year strategic plan that envisions what the Institute might be like on its 150th anniversary. Dr. Peterson came to Georgia Tech from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he served as chancellor. Prior to that, he served a provost at Rensselaer Polytechnic in New York. During his career, he has worked for NASA and the National Science Foundation. He has also served on the faculty of Texas A and M University.
Throughout his career, Peterson has played an active role in helping to establish the national education and research agendas, serving on many industry, government and academic task forces and committees. A distinguished scientist, he was appointed in 2008 by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the National Science Board through 2014. The National Science Board oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF) and advises the President and Congress on national policy related to science and engineering research and education.
Most recently, Peterson was named by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke as a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This group is focused on helping the U.S. develop policies that foster entrepreneurship and identify new ways to take innovative and creative ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace in order to create jobs, develop new businesses and drive economic growth.
Peterson shared with us that Georgia is one of only four states to have two schools in the top 25 list of public universities (the others are NC, CA and TX). This year Georgia Tech has the best first year class in the history of Georgia Tech. There are currently 182 students from DeKalb County and 7000 Tech Alumni from DeKalb. Sixty percent of the incoming class is from Georgia.
Georgia Tech currently has 36 different majors and their business school is among the Top 25 in the country. Forty percent of Tech students will study abroad, 35% take a foreign language even though it is not required. The current first year class is 38% female, up from 30% in recent years.
The challenge Tech faces in preparing students for an uncertain future, according to Peterson, is that their mission is to prepare their students for jobs that do not currently exist with technology that does not exist.
 | | Dave Jolley delivers a new spin on Ramblin' Wrecks from Ga. Tech |
 | | President Jason with Assistant District Governor Durl Jensen |
 | | Jim Philips and Debra Lowe with the Rotary Foundation |
 | | "Come on Bryan...Park Renewal Day is fun and we need you..." |
 | | Remember Rotary Board meetings are open to all and count as a make-up if you need one. |
| 
