UGA Engineering

Congratulations to our engineering colleagues around campus, which means faculty in many Franklin College departments including chemistry, physics and astronomy, mathematics, computer science, biology and microbiology, marine sciences, genetics, geography, art and anthropology, as well as numerous interdisciplinary research centers created thereof. This list alone explains why it was important for UGA to put together a formal engineering college, and it also shows that successive Franklin College deans have been very supportive of engineering, in word and deed, over the years. As I've written before, without a lot of fanfare Wyatt Anderson and Garnett Stokes in particular were instrumental in collaborating with the engineering leadership and the CAES on joint faculty appointments to demonstrate the viability and importance of engineering, before it was widely embraced at the University. They helped bring to UGA many talented faculty members who are now working at the leading edge of new research frontiers who would have otherwise gone elsewhere. Instead, they were able to join our faculty to help build something new.

This is an example of quiet, visionary leadership that builds capacity for providing great opportunities for students and faculty. In this case, creating the foundations for engineering in a liberal arts environment.

Image: Nano Arch, developed by researchers in the UGA Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center.