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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PRESIDENT GEORGE P. ``BUD'' PETERSON'S RETIREMENT
______
HON. JOHN LEWIS
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Mr. LEWIS. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Dr. George P. ``Bud''
Peterson, Ph.D. on his retirement.
For the past 10 years, Dr. Peterson served as the 11th president of
the Georgia Institute of Technology, a world-renowned higher education
institution that is located in my district. Under Dr. Peterson's
leadership, the Institute has consistently ranked among our nation's
best institutions of higher education, and he managed to exceed
benchmarks outlined in Georgia Tech's strategic plan.
Madam Speaker, we are very fortunate to have an institution like
Georgia Tech educating our young people in Atlanta. President Peterson
worked tirelessly to open the doors of opportunity to young people from
every corner of Georgia. During his tenure, undergraduate applications
tripled, graduate applications doubled, and the student body increased
by 69 percent to more than 32,000 students. In 2014, the Georgia Tech
guaranteed admission and financial support to valedictorians and
salutatorians from Atlanta Public Schools. In 2017, it extended these
offerings statewide through the Georgia Tech Scholars Program. Access
to a quality education changes the very trajectory of these young
people's lives.
For visitors to Metro Atlanta, Dr. Peterson's impact is arguably most
visible in Tech Square in Midtown Atlanta. There is an important
national conversation on how to create new livable-wage, manufacturing
jobs and bolster United States' global competitiveness. In our region,
Dr. Peterson ensured that Georgia Tech became the regional center for
this discussion. For these reasons, former Department of Commerce
Secretary Gary Locke appointed President Peterson to the National
Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and President
Barack Obama appointed him to the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership
(AMP) steering committee and its 2.0 successor.
President Peterson excels in connecting young minds with great ideas
to emerging industries and opportunity. Since 2013, 30 corporations
have set up innovation centers in the area, engaging students'
creativity, growing our economy, and ensuring that Atlanta remain a
center for talent and technology. In fact, Madam Speaker, last week Dr.
Peterson welcomed my staff and me to Georgia Tech's new Coda building.
This incredible facility, along with the rest of Tech Square, shows how
the Institute will continue to shape Atlanta's future. Dr. Peterson was
instrumental in making this vision a reality.
Before coming to Georgia Tech, Dr. Peterson served as chancellor of
the University of Colorado at Boulder and provost at the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in New York. Born in San Francisco, California,
Dr. Peterson grew up in Kansas and earned degrees from Kansas State
University and Texas A&M University. Throughout his career, Dr.
Peterson focused on promoting research and scientific education and
received national accolades for his work. For these reasons, President
George W. Bush appointed him to serve on the National Science Board in
2008, and President Obama re-appointed President Peterson for a second
six-year term in 2014.
Although Dr. Peterson is retiring this summer from the
administration, he is staying in the Georgia Tech family and returning
to the Institute's faculty. On behalf of the people of Atlanta, I thank
President Peterson for his years of dedicated leadership to our
community and to Georgia Tech. I wish him, his beloved wife Val, and
their four children continued success and happiness in this next
chapter of their lives.
____________________