Since its establishment in 1998, the FACES program at Georgia Tech has helped to substantially increase the number of minority Ph.D. students in science and engineering, with over 300 minority students earning doctorates from the Institute over the last 12 years.

Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (FACES) was founded by Gary May, the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Jeff Streator, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; Reggie DesRoches, associate chair in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Stephen Ruffin, associate professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering; and other faculty on the Georgia Tech campus. Funded by the National Science Foundation, FACES seeks to increase the number of African-Americans in the engineering and science fields, with the ultimate goal being to increase the number of African-American faculty members in these areas at colleges and universities.

"Over the last decade, the FACES program has contributed significantly to the formation of an environment at Georgia Tech in which the completion of a STEM doctorate and consideration of an academic career are valued by talented minority students and supported by the campus," said Dr. May. "We are very proud of what has been created here and look forward to the contributions of our students as they pursue their careers."

This achievement is one of the many milestones that will be celebrated in the coming year, as the Institute recognizes the 50th anniversary of the first African-American students matriculating at Georgia Tech.

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FACES at Georgia Tech has another reason to celebrate. Two of its current Ph.D. scholars, Lonnie Parker and Andrea Grimes, were married earlier this month. Lonnie is a fourth-year student in ECE, and Andrea is a fifth-year student in human-centered computing. See their story in the New York Times.