The following message is from Dr. Steven McLaughlin, incoming dean for the Georgia Tech College of Engineering. Dr. McLaughlin has served as the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 2012 and will become the College’s dean, effective September 15, 2017. 

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students:

What makes each of us unique goes far beyond an acknowledgement — we should strive every day to appreciate it and value it. I think this is a good note on which to start a new semester (and for some of us, a first semester!).

Diversity is a hallmark of our College. The differences in our students, staff and faculty transcend what can be seen on the surface. We are a community of people with widely varying influences, perspectives and values. As we embrace those differences in each other, our view of the world opens to even more possibilities.

And what could be more important to a College of Engineering? Our lifeblood is the pursuit of new knowledge, new technologies and new solutions to improve the human condition. Appreciation and acceptance of our differences makes our pursuit even more productive and rewarding. We never know where the next great invention or idea will come from. But we do know it’s most likely to emerge when people of different backgrounds and experiences work together.

As I begin the journey as your new dean, I look forward to meeting and learning more about you in the months ahead. For now, I wish each of you great success in the fall semester!

Steven W. McLaughlin

Incoming Dean of the College of Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology