The international search for Georgia Tech’s next provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs continues to move forward, though it is following an extended timeline due to logistical challenges imposed by the pandemic. Conditions permitting, a final decision is expected during the fall semester, with the goal of having the Institute’s next provost in the role no later than January 2021.

The provost oversees all of Georgia Tech’s academic enterprise, including the Colleges, educational innovation initiatives, the Library, international relationships, professional education, and enrollment. The search follows Provost Rafael L. Bras’ announcement in January that he intends to step down from the role after a decade of leadership. Bras will remain at Georgia Tech as a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He is also the first Tech faculty member to hold the K. Harrison Brown Family Chair.

The firm Heidrick & Struggles is assisting with the search, supporting the work of the advisory committee, including co-chairs Charles Isbell, dean and John P. Imlay Jr. Chair of the College of Computing, and Susan Lozier, dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair of the College of Sciences.

As was announced in the spring, the search is being conducted in a semi-public manner. To increase candidate privacy and maximize the effectiveness of the search, the names of the finalists will not be announced publicly; however, representatives of the faculty, students, and staff selected by the relevant governance groups had the opportunity to meet the finalists in a confidential setting and provided feedback to the search committee.