The Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) has announced that Professor Mark Davenport will join the School’s leadership team as the associate chair for graduate affairs, effective June 1, 2024.

In this role, Professor Davenport will serve as the School’s primary representative on all matters related to graduate academics. He will oversee the graduate affairs team, lead the graduate admission process, develop programs and assessments, and collaborate closely with the chair and associate chairs on academic initiatives.

"We are thrilled to have Mark step into this vital role,” said Arijit Raychowdhury, Steve W. Chaddick School Chair and professor. “His extensive experience and forward-thinking approach will be invaluable as we continue to attract top Ph.D. talent. I am confident that his innovative ideas and collaborative approach will significantly enhance our graduate programs."

Georgia Tech's ECE graduate program is among the largest in the country, with over 1,300 students. It holds a top-five national ranking, including No. 2 among public universities, per U.S. News & World Report.

Since 2018, Davenport has served as the graduate recruitment coordinator for ECE, where he played a strategic role in working with the ECE Graduate Affairs Office and the School’s Graduate Student Recruitment Committee to recruit top Ph.D. candidates and improve the matriculation rate of exceptional applicants.

Joining the ECE faculty in 2012, Davenport’s previous roles include serving as an NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University and a visitor with the Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie. He holds a B.S.E.E., M.S., and Ph.D. from Rice University.

His research focuses on the role of low-dimensional models and optimization in signal processing, statistical inference, and machine learning. He has received several prestigious awards, including the NSF CAREER Award, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, the Sloan Research Fellowship, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Additionally, he currently serves as a Senior Editor for IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing and is a two-time winner of the fastest faculty member award in the Pi Mile Road Race.

Davenport succeeds Mathieu Bloch, who was named Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering in January.