Leah Clark’s path to Georgia Tech-Lorraine was serendipitous. Armed with a BSEE from Stanford University, she started applying to graduate schools in the U.S., but none of her options felt quite right. Fate intervened when her father handed her a tiny clipping from the IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) newsletter. The article spoke of a new graduate program in France, and Clark’s curiosity was piqued.

She reached out to Dr. Hans “Teddy” Püttgen, the director of a new Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate program in France at Georgia Tech-Lorraine (“GTL,” now known as Georgia Tech-Europe). Dr. Püttgen sought students for Georgia Tech-Lorraine’s inaugural cohort in 1990, and Clark seized the opportunity to specialize in Digital Signal Processing. 

Within ten days of applying to Georgia Tech, Clark was accepted into the new graduate program in Metz, France! 

A Pioneering Spirit

Clark stood out as the sole woman among the first cohort of six graduate students at GTL. The group included two PhD students and four master’s students. Her enrollment marked a significant milestone: she became both the first woman to study at GTL and the first woman to graduate from the master’s program. Her dual-degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech and Supélec (now CentraleSupélec) would shape her future.

Clark’s journey was made even sweeter by a full scholarship covering tuition and housing. She landed in a comfortable two-room suite at the Supélec dorms, where she requested a French roommate. Caroline, her roommate, not only helped Leah navigate life in Metz but also contributed to helping her improve her French language skills.

Bridging the Cultural and Language Divide

The initial months at Georgia Tech-Lorraine posed challenges. As Clark noted, “The French you learn in school doesn’t help you deal with your emotions.” Fortunately, her fellow GTL students and Caroline worked together to bridge the cultural gap. And when in doubt, a communal meal at the dorms accompanied by a bottle of wine worked wonders.

Fellow student, Bertrand Boussert, now Georgia Tech-Europe’s Deputy Director of Academics, and a lecturer in Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was the only native French speaker in that first cohort. He helped his peers with everything from learning how to shop at the local grocery store to explaining the nuances of the French and American educational systems.

One-third of the classes were taught in English by Georgia Tech professors from Atlanta, who had been recruited to teach at Tech’s new instructional facility on the Metz Technopole. The remaining two-thirds of the classes unfolded in French, courtesy of GTL’s neighboring partner school, Supélec.

The hour-long Georgia Tech courses were as expected, but every graduate student except for Boussert were in for a shock when they learned that the Supélec courses were each three hours long, and of course, in French! “The courses at Supélec were much more theoretical than what we were used to in the U.S.,” said Clark, adding that, “To add to the confusion, theorems that we learned about in the U.S. under one name, might have a different moniker in French!”

The greatest drama of the year occurred during finals. The professors distributed the French version of “Blue Books”—the exam booklets used for written assessments. The American students, well-versed in Number 2 pencils, began writing diligently. However, in France, students must inscribe their answers in ink. The entire 1990 cohort, apart from the lone Frenchman, Boussert, faced potential failure from Supélec due to this transgression!

Enter Dr. Püttgen—the savior. With a bit of cross-cultural finessing on his part, all students passed their exams! “We didn’t know that we were supposed to complete our exams in ink,” Clark recalled, “nor did anyone tell us that French students use erasable ink!” 

Breaking Barriers and the Comforts of Home

Clark did not feel as though she was treated any differently than her male peers. There were only a few female students at Supélec, as there were even fewer women studying electrical and computer engineering in France at the time than in the U.S. 

In an era before helicopter parenting, Leah Clark maintained a weekly connection with her parents using an AT&T phone card. The landline calls bridged the ocean, providing comfort and a sense of home. She was lucky that her parents came to visit shortly after the term began, bearing goodies from home like a US-style comforter and pillow, her favorite shampoo, and lots of reading material - in English!

After leaving GTL, Clark realized that while she had finally mastered speaking French, she hadn’t really had much time to use it. Serendipity (and her dad) struck again with an introduction at a startup in San Diego that was developing a new product with Texas Instruments in Villeneuve-Loubet, just outside of Nice. She was quickly hired to be the on-site technical liaison on a DSP chipset project and spent the next year plus working and playing on the Cote d’Azur before relocating to sunny San Diego. 

Fast forward to today, and Leah Clark still resides in San Diego, California. As a Senior Architect at Synopsys, Inc., an electronic design automation company (EDA), she continues to shape the world of technology. Her specialty is working with key customers to debug chip implementation issues. Throughout her career she has been able to take advantage of her French language skills, finding and befriending French co-workers at just about every job she has had.

Clark stays in touch with her classmates and cherishes the memories of that pivotal year. Leah Clark will always have Metz, and she’ll forever hold the title of the first female student at Georgia Tech-Europe.

International Women’s History Month is the perfect time to share Leah Clark’s story as she exemplifies this year’s theme of “Moving forward together.” She may have been the first woman to attend Georgia Tech-Europe, but this past summer, close to 45% of the 397 students who attended Georgia Tech-Europe were women!