When it comes to our state’s economy, many people associate Georgia with peanuts, poultry, timber, carpets, and cars. And yes, we’re pretty strong at all those things. What most people can’t guess is the fact that Georgia’s largest export, and second-largest industry, is actually aerospace. From aircraft, engines, and parts to aviation technology, software, and other products and services, aerospace is very big business in Georgia.

Something truly extraordinary happened this year — something deeply inspiring that I know you’ll appreciate as much as I do. Back in 1957, a young man from Birmingham, Alabama, by the name of John Durstine graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in mechanical engineering. He went on to Harvard Business School for his MBA and then took a job at the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, where he would spend his entire career ...

This year, we welcomed our largest-ever first-year class of about 4,050 new students. It is incredible how we’ve managed to make room for so many more students — and yet, we still can’t keep up with the surge in demand. Indeed, in six years, we have expanded our first-year class by about 33%, yet our applications have risen by 82% (this year, we received a record 67,000 applications). Add to that a major increase in annual incoming transfer students from 566 to 1,365 (a 141% boost since 2019), and you get the picture. Growing at this rate isn’t easy, to be honest — ask any faculty or staff member — but it is a source of pride for all of us to be part of an institution that is in greater demand every day and that does everything it can to serve more students.

Our Interdisciplinary Research Institutes bring together researchers from all seven Colleges and the Georgia Tech Research Institute to advance innovation and technology in sectors of strategic importance — think bioengineering, energy, nanoscience, renewable materials, and others — in concert with our government and industry partners. This summer, we launched two more: the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS) and the Space Research Institute (SRI). Both come at a critical time for our country and our world.

Whenever I give a presentation about Georgia Tech, I remind everyone that we have one shareholder only — the people of the state of Georgia — and we need to ask ourselves how everything we do delivers value to them. I am proud to report that the return on investment we provide our state has never been greater, and every summer, I enjoy traveling across Georgia to see it for myself.