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.

On Friday morning of Commencement weekend, as we were robing for the ceremony, one of our graduating students, Madelyn Novelli, couldn’t hide her excitement as she shared with me that her parents had just made it to town in time for the ceremony. Their flight from New Jersey was canceled the day before, but nothing was going to keep them from being there on their daughter’s special day. So, they got in the car and drove 14 hours straight through the night. They made it — and then ...

Universities today find themselves in the crosshairs, facing heightened scrutiny and criticism from various corners of society and, in some cases, severe financial penalties from the government. As the national conversation around universities continues — whether in the news or your professional circles — I hope you’ll remember the critical role research universities like Georgia Tech play in strengthening our country.