Tech Faculty Receive 2023 Regents’ Distinctions

The University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents announced 12 first-time Georgia Tech appointments to Regents’ distinctions for 2023 and affirmed the renewal of existing distinctions for four esteemed faculty members.  

Regents’ distinctions may be granted for a period of three years by the Board of Regents (BOR) to outstanding faculty members from Georgia Tech, Augusta University, Georgia State University, the University of Georgia, and, in special circumstances, other USG institutions. A Regents’ professor, researcher, or entrepreneur distinction is awarded only after unanimous recommendation from the president of the recipient’s university, their chief academic officer and dean, as well as three additional members of the faculty who are named by the university president. Approval by the chancellor and the BOR Committee on Academic Affairs is also required. These distinctions are given to those who make outstanding contributions to their respective institutions. 

Georgia Tech faculty named as Regents’ Professors include: 

• Srinivas Aluru, Professor, School of Computational Science and Engineering, College of Computing 

• Rafael L. Bras, K. Harrison Brown Family Chair and Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering and Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Sciences

• Thomas Orlando, Professor, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Sciences 

• Frank T. Rothaermel, Russell and Nancy McDonough Chair in Business and Professor, Scheller College of Business 

• Jeffrey Skolnick (renewal), Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology, and Professor, School of Biological Sciences, College of Sciences 

• Vigor Yang (renewal), Professor, School of Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering 

• Lisa Yaszek (renewal), Professor, School of Literature, Media, and Communication, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts 

• Ellen Zegura (renewal), Stephen Fleming Chair in the College of Computing and Professor, School of Computer Science, College of Computing 

Faculty named as Regents’ Researchers include: 

• Maribeth Coleman, Director of Research and Associate Director of Interactive Media, Institute for People and Technology  

• Douglas Denison, Laboratory Director, Advanced Concepts Laboratory, GTRI

• Mehmet Talat Odman, Principal Research Engineer, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering 

• Linda Viney, Principal Research Engineer and Chief, Systems Integration Division, Applied Systems Laboratory, GTRI

Faculty named Regents’ Entrepreneurs — granted to outstanding full-time, tenured faculty members who have established reputations as successful innovators and who have taken their research into a commercial setting — include: 

• J. David Frost, Elizabeth and Bill Higginbotham Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering 

• Jennifer Olson Hasler, Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering 

• Raghupathy Sivakumar, Vice President of Commercialization, Chief Commercialization Officer and Wayne J. Holman Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering 

Todd Sulchek, a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering within the College of Engineering, has been named a Regents’ Innovator.  

“We are thrilled to have so many distinguished members of our community honored in this way by the Board of Regents of the USG,” said Steven W. McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “Georgia Tech is known for the strength of our academics, research, innovation, and the brilliant entrepreneurs who emerge from all corners of the Institute. We are deeply grateful for their contributions.”  

To learn more about the requirements for USG Regents’ distinctions, visit the Board of Regents Policy Manual.