Georgia Tech Celebrates Naming of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy

Public service, at its core, is an act of translation. It is the work of turning complex technical challenges into human solutions, moral conviction into lasting policy, and compassion into a more just and equitable society.

For more than half a century, Georgia natives President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter exemplified this work, forging a partnership in service that’s recognized around the world. It’s a legacy that will continue with the naming of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy.

The naming, first announced in April 2025, was formally celebrated at a ceremony on Nov. 13, 2025, at the newly renovated D.M. Smith building. A standing-room-only crowd, including President Ángel Cabrera, University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue, former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, civil rights icon and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, members of the Carter family and other luminaries attended the event.

The milestone marked more than the honoring of a homegrown president and first lady by Georgia’s top public university. It serves as a profound statement of identity — a declaration that the School’s mission to create leaders who "ethically address societal problems" is indelibly linked with the Carters’ lifelong commitment to improving the human condition.

"Names matter,” said Cassidy R. Sugimoto, Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the Carter School. “When you evoke the Carter name, it means something. In that one word, you encompass decades of public service, values of humility, respect, faith, integrity, justice, a deep commitment to human rights and democracy.”

Georgia Tech Roots, Global Impact

The Carters’ connection to Georgia Tech is not merely symbolic. It’s foundational. Before James Earl Carter Jr. was a naval officer, a governor, or a president, he was a Georgia Tech student. Carter arrived in 1942 and attended for one year before moving on to the U.S. Naval Academy. 

While his time at Georgia Tech was brief, it was impactful, said the Carters’ fourth grandson, Josh Carter, ME 2006.

“Georgia Tech is where my grandpa learned to love engineering,” Josh Carter said. 

“And every time my grandpa talked about the Naval Academy, he always made a point to say that he got his start at Georgia Tech and left here to graduate from an easier school.”

A Shared Commitment to Problem-Solving

A problem-solver’s mindset winds through Jimmy and Rosalynn Carters’ careers in public service as well as through the Carter School’s core pillars of sustainability, equity, and innovation.

For instance, decades before "sustainability" became a global watchword, Carter framed the energy crisis as the "moral equivalent of war."

He formed the Department of Energy, oversaw the creation of the Superfund program to pay for critical environmental cleanups, and placed solar panels on the White House roof.

Today, Georgia Tech students and faculty champion sustainability through degree programs such as the Master of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Management and through projects such as the Drawdown Georgia research effort led by Regents’ Professor Marilyn A. Brown, whose team recently reported how Georgia has slashed its carbon output while significantly growing its economy.

Carter also possessed an unwavering commitment to equity, speaking out against racial discrimination and making civil and human rights a central tenet of U.S. foreign policy.

The School continues this legacy through programs such as the Center for Urban Research, which seeks to address socioeconomic inequities in urban areas. The Center was recently named the research lead for the city of Atlanta’s $5 billion neighborhood revitalization effort.

Carter also understood the growing importance of technology, becoming the first president to install computers in the executive offices, well before they became common in every household.

Today’s Carter School is nationally ranked for its programs in environmental policy, information and technology management, and public policy analysis. The school helps train tomorrow’s cybersecurity leaders to spot the impact of technological change on network security, develop experts in ethical frameworks for artificial intelligence systems, and more.

Globally, the School extends its reach through partnerships with universities around the world, including the University of Manchester, Colombia’s Universidad Externado, the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy in Japan, and KAIST, a South Korean university. 

These agreements help the School extend its reach and provide students and faculty to collaborate on research, academic programs, and more.

The First Lady's Enduring Policy Legacy

While the former president’s career garnered more attention, Rosalynn Carter’s life in public service was deeply impactful, as well. Her work gave a policy voice to millions of unseen and unheard Americans.

"My grandmother was more politically savvy than my grandfather,” Josh Carter said. “She was a strategist. She was his confidant. My grandmother was involved in just about every decision, peace deal, cease fire, and political triumph of my grandfather's life."

She became the first first lady since Eleanor Rooselvelt to testify before Congress as she fought to reduce the stigma of mental illness and create new programs to help those struggling with mental health. Her work on the President's Commission on Mental Health led directly to the landmark Mental Health Systems Act of 1980.

Perdue said he learned much about mental health need from Roslaynn Carter while visiting the couple during his time as governor.

“I know that we are glad that Georgia has made some progress in that group, but she laid that foundation,” Perdue said.

Rosalynn Carter also founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, reframing the act of caregiving as a universal public policy challenge. 

"There are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers,” she said.

Her advocacy also helped lead to federal vaccine programs that have saved countless lives.

Today, the Carter School strives to continue this work by providing policymakers with rock-solid research on complex medical and social issues.

For instance, the Health Economics and Policy Innovation Collaborative, a partnership with the School of Economics, provides rigorous, data-driven analysis on everything from healthcare access to child well-being, applying that same blend of compassion and policy acumen Rosalynn Carter championed. Another example: Recent research published in JAMA Network Open that reveals a link between energy insecurity and mental health. Another paper brings attention to a potential housing crisis brewing in rural America.

Carrying the Legacy Forward

It is this dual legacy — Jimmy Carter’s engineering-forward approach to policy, and the  compassionate approach to public well-being he shared with his wife — that the Carter School now embodies. 

The School's home in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts drives the point home.

The College is named for former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., a Georgia Tech graduate and another Southern political leader who championed desegregation. Allen’s calls for transformative urban leadership continue to shape the College’s mission today.

"Mayor Allen was a beacon of light for Jimmy and for me … standing up for what was good and what was right,” Rosalynn Carter said on receiving the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage with her husband in 2017.

Now, the Carters’ legacy of ethical public service, technological advancement, commitment to sustainability and human and civil rights serves as another guiding principle for Carter School students, faculty, and staff.

Their example serves as a model for the generations of leaders to come — leaders who will graduate from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy ready to continue the work of translating technology, conviction, and compassion into a better world.

"They both led with humility and unshakable moral compass,” said President Ángel Cabrera. “And they showed us what true service looks like. I could not think of a better name to be associated with the school. This is a proud day for Georgia Tech.”