The College of Computing Proudly Announces the Appointment of Dr. James D. Foley to the Stephen Fleming Chair In Telecommunications

Dr. Foley is Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Computing, and Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He earned the Ph.D. in Computer Information and Control Engineering at the University of Michigan and the BSEE at Lehigh University, where he was initiated into Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu.

Dr. Foley first came to Georgia Tech in 1991 to establish the Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center, which in 1996 was ranked #1 by US News and World Report for graduate computer science work in graphics and user interaction. In 1996, he became director of Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab in Cambridge and then in 1998 chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric ITA, directing corporate R&D at four labs in North America. He returned to Georgia as Executive Director and then CEO of Yamacraw, Georgia's economic development initiative in the design of broadband systems, devices and chips.

Dr. Foley is a Fellow of ACM and IEEE, an inaugural member of the ACM/CHI Academy, and recipient of the biannual ACM/SIGGRAPH Stephen Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Computer Graphics. The graphics textbooks he has co-authored are widely used and have been translated into six foreign languages. In 1992, the Georgia Tech College of Computing graduate students named him, "most likely to make students want to grow up to be professors."

In July 2001, Dr. Foley will become chairman of the Computing Research Association - an organization of over 200 computer science and computer engineering university departments, professional societies and industrial research labs.

About Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming is a fifth-generation Atlanta native, who graduated summa cum laude from Georgia Tech in 1983 with a BS in physics. During his years on campus he was involved in student government, undergraduate curriculum affairs, and the ANAK honor society. He was the recipient of the Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship cup for the highest academic achievement (4.0) in his graduating class.

Mr. Fleming has a varied background in telecommunications operations, having managed optical fiber, broadband, and interactive telecommunications projects since his co-op assignments while at Georgia Tech. His career has included increasingly senior positions at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Northern Telecom (Nortel), and LICOM, a venture-backed startup.

He joined Alliance Technology Ventures as the second general partner in early 1995, and has played a key role in building ATV's reputation as one of the leading early-stage technology venture funds in the Southeast. Mr. Fleming has held board seats at over a dozen of ATV's portfolio companies, both public and private. As of 2001, Alliance Technology Ventures has been successful in raising three venture funds; the Georgia Tech Foundation has been an investor in each fund. Five of ATV's investments to date have involved technology transfer of Georgia Tech research.

Mr. Fleming is a past member of the board of directors of the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (GCATT), and is a current member of the boards of advisors for the College of Computing and the DuPree College of Management, both at Georgia Tech. He has served as an advisor to the Georgia Research Alliance, and is heavily involved in the state's public policy debates regarding high technology. He is also the founder of the LIGHT (Linking Investors to Georgia High Technology) program, which is sponsored by GCATT, ATDC, the DuPree College, and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG).