The Board of Regents (BOR) of the University System of Georgia voted yesterday to name G.P. “Bud” Peterson President Emeritus as well as Regents Professor of Mechanical Engineering for the standard three-year term. The BOR also awarded Peterson tenure.

Peterson served as Georgia Tech’s 11th president from April 2009 to September 2019. At the beginning of his decade as president, Peterson brought the campus together to develop a strategic plan that would serve as a guide for many of the Institute’s initiatives to come.

During his presidency, the campus landscape was reshaped with the construction of 21 new facilities and the major renovation of 25 facilities. The Institute experienced a 300% increase in admission applications, and raised $1.8 billion as part of Campaign Georgia Tech.

“President Peterson’s extraordinary contributions to Georgia Tech, a top-10 public research university, are unmatched,” said Chancellor Steve Wrigley in the recommendation to award Peterson emeritus status. “Under Bud’s leadership, Georgia Tech became the first institution in a decade to receive an invitation to join the prestigious Association of American Universities. At the same time, he grew student enrollment, including the number of women enrolled in first-year classes, and transformed the landscape of midtown Atlanta. Whether in academic distinction, student growth or reputation for research, Georgia Tech has flourished under Bud’s tenure. His vision and achievements will continue to leave their mark on the university and its graduates for years to come.”

Read more about Peterson’s legacy at Georgia Tech.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting,

Georgia Tech biomedical engineering student Nusaiba Baker gave a presentation of her winning Three Minute Thesis project.

The BOR also approved the 2021 capital funding budget, which includes construction funding for Tech Square Phase III.