There’s one thing in particular that Dr. Amir Rahnamay-Azar, Georgia Tech’s new senior vice president for administration and finance, is looking forward to experiencing this fall — watching the leaves change.

“Living in southern California, you don’t get to see the leaves change color in the fall,” he said. “Palm trees don’t really change colors.”

Before arriving at Tech, Rahnamay-Azar served as associate senior vice president for operations at the University of Southern California (USC).

He joined USC in 1997 and served in progressively more responsible roles until his most recent appointment at the university, which began in July 2005.

In his role at Tech, Rahnamay-Azar will oversee and manage a wide range of business and financial functions. The following departments will report to him: Institute Budget, Planning and Administration; Capital Planning and Space Management; Institutional Research and Planning; Organizational Development; Environmental Stewardship; Real Estate Development; and Financial Services (which includes the Bursar, Controller, Treasury Services and Grants and Contracts Accounting).

One initial goal is to streamline and formalize the decision support infrastructure used by the President’s Office, which provides information that allows for data-driven, informed decisions.

“Under Steve Swant’s leadership, I look forward to working with him and his team in evaluating our existing processes, implementing improvements and instituting new key initiatives, such as decision support,” Rahnamay-Azar said.  

Since arriving at Tech almost a month ago, he has had an opportunity to start meeting faculty and staff and has been pleased with everyone’s collegial nature.

“There’s a sense of community here, and I feel like everyone has the Institute’s best interest in mind,” Rahnamay-Azar said. “I look forward to working closely with my colleagues across campus to pursue new and different ways of achieving institutional effectiveness.”