{"199301":{"#nid":"199301","#data":{"type":"news","title":"1973 Alumnus Establishes First Professorship in Economics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article was originally published by the Georgia Tech Campaign Quarterly. It is reproduced here in full.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERichard B. \u201cRick\u201d Inman Jr.\u003C\/strong\u003E, ECON 1973, has a lofty ambition: to raise the profile of the \u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Economics\u003C\/strong\u003E to the national level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn support of that goal, Inman has made a six-figure commitment establishing the School\u2019s first-ever endowed faculty position: the Mary S. and Richard B. Inman Jr. Professorship. The professorship will allow the School\u2014a unit of the \u003Cstrong\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/strong\u003E\u2014to attract and retain an eminent teacher-scholar and thought leader in the discipline of economics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat led me to make this commitment,\u201d Inman explained, \u201cwas a conversation with \u003Cstrong\u003EDean [Jacqueline] Royster\u003C\/strong\u003E about the evolution of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and how I could help the School of Economics attract new talent. I also realized the importance of my economics education to my career. I was particularly impressed by the objective of the School\u2019s new chair, \u003Cstrong\u003EDavid Laband\u003C\/strong\u003E, to improve the School\u2019s status on a national level. I wanted to use the professorship as a way of running a flag up the pole to say, \u2018this is a good School and here\u2019s someone who is willing to stand behind it and make a commitment to attract exceptional faculty.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInman is co-founder and managing principal of Atlanta-based Iron Bridge Capital Partners, a private equity and development company that provides investment capital and development expertise for commercial real estate, infrastructure, power generation, and government and educational facilities. Since its founding more than ten years ago, the firm has invested more than $250 million and grown well beyond its southeastern roots, acquiring a power plant in Guam and building schools and low-income housing on the South Pacific island.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe former president of Tucker Federal Bank (acquired by Royal Bank of Canada in 2001), Inman says his Tech education provided a great framework for analyzing a variety of social and business issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe technological orientation of the economics curriculum provides a real competitive edge,\u201d he said. \u201cMy education was very quantitative. I went to business school later and breezed through the quantitative courses in comparison to students who had gone through more sociologically focused economics programs.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis approach to economics is more compelling today than ever before, says School of Economics Chair David N. Laband, who came to Georgia Tech last year from Auburn University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEconomics is the science of decision making, but good decision making is critical in every aspect of life, not just the business world,\u201d he explained. \u201cConsequently, applications of economics touch us deeply and pervasively. With this more encompassing focus of economics in a liberal arts college, economics as a scientific discipline truly flourishes and contributes vibrantly to our understanding of the full range of human behavior.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaband also expressed deep gratitude to Inman for his philanthropy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe Inman Professorship is a real milestone for the School of Economics as it is our first and only named professorship,\u201d Laband said. \u201cThis professorship is of vital importance to the School because it will help us attract and retain an accomplished scholar to provide long-term leadership with respect to developing our fledgling doctoral program. This is a critical part of our effort to create a nationally prominent economics program at Georgia Tech. We hope that other friends and alumni of Georgia Tech who would like to see us develop a nationally prominent economics program will follow the Inmans\u2019 lead.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETo inquire about making a gift in support of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts or any of its six schools, contact Director of Development Juan A. McGruder at 404.894.1898 or juan.mcgruder@iac.gatech.edu.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERichard B. \u201cRick\u201d Inman Jr.\u003C\/strong\u003E, ECON 1973, has a lofty ambition: to raise the profile of the \u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Economics\u003C\/strong\u003E to the national level.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27663","created_gmt":"2013-03-14 08:54:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:51","author":"Rebecca Rolfe","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-03-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-03-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"199311":{"id":"199311","type":"image","title":"Rick Inman Jr.","body":null,"created":"1449179934","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:58:54","changed":"1475894851","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:31","alt":"Rick Inman Jr.","file":{"fid":"196522","name":"richardinman_200x300.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/richardinman_200x300_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/richardinman_200x300_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":35607,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/richardinman_200x300_0.jpg?itok=-IhTQP_d"}}},"media_ids":["199311"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"33411","name":"David Laband"},{"id":"61431","name":"Rick Inman"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-1720\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}