{"426661":{"#nid":"426661","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Pierce Makes Habit of Exploring His Surroundings","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EMany members of the Tech community make volunteering a priority, but not many make a regular habit of doing so in a wetsuit.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EJim Pierce, senior director for Bursar and Treasury Services, began volunteering with the Georgia Aquarium before it even opened in 2005. Over the past 10 years, he has spent nearly 400 of his 1,100 total volunteer hours at the aquarium underwater. He spends many evenings and weekends scrubbing tank walls, wiping windows, and sometimes speaking to an audience of visitors at the world\u2019s largest aquarium, which sits less than a mile from campus.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EPierce\u2019s 25-year diving career began with an admiration of Jacques Cousteau and a curiosity of the unknown.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s always been fascinating to me to see something other people haven\u2019t seen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the closest thing you can get to being in outer space.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThough Pierce spends around 100 hours a year volunteering at the aquarium \u2014 \u201cthe best scuba diving in the City of Atlanta,\u201d he calls it \u2014 his favorite place to dive is in caves. The dirtier, muddier, and deeper, the better. His office walls bear images of many of the caves he has been in.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EPierce is certified as both a cave diver and technical diver, the latter allowing him to mix a custom diving gas called trimix. The combination of oxygen, nitrogen, and helium can be adjusted to let divers go deeper without the negative physiological side effects that can happen at greater depths. He\u2019s also working on completing requirements at the Georgia Aquarium to be a scientific diver, which would let him go out on research boats.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EDiving is a hobby and a love, but not something Pierce ever wanted to pursue professionally. He proposed to his wife underwater in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and in June, he traveled with his 14-year-old son\u2019s Boy Scout troop to the Florida Keys, where his son earned his own diving certification. But Pierce likes his day job.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cI don\u2019t want to ruin a good dive,\u201d he said. \u201cI like helping students and the state of Georgia. It\u2019s the perfect compromise.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EWhen he\u2019s not underwater, he can be found doing deep dives of financial plans for the Institute. In his professional role, Pierce works with Georgia Tech Facilities Inc. and other campus affiliates on financing for campus construction projects. He happily left behind a career in corporate finance, risk management, and audits when the opportunity to work at Georgia Tech came up 11 years ago.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EHis job responsibilities recently expanded to include the Bursar\u2019s Office, not just Treasury Services, giving him a more direct line to the students he makes it a goal to serve.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EPierce can relate well to Tech students \u2014 he was one. Before earning an MBA from Wake Forest University, he earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in management from the Institute in 1990.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cCo-op is what brought me here,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought it was a neat way to learn about something I wanted to do.\u201d As a co-op student, he worked in Waffle House\u2019s management training program and at Southern Company Services. He also worked as a resident advisor and participated in Tech traditions such as the Mini 500 race.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EAs an alumnus, he suggests that all Tech employees experience a few of the things students themselves enjoy. Among his recommendations are a trip to Brittain Dining Hall (\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful, and employees don\u2019t know they can eat there.\u201d), bowling at Tech Rec in the Student Center, going down the slide at the Campus Recreation Center (\u201cIt goes crazy fast!\u201d), and seeing a DramaTech performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EAs an employee himself, he tries to use his sphere of influence to improve the student experience.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re always doing what we can to look at keeping the cost down and trying to offer additional payment options.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EFor students, he also offers a piece of advice, or a thought, about life at Tech and what helped make it memorable for him.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cTech will provide you the best friends of your life \u2014 you\u2019ll never again have a peer group that\u2019s more like you.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMany members of the Tech community make volunteering a priority, but not many make a regular habit of doing so in a wetsuit.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Many members of the Tech community make volunteering a priority, but not many make a regular habit of doing so in a wetsuit."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-07-20 10:54:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:12","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"426671":{"id":"426671","type":"image","title":"Jim Pierce in Wakulla Springs","body":null,"created":"1449254342","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:39:02","changed":"1475895165","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:45","alt":"Jim Pierce in Wakulla Springs","file":{"fid":"202771","name":"wkpp_weekend.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/wkpp_weekend_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/wkpp_weekend_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":69351,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/wkpp_weekend_0.jpg?itok=PU9HJKIb"}},"426681":{"id":"426681","type":"image","title":"Jim Pierce with Son","body":null,"created":"1449254342","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:39:02","changed":"1475895165","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:45","alt":"Jim Pierce with Son","file":{"fid":"202772","name":"gopr0352.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gopr0352_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gopr0352_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5875578,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gopr0352_0.jpg?itok=DdImUuDs"}}},"media_ids":["426671","426681"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/bursar.gatech.edu\/","title":"Bursar\u0027s Office"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"46411","name":"bursar\u0027s office"},{"id":"3423","name":"employees"},{"id":"135961","name":"jim pierce"},{"id":"3918","name":"profile"},{"id":"167018","name":"staff"},{"id":"135971","name":"treasury services"},{"id":"4152","name":"whistle"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}