Artificial intelligence may operate in the digital world, but it leaves a massive and very real physical and societal footprint. What does AI’s rapid growth mean for the future of humanity? How can it be steered towards a more prosperous future for all?
The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts will host a series of four events, the AI & Society Series, to bring together scholars, practitioners, industry leaders, and the Georgia Tech community to explore some of the most consequential questions surrounding artificial intelligence and their potential solutions. Through the interdisciplinary lens of the liberal arts, the series will examine AI's physical infrastructure, its influence on research and discovery, its evolving role in human relationships, and its impact on creativity and creative industries.
“Considering technology from a humanistic perspective has never been more necessary,” said Amanda Murdie, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “AI has so much potential to be positive and transformational, but we should prioritize understanding and mitigating the challenges it creates in its wake.”
The next event in the series will be “AI and Academic Research: The Future of Discovery” on Nov. 4 at 6:30 - 9 p.m. in the Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center – Grand Ballrooms. The panel will explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the landscape of higher education and scholarly inquiry.
Panelists include Sebastian Porsdam Mann, Assistant Professor, CeBIL, University of Copenhagen; Sarah H. Salter, Director of the Writing Program & Professor of Pedagogy, Emory University; and Dan Reiter, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Political Science, Emory University.
Porsdam Mann is an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Advanced Studies in Bioscience Innovation Law. With training spanning philosophy, neuroscience, applied ethics, and international human rights law, his research examines how emerging technologies can advance scientific progress while navigating ethical and regulatory challenges. His work has directly explored generative AI in academic writing and idea generation, as well as AI's potential role in the future of academic peer review, positioning him to address both the opportunities and risks AI creates throughout the research process.
Salter is a teaching professor and director of the writing program at Emory University whose research focuses on American literature, periodical studies, collaboration, and digital humanities. Her scholarship has included interdisciplinary work using machine-learning methods to analyze the visual structures of historical newspapers, combining literary study, library science, and computational approaches. Her perspective brings an important humanities dimension to the conversation about how computational tools and AI are changing research methods, scholarly interpretation, writing, and knowledge production.
Reiter is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Political Science at Emory University. His scholarly interests include interstate conflict, gender and international relations, civil-military relations, alliances, military effectiveness, public opinion and foreign policy, war termination, and others. He earned his B.A. in political science from Northwestern University in 1989, his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan in 1994, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the John M. Olin Institute at Harvard University from 1994-1995. In 2002, he was given the Karl Deutsch Award from the International Studies Association, presented annually to a scholar under age 40 or within ten years of having received the Ph.D. “who is judged to have made (through a body of publications) the most significant contribution to the study of International Relations and Peace Research.”
Upcoming events in the AI & Society Series include:
AI, Human Empathy, and Relationships: Is AI a Better Partner?
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2027 | 6:30 – 9 p.m.
Historic Academy of Medicine
AI and Creativity: Creative Industries in Flux
Wednesday, April 14, 2027 | 6:30–9 p.m.
Walter G. Ehmer Theater (Atlantic)
Artificial intelligence may operate in the digital world, but it leaves a massive and very real physical and societal footprint. What does AI’s rapid growth mean for the future of humanity? How can it be steered towards a more prosperous future for all?
]]>Researchers at Georgia Tech's Center for Advanced Communications Policy will use the funding to help older adults access assistive technologies that support independent living.
Principal research scientist Nathan Moon and a team of colleagues at the Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP) in Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts were awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. The project is in collaboration with the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI) in the College of Design.
The funding will support the ACCESS for Aging Well with Assistive Technology (AT) 2.0 project, which builds on the researchers’ previous work to help older adults live independently.
“As Americans continue to age and we're growing older as a society, we want to ensure that people can continue to live independently and participate in the communities of their choice,” Moon said. “The tools that we have developed here are intended to do that.”
According to AARP, 75% of adults over 50 want to age in their homes. However, Retirement Living reports only 10% of homes are appropriately equipped to do so. Assistive technologies can help older adults live independently longer, but finding the right solutions and learning how to access them can be difficult.
ACCESS for Aging Well with AT 2.0 addresses those challenges by using machine learning, predictive analytics, and community partnerships to connect people with the tools and resources they need.
The researchers will use the funding to integrate the existing ACCESS for Aging Well website and assistive technology catalog into a single platform that provides assessments, recommendations, and solutions for older adults via machine learning, predictive analytics, expert insight, and state assistive technology program data.
It will foster an active community through online discussion forums, social media, product reviews, and informational articles. The team will also analyze community discussions with AI-based tools to refine recommendations and identify new or innovative ways people may be using assistive technology.
Finally, the funding will help the researchers connect with organizations such as senior centers, rehabilitation centers, and state aging agencies to expand access to assistive technologies and meet older Americans where they are.
The project also supports a significant return on investment.
“For every $1 spent on assistive technology, people save $9,” Moon said. “Assisted living is terribly expensive. We will never replace assisted living or nursing homes, but we do want to give people the choice to age successfully in their communities of choice.”
Using technology to improve lives is a central mission of the Ivan Allen College and Georgia Tech, and researchers at CACP and CIDI collaborate across disciplines to do just that.
“We're using AI and harnessing the cutting edge of technology to make better recommendations based on what we know, but it’s not just technology for technology’s sake. We put the people first and technology follows. It's there to be a support.”
Lindsey Bullinger, associate professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, has been named associate dean for research, effective Aug. 1.
Bullinger is the Associate Director of the Health Economics and Policy Innovation Collaborative and a co-editor for the Journal of Policy Analysis & Management and a consulting editor for Child Maltreatment. She is also a faculty affiliate with the Georgia Policy Labs at Georgia State University, the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at the University of Notre Dame, the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Children's Pediatric Research Alliance at the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
“Dr. Bullinger’s deep expertise in research and leadership will be a tremendous asset to supporting and amplifying the amazing research in the College,” said Amanda Murdie, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Regents’ Professor, and Ivan Allen Jr. Chair. “Her leadership roles both at Georgia Tech and in her research area make her an ideal leader for the College’s research enterprise.”
Bullinger’s research examines how public policies affect child and family health and well-being, especially among low-income families. Her work has been published in American Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, Contemporary Economic Policy, Review of Economics of the Household, Economics & Human Biology, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Housing Policy Debate, Child Abuse & Neglect, Children and Youth Services Review, Health Affairs, BMC Pediatrics, Health Services Research, American Journal of Public Health, JAMA Pediatrics, Maternal and Child Health Journal, and more.
Bullinger’s research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE), Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy, Spencer Foundation, Cash Transfer Lab at NYU, and Pew Charitable Trusts.
For the past three years, Bullinger has co-chaired the Georgia Tech Office of the Executive Vice President for Research's steering committee, developing recommendations for a new Interdisciplinary Research Institute (IRI) on health and well-being. She has also served two elected terms on the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy’s Faculty Executive Committee and co-hosts the annual Atlanta Workshop on Public Policy and Child Well-being.
She earned a Ph.D. from the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. She holds an MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from Miami University in Ohio.
]]>“We would talk, not just about public policy, but about life,” said Cheryl Leggon, a retired associate professor in the Carter School.
According to those who knew her well, those small exchanges outside D.M. Smith reflected the way Persons, a professor in the Carter School, moved through the world. She built friendships and drew whole organizations together, one conversation at a time. Over more than 30 years, those connections became the bedrock of her remarkable career and legacy.
Following her passing in July, her colleagues and friends reflected on the lasting impact of those relationships.
“Georgia was committed to bringing together scholars in her field,” said Willie Pearson Jr., a retired Regents’ Professor in the School of History and Sociology.
She specialized in connecting policy and political science scholars to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Persons played an active role in founding the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and edited the National Political Science Review, the Conference’s refereed scholarly journal, for ten years — an unusual distinction in scholarship and service.
Persons’ talent for bringing people together also extended beyond colleagues in her discipline. She served all of Georgia Tech’s faculty as an ADVANCE Professor and was active in the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which promotes collaboration and public service among its historically Black colleges and universities member institutions.
“As one of the Carter School’s founding faculty members, Georgia encouraged others to engage with contemporary social policy issues and with the larger community,” said Aaron Levine, interim chair of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. “The School wouldn’t be where it is today without her.”
Persons’ talent for building communities and supporting others began during her undergraduate years at Southern University in Louisiana, where she studied under eminent scholar Jewel Limar Prestage, the first Black woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in political science. Throughout her career, Persons followed her mentor’s example, encouraging those who were pursuing academic paths in political science and other fields.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science at Southern, Persons earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in American government and politics, urban politics and policy, and political development.
“She earned her Ph.D. at MIT at a time when there were far too few African Americans — and even fewer African American women — pursuing graduate work in such spaces. That achievement alone speaks to her determination, discipline, and exceptional capacity,” said Kaye Husbands Fealing, a professor in the Carter School and former dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
“But Georgia did not simply enter those rooms; she helped widen the doors for others,” she added.
As a teacher and mentor, Persons changed lives.
“Your laid-back yet academically enriching teaching style is unique among the faculty, motivating me to take any course in which your name is associated,” Husbands Fealing quoted one of her students as saying. “It is under [your] insights that I am inspired to pursue a career in Public Policy.”
Persons was also known for weaving personal experience into her teaching and research in ways that students found meaningful and inspiring.
“Georgia did more than teach courses. She opened intellectual pathways. She helped students see history more clearly, policy more critically, and their own futures more expansively,” said Husbands Fealing.
At Georgia Tech, Persons published widely on African American politics, American national government, national institutional processes, health policy, and health disparities. She was awarded the highly competitive Ford Foundation Fellowship and was named an American Political Science Association Fellow.
“Georgia had a gift for looking honestly at history — not as a fixed account of the past, but as a living record of struggle, resilience, exclusion, and possibility,” said Husbands Fealing.
Recently, Persons conducted research on health policy and healthcare safety nets. She was also consulting for the Fulton-Dekalb Hospital Authority. Her work focused not only on the problems with the healthcare system, but also on its potential and possible futures.
“Georgia’s scholarship mattered because it was never detached from human consequence,” said Husbands Fealing. “She studied institutions not as abstractions, but as forces that shape opportunity, dignity, health, leadership, and democratic belonging.”
Across her decades at Georgia Tech, the qualities colleagues remember the most about Georgia Persons are the same ones reflected in those conversations outside D.M. Smith: her warmth, generosity, and remarkable ability to bring people together.
Associate Professor Hans Klein recalled that in his first semester at Georgia Tech, Persons saw him in the hallway and joked that she thought he was one of the undergraduates. They laughed, and that good-humored warmth remained a hallmark of their relationship. (As recalled to Kaye Husbands Fealing.)
“I had the privilege of knowing and working with her for many years and have many memories of our long association. Georgia was a unique colleague, and will be greatly missed,” said Professor Philip Shapira.
“Generations of students and faculty benefited from her wisdom and experience,” said Dean’s Distinguished Professor Mary Frank Fox. “I will miss Georgia — ever, always.”
]]>Editor's note. This story was first published by Georgia Tech Research.
“Organizations need to shift the way they treat bias in AI,” said Reeham Mohammed, a postdoctoral fellow in Georgia Tech’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. “Bias isn’t a problem that can be solved once and for all, and it affects everyone. We are all stakeholders in how this technology is implemented.”
Most efforts to address AI bias focus on fixing systems after they are built. Reeham proposes starting earlier. In a recent book chapter, she outlines an approach called participatory modeling, where stakeholders help map how AI systems function before they are deployed. The process reveals where bias can enter along the way.
Her framework draws on an unexpected comparison: the human immune system. When the body detects a virus, multiple systems respond and remain active until the threat is contained. Addressing AI bias, she argues, requires a similar approach — one that is continuous, adaptive, and systemwide.
“It takes the whole body to react to a virus, and the immune system stays active until it contains it,” Reeham said. “Stopping AI bias also requires ongoing intervention. AI is rapidly evolving, and our response should evolve with it.”
To test this idea, Reeham and her co-author, Erik Johnston of Arizona State University, wrote the recent chapter reporting on three empirical studies examining how bias can emerge across complex systems.
In Peoria, Illinois, the research mapped how health services, social services, and other support systems used AI and how it affected their operations. Three main issues stood out: Access barriers to resources kept some stakeholders out, AI systems reflected their designers more than the intended users, and the complexity of public institutions made public trust challenging.
Johnston analyzed 311 service request data, showing how citizen input, usage patterns, and response systems can reflect — and sometimes reinforce — existing disparities between neighborhoods. For example, low-income, ethnically diverse communities often don’t use 311 due to language barriers or low government trust. In a third study, Reeham conducted focus groups with 57 stakeholders at a higher education institution, including students, instructors, and administrators. These interviews explored perceptions of AI use and oversight within the higher education environment. Many of the conversations addressed faculty policies on student AI usage, with students reflecting frustration that they were not consulted in the making of these policies.
Together, the findings show AI systems cannot be designed effectively from the top down without excluding important groups that actually use the AI services. Instead, participatory modeling calls for stakeholders to be involved early to help identify where bias begins. Whether through town halls or focus groups, stakeholders should be part of discussions when designing a new system. Stakeholders also need to remain engaged after deployment to ensure that systems stay fair; this could include everything from community advisory boards to third-party consultants.
“People should know that if they see bias in AI, they need to speak up,” Reeham said. “We often assume machines are more objective than humans, but that’s not always true.”
CITATION: Johnston, E.W., Mohammed, R.R. (2026). How Participatory Modeling Can Enable Collective Bias Mitigation when AI Is Used across Systems and Institutions. In: Ahrweiler, P., Gilbert, N. (eds) Participatory Modelling and Simulation to Improve AI-based Public Social Services. Artificial Intelligence, Simulation and Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-15283-1_13
]]>The 3-year project will examine how obstacles, such as training and certification requirements, geographic issues, awareness gaps, and shifts in federal policy, may affect employment in the sector.
"It’s a good time for a project like this because the renewable energy industry continues to grow and it’s at a point at which it needs to take charge of its own future. This study will help them start making some of those decisions,” said Graff.
Graff is in her first year on campus at Georgia Tech, and is now the principal investigator on a project that spans 13 states and includes researchers from the University of Massachusetts Boston, Northwestern University, and colleagues at Georgia Tech.
The main goal of the project is to understand issues that may complicate employment options for aspirants interested in jobs in the renewable energy sector, which continues to see employment gains despite project cancelations and headwinds due in part to policy shifts by the federal government.
For instance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in September that it expects wind turbine service technician and solar photovoltaic installer will be the nation’s fastest growing occupations through 2034.
In Georgia, the clean energy advocacy organization E2 reported that jobs in Georgia grew at five times the rate as the rest of the state’s economy in 2025.
The researchers want to first understand how familiar job searchers are with clean energy jobs and what barriers stand in the way for them to be able to find jobs in the sector, including application hurdles, language skills, and location. Part of the work will include in-depth case studies across the country, a virtual workshop, and other outputs.
They then plan to produce policy recommendations.
“The goal is to not only to identify these burdens, but also think of ways to creatively reduce them without sacrificing rigor or training while recruiting the most talented people possible,” Graff said.
Graff’s Carter School colleague Professor Dan Matisoff will act as a connection with the clean energy industry and help craft the policy recommendations.
She expects the study, which is called “Investigating Administrative Burdens in the Renewable Energy Workforce,” will be completed in 2030.
]]>“Aaron is a trusted colleague and leader who will guide the Carter School expertly as we navigate this transition,” said Amanda Murdie, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
Levine led and implemented many transformational, high-impact efforts as the Ivan Allen College’s associate dean for research and outreach. He supported interdisciplinary research during record-breaking years, expanded research support programs and excellence awards, communicated the impact of research to external and internal stakeholders, established connections with early-career faculty, and co-created a mid-career academy for associate professors.
Levine will continue to serve as the interim executive director of the Georgia Tech’s Institute for Technology and Civic Leadership and participate in the Faculty Executive Leadership Academy.
Levine’s research addresses the intersection of public policy and biomedical innovation, particularly in the context of stem cells, cell therapy, and assisted reproduction. He has a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from Princeton University, a M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Levine will step down as Ivan Allen College’s associate dean for research and outreach on May 31. Effective June 1, the senior associate dean for strategic initiatives position will expand to include college-wide outreach and strategic partnership efforts.
An expedited internal search for the next associate dean for research will launch in summer 2026. Richard Utz, senior associate dean for strategic initiatives, will temporarily oversee the College’s research portfolio.
]]>“It has been my greatest honor to serve this community and to witness the impact of our shared work,” Sugimoto said. “I leave with profound pride in what we have built together and unwavering confidence in the bright future ahead for the Carter School.”
During her time at Georgia Tech, Sugimoto has demonstrated an exceptional ability to lead academic organizations while fostering a culture of innovation and inclusion. Sugimoto led development efforts that helped the Carter School achieve a record as the second Georgia Tech school to meet its Transforming Tomorrow campaign goal. She also spearheaded a significant strategic and philanthropic initiative to name the School of Public Policy after former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn — a milestone supported by $10 million in development funds. Sugimoto also championed and oversaw the $26-million renovation of the D.M. Smith Building, preserving its historical character while updating infrastructure, accessibility, and sustainability.
Her leadership has also resulted in substantial growth in student enrollment, national program expansion, the creation of four new interdisciplinary undergraduate minors, and expanded staff and organizational structures. In partnership with the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Sugimoto helped lead the establishment of the GTDC: Pathways to Policy program — a fully immersive, semester-long experience in Washington, D.C. available to the entire undergraduate community at Georgia Tech. She also oversaw the creation of the Center for Urban Research, a collaboration between Georgia Tech and the mayor’s office that brings together university, community, nonprofit, and municipal leaders to develop and evaluate solutions that address inequities in urban centers. These achievements reflect her deep understanding of how to bridge diverse academic fields to enhance the holistic student experience.
“We are deeply grateful for Cassidy’s thoughtful and innovative leadership,” said Amanda Murdie, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Regents’ Professor, and Ivan Allen Jr. Chair. “She’s positioned the Carter School well to continue expanding and enhancing its human-centered, evidence-based teaching and research.”
As a past president of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics, Sugimoto has spent her career examining the "science of science" and the formal and informal ways in which knowledge is produced and disseminated. A socially engaged scholar, she has served as a consultant for funding agencies including the European Research Council and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and as a program director for the National Science Foundation.
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts will announce an interim chair of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy in the next few weeks. An international search for the next chair will launch in academic year 2026-2027.
]]>According to the study, published in Energy Policy, widespread adoption of electric vehicles, or EVs, by 2035 would cut energy bills for U.S. households by more than 6% — including more than 4% at the gas pump. It also would drive oil imports down by 7% and increase exports by nearly 4%, the researchers say.
However, those benefits are imperiled by the repeal of national electric vehicle incentives and the recent decision by the federal government to roll back EV-boosting rules meant to increase vehicle fuel efficiency and reduce pollution, according to the study’s authors, Ph.D. candidate Niraj K. Palsule; Marilyn A. Brown, Regents’ Professor and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems; and former graduate student Suprita Chakravarthy. Their study was conducted prior to the federal decisions.
“Proponents of eliminating fuel efficiency standards and other EV-boosting policies often frame those regulatory approaches as consumer-unfriendly, but our analysis shows that such policies have many long-term benefits, both for consumers and for the nation’s energy security,” Palsule said.
For more on the study, read the full story.
]]>Co-founded by Daniel Forcade and Hanna Bodnar, recent graduates of Georgia Tech’s Master of Science in Analytics program, Politheon is designed to overcome the limitations of standard artificial intelligence in providing businesses and other organizations with accurate and actionable information about legislative activity.
Bodnar credits the team's collaboration with Associate Professor Omar Asensio’s Data Science and Policy Lab in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy for helping shape the platform.
"Collaborating with Professor Asensio’s lab was pivotal," Bodnar said. "As engineers, we had to expand our perspective beyond the technical implementation and deeply understand how public policy researchers and practitioners interpret legislative data. That interdisciplinary feedback helped us design a system that is both technically rigorous and policy-aware."
Forcade agreed, saying it took the combined resources of CREATE-X and the collaboration with Asensio’s lab to make Politheon what it is.
“CREATE-X gave us the business foundation to build and scale, while our collaboration with Professor Asensio’s lab helped us strengthen the scientific rigor behind the system. In policy, it's incredibly important to have testing, validation, and empirical grounding behind what you build.”
When it comes to understanding the potential impact of sometimes obliquely written legislation, precision and insight are vital. Publicly available large language models often struggle in these environments, sounding authoritative but often hallucinating in place of facts and failing to reason out the hidden impacts of legislation. Politheon, however, offers a potential solution, Asensio said.
"This is a very exciting use case for agentic AI in the context of evidence-informed policy," he said.
The project originally started as the final project for Bodnar and Forcade’s analytics program. Forcade said their instructors encouraged them to apply to CREATE-X to take the project further.
Forcade said CREATE-X liked the idea but asked them to talk to more experts. Forcade and Bodnar then reached out to Asensio.
Asensio was enthusiastic and invited them to present at his lab, where his team spent two and a half hours offering Forcade and Bodnar intensive constructive feedback. The duo has been collaborating with the lab ever since.
Asensio noted that this kind of cross-pollination is an embedded feature of his lab.
"We often start with data or policy solutions to guide technical development, and not the other way around," Asensio said. "This means our technologists learn to do causal inference and policy impact evaluation, and our policy scholars learn to code and train models and algorithms as part of their work."
That focus on critical evaluation aligns seamlessly with the founders' technical training.
"My background in mathematics and Georgia Tech’s Analytics program gave me a strong foundation in statistical modeling and machine learning systems," Bodnar said. "The program emphasizes not just building models but evaluating them rigorously. That mindset shaped how we designed Politheon, especially how we validate outputs and measure accuracy in a space where precision really matters."
The platform is already demonstrating its capabilities. Recent agent outputs include a large-scale scan of more than 25,000 Oregon bills, drawn from a broader searchable database of over 1.6 million state and federal bills, identifying emerging trends in artificial intelligence regulation. The system has also delivered validated, cross-jurisdictional analysis of “buy-now-pay-later” legislation in New York and Congress, with findings reviewed by senior government affairs professionals, tracing how the issue emerged and how it evolved over time.
The startup recently secured $100,000 in funding which helped build complete, and near real-time, data coverage across the federal government and all U.S. states.
“The raise enabled us to bring in the live data stream,” Forcade said. “With real-time coverage in place, we’re now advancing pricing discussions and pilot rollouts with multiple organizations.”
Ultimately, the platform is designed to provide clarity amid the noise of modern governance.
"Policy moves quickly, and missing a compliance date or legislative shift can be costly," Bodnar said. "Our goal is to surface what’s relevant, explain why it matters, and provide clear citations to the original bills so teams can make informed decisions with confidence.”
]]>The Georgia Tech Ethics Bowl team earned top honors at the Southeast Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl in November and secured a coveted spot at the national competition this spring.
The winning lineup of students Justin Bowen, Arvyn De, Keerthi Konuganti, Caleb Sulak, and Aditi Venkatesh outperformed 13 other teams at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) Southeast Regional, hosted by the Florida Blue Center for Ethics at the University of North Florida.
They went to the competition as a non-qualifying team, so they also had to place at the APPE Mid-Atlantic Regional, hosted Nov. 8 by the TRUIST Center for Ethical Leadership at the University of North Georgia. That team — made up of students Justin Bowen, Elektra Larson, Emma Marx, Marily Minton, Prisha Shah, Christian Villarreal, and Nicholas Whaley — placed fourth.
Ethics Bowl competitions bring together teams from across the country to provide analysis on ethical issues and provide productive commentary to others in a competitive format. Topics this year included animal welfare, neuroscientific evidence in the justice system, posthumous composting, and organ donation.
“The goal of the Ethics Bowl is not to disprove the opposing team in a round, but rather to explore all relevant moral dimensions in the case and respectfully consider opposing viewpoints to come to nuanced understandings of ethical action,” said Bowen, treasurer for Ethics Bowl at Georgia Tech.
In addition to the National Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl competition in the spring, the team plans to attend the National Bioethics Bowl and the Lockheed Martin Ethics in Engineering Case Competition. They will also be organizing a first-ever National High School Ethics Bowl regional on the Georgia Tech campus, open to all Georgia high school students.
“A lot is in store for the team, and we are proud to uphold Georgia Tech's commitment to Progress and Service through ethics education,” Bowen said.
For more than half a century, Georgia natives President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter exemplified this work, forging a partnership in service that’s recognized around the world. It’s a legacy that will continue with the naming of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy.
The naming, first announced in April 2025, was formally celebrated at a ceremony on Nov. 13, 2025, at the newly renovated D.M. Smith building. A standing-room-only crowd, including President Ángel Cabrera, University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue, former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, civil rights icon and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, members of the Carter family and other luminaries attended the event.
The milestone marked more than the honoring of a homegrown president and first lady by Georgia’s top public university. It serves as a profound statement of identity — a declaration that the School’s mission to create leaders who "ethically address societal problems" is indelibly linked with the Carters’ lifelong commitment to improving the human condition.
"Names matter,” said Cassidy R. Sugimoto, Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the Carter School. “When you evoke the Carter name, it means something. In that one word, you encompass decades of public service, values of humility, respect, faith, integrity, justice, a deep commitment to human rights and democracy.”
The Carters’ connection to Georgia Tech is not merely symbolic. It’s foundational. Before James Earl Carter Jr. was a naval officer, a governor, or a president, he was a Georgia Tech student. Carter arrived in 1942 and attended for one year before moving on to the U.S. Naval Academy.
While his time at Georgia Tech was brief, it was impactful, said the Carters’ fourth grandson, Josh Carter, ME 2006.
“Georgia Tech is where my grandpa learned to love engineering,” Josh Carter said.
“And every time my grandpa talked about the Naval Academy, he always made a point to say that he got his start at Georgia Tech and left here to graduate from an easier school.”
A problem-solver’s mindset winds through Jimmy and Rosalynn Carters’ careers in public service as well as through the Carter School’s core pillars of sustainability, equity, and innovation.
For instance, decades before "sustainability" became a global watchword, Carter framed the energy crisis as the "moral equivalent of war."
He formed the Department of Energy, oversaw the creation of the Superfund program to pay for critical environmental cleanups, and placed solar panels on the White House roof.
Today, Georgia Tech students and faculty champion sustainability through degree programs such as the Master of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Management and through projects such as the Drawdown Georgia research effort led by Regents’ Professor Marilyn A. Brown, whose team recently reported how Georgia has slashed its carbon output while significantly growing its economy.
Carter also possessed an unwavering commitment to equity, speaking out against racial discrimination and making civil and human rights a central tenet of U.S. foreign policy.
The School continues this legacy through programs such as the Center for Urban Research, which seeks to address socioeconomic inequities in urban areas. The Center was recently named the research lead for the city of Atlanta’s $5 billion neighborhood revitalization effort.
Carter also understood the growing importance of technology, becoming the first president to install computers in the executive offices, well before they became common in every household.
Today’s Carter School is nationally ranked for its programs in environmental policy, information and technology management, and public policy analysis. The school helps train tomorrow’s cybersecurity leaders to spot the impact of technological change on network security, develop experts in ethical frameworks for artificial intelligence systems, and more.
Globally, the School extends its reach through partnerships with universities around the world, including the University of Manchester, Colombia’s Universidad Externado, the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy in Japan, and KAIST, a South Korean university.
These agreements help the School extend its reach and provide students and faculty to collaborate on research, academic programs, and more.
While the former president’s career garnered more attention, Rosalynn Carter’s life in public service was deeply impactful, as well. Her work gave a policy voice to millions of unseen and unheard Americans.
"My grandmother was more politically savvy than my grandfather,” Josh Carter said. “She was a strategist. She was his confidant. My grandmother was involved in just about every decision, peace deal, cease fire, and political triumph of my grandfather's life."
She became the first first lady since Eleanor Rooselvelt to testify before Congress as she fought to reduce the stigma of mental illness and create new programs to help those struggling with mental health. Her work on the President's Commission on Mental Health led directly to the landmark Mental Health Systems Act of 1980.
Perdue said he learned much about mental health need from Roslaynn Carter while visiting the couple during his time as governor.
“I know that we are glad that Georgia has made some progress in that group, but she laid that foundation,” Perdue said.
Rosalynn Carter also founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, reframing the act of caregiving as a universal public policy challenge.
"There are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers,” she said.
Her advocacy also helped lead to federal vaccine programs that have saved countless lives.
Today, the Carter School strives to continue this work by providing policymakers with rock-solid research on complex medical and social issues.
For instance, the Health Economics and Policy Innovation Collaborative, a partnership with the School of Economics, provides rigorous, data-driven analysis on everything from healthcare access to child well-being, applying that same blend of compassion and policy acumen Rosalynn Carter championed. Another example: Recent research published in JAMA Network Open that reveals a link between energy insecurity and mental health. Another paper brings attention to a potential housing crisis brewing in rural America.
It is this dual legacy — Jimmy Carter’s engineering-forward approach to policy, and the compassionate approach to public well-being he shared with his wife — that the Carter School now embodies.
The School's home in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts drives the point home.
The College is named for former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., a Georgia Tech graduate and another Southern political leader who championed desegregation. Allen’s calls for transformative urban leadership continue to shape the College’s mission today.
"Mayor Allen was a beacon of light for Jimmy and for me … standing up for what was good and what was right,” Rosalynn Carter said on receiving the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage with her husband in 2017.
Now, the Carters’ legacy of ethical public service, technological advancement, commitment to sustainability and human and civil rights serves as another guiding principle for Carter School students, faculty, and staff.
Their example serves as a model for the generations of leaders to come — leaders who will graduate from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy ready to continue the work of translating technology, conviction, and compassion into a better world.
"They both led with humility and unshakable moral compass,” said President Ángel Cabrera. “And they showed us what true service looks like. I could not think of a better name to be associated with the school. This is a proud day for Georgia Tech.”
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