For more than four decades Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have dedicated their lives to improving human rights and alleviating suffering around the world.

Together they’ve traveled to more than 100 countries to observe elections as part of The Carter Center’s mission to enhance freedom and democracy. The nonpartisan, nonprofit center they founded is close to eradicating Guinea worm disease from the planet.

As the 39th president of the United States, he promoted peace in the Middle East through the Camp David Accords; increased the number of women serving in the federal judiciary; and nearly doubled the amount of land protected by the National Park Service.

Her groundbreaking advocacy on mental health lessened the stigma associated with mental illness and forced doctors to treat it on par with physical health.

Carter spoke with Georgia Tech about his grandparents as the Institute prepared to award the couple with the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage on Feb. 20, 2017. Jimmy Carter attended Georgia Tech for one year and received an honorary degree from the Institute in 1979 — the first in Tech’s history. Read the full article.