{"615595":{"#nid":"615595","#data":{"type":"news","title":"CACP\u2019s Founding Director to Step Down after 21 Transformative Years","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy Michael Pearson\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwenty-one years after arriving at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Regents\u0026rsquo; Researcher Helena Mitchell is stepping down from her role as the executive director of the Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut she is not leaving her work behind, not just yet, anyway. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/mitchell\u0022\u003EMitchell\u003C\/a\u003E plans to remain as principal investigator on the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.wirelessrerc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ERehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies\u003C\/a\u003E, a multi-institution interdisciplinary center that has generated $14.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education since 2001.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnder Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s leadership, the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cacp.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECACP\u003C\/a\u003E, which includes the Wireless RERC, has expanded to include 10 full-time employees and 30 affiliated researchers, engineers, and staff, and a portfolio that spans a broad range of technology policy issues, including wireless technologies, accessible technology, emergency communications, STEM education, workforce development, and more.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAll the while, a rapidly shifting technological landscape has kept things interesting, Mitchell said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The stimulating part has been the combination of the technology rapidly evolving and the type of people that that attracts to work for us,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;The years have flown past, from beginning as an Eminent Scholar to my current position as a Regents\u0026rsquo; Researcher. I love my work and the incredible team members that make up CACP, my colleagues at the School of Public Policy, and throughout Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EPrior stops included FCC, Georgia Research Alliance\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore becoming an academic, Mitchell worked as the director of television and radio at Rutgers University and then at the Federal Communications Commission, where she first served as chief of the Emergency Broadcast System and led its transition into Emergency Alert System. She went on to work as the associate chief for strategic communications in the Office of Engineering and Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Research Alliance then named her the state\u0026rsquo;s first female Eminent Scholar in 1997, and she worked there for three years on distance learning initiatives and education-related policy issues. She then came to Georgia Tech as a fulltime researcher in 2000 with a broad mandate from then Georgia Tech President G. Wayne Clough to \u0026ldquo;work on anything policy related.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe started at the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunication Technology, which oversaw projects including spectrum management issues, efforts to broaden federal policies that limited the scope of next-generation devices, a mobile lab that demonstrated a system for delivering high-bandwidth internet connectivity to schools.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003ECACP Founding\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe founded the CACP with the idea of blending policy and regulatory perspectives from her time at the FCC and Executive Branch policy at the Department of Commerce.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe years since have seen CACP grow into a nationally recognized voice in technology policy. The Center, which has generated a total of more than $26 million in funding, is frequently cited in federal regulatory and policymaking decisions. Its researchers are currently working on a variety of projects, including the development of a \u0026ldquo;smart sleeve\u0026rdquo; to provide assistance to people with disabilities and a project to deliver American Sign Language alerts during emergencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I cannot say enough wonderful things about CACP,\u0026rdquo; Mitchell said. \u0026ldquo;The team is, and has been, amazing through the years. We have shared insights, talents, and created a stimulating place for creative engagement. In addition, it has been fulfilling to witness my students become professionals in academia, law, government and industry and, most importantly, to say that we at CACP made a difference in their lives.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA search for Mitchell\u0026rsquo;s successor is under way.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EA Bright Future\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKaye Husbands Fealing, professor and chair of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/research-areas\/information-communications\u0022\u003ESchool of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/a\u003E, which houses the CACP, said the center has a strong team in place and is set up for a bright future.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Dr. Mitchell really made a huge impact on not just how the center is run, but how it is perceived nationally and internationally,\u0026rdquo; Fealing said. \u0026ldquo;We are grateful and truly admire what she brought to the CACP, the School of Public Policy, and Georgia Tech broadly, and we look forward to replacing strength with strength and watching as this important center continues to flourish for years to come.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMitchell said that she, too, is excited for the CACP\u0026rsquo;s future.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are entering an exciting and ever evolving technological ecosystem,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;I am optimistic that the new executive director will be as committed as I have been to growing a strong center, expanding research capacity, students involving and building on the diverse portfolio that makes us unique and valued by government and industry.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMitchell will remain as the principal investigator on the Wireless RERC until 2021, working to help nurture some projects to completion and to continue working with graduate students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe eventually hopes to shift her attention to writing historical fiction.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERegents Researcher Helena Mitchell is stepping down from her role as the executive director of the Center for Advanced Communications Policy, but will remain as principal investigator for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies\u0026nbsp;until 2021.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Regents Researcher Helena Mitchell is stepping down from her role as the executive director of the Center for Advanced Communications Policy, but will remain as principal investigator until 2021."}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2018-12-18 21:12:55","changed_gmt":"2018-12-18 21:44:51","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"321251":{"id":"321251","type":"image","title":"Dr. Helena Mitchell","body":null,"created":"1449245011","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:03:31","changed":"1475895032","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:32","alt":"Dr. Helena Mitchell","file":{"fid":"200108","name":"2014-09-03_155559.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2014-09-03_155559_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2014-09-03_155559_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":23297,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2014-09-03_155559_0.jpg?itok=XcWxoE32"}}},"media_ids":["321251"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"15304","name":"Helena Mitchell"},{"id":"14599","name":"Center for Advanced Communications Policy"},{"id":"167078","name":"School of Public Policy"},{"id":"1616","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMichael Pearson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmichael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894.2290\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}