{"674480":{"#nid":"674480","#data":{"type":"news","title":"From One Engineer to Another","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt this year\u2019s Spring Commencement \u2014 almost 60 years after Ronald Yancey, EE 1965, became the first Black student to graduate from Georgia Tech \u2014 Deanna Yancey, his granddaughter, will earn a master\u2019s in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eelectrical and computer engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. Not only will the elder Yancey be attending, but he\u2019ll also be presenting the diploma to his granddaughter onstage at McCamish Pavilion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd they couldn\u2019t be more excited.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is huge,\u201d Deanna Yancey said. \u201cI probably will cry. I don\u2019t usually cry in front of people, but I probably will get a little teary.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChoosing Her Path\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe began building computers with her father when she was growing up in Columbia, Maryland, and eventually realized she wanted to learn more about the electrical side of things. Yancey applied to, and was accepted at, Georgia Tech but chose to pursue electrical engineering at Penn State instead.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think my family was surprised by that decision but still extremely happy for me,\u201d she said. After graduating, she began a three-year rotational program at Northrop Grumman in Maryland, which she will complete in August.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe also applied to Tech again, this time for an online master\u2019s in electrical and computer engineering. \u201cI didn\u2019t tell my family I was applying, so when I got in, I got to read the acceptance email to my grandfather,\u201d Yancey recalled. \u201cHe was so happy. He almost started jumping; he was so excited.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith good reason.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2018That Is Inspiring\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite the hardships her grandfather experienced, he speaks highly of Georgia Tech. \u201cThat is inspiring to me,\u201d she said. \u201cEven though it was hard, you still recognize the institution for being top-notch and having some of the best engineers coming out of there. And, Tech has significantly changed \u2014 he\u2019s very happy to have seen the changes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen she was younger, her grandfather didn\u2019t display much Georgia Tech memorabilia around the house and rarely spoke about his time there. As a Black student at an otherwise all-white university in the early 1960s, Ronald Yancey faced the ugliness of backlash and hostility every day.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEven now, he\u2019ll talk about some of the things he went through, but he won\u2019t tell us everything because he knows it would be upsetting to our family.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETakeaways From Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESumming up her graduate school experience, Yancey said she appreciated \u201cgetting the same education as everybody else. They don\u2019t treat the online students differently from the in-person students.\u201d She was also excited that all her professors had industry experience and a passion for what they do. \u201cI think it\u2019s truly amazing to get that firsthand experience.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYancey couldn\u2019t attend the 2019 unveiling of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arts.gatech.edu\/node\/141\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFirst Graduate \u003C\/em\u003Esculpture\u003C\/a\u003E of her grandfather in the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, but whenever she visits campus, she takes friends to see it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile she is figuring out her next role at Northrop Grumman, she wants to pursue a career in management to help the next generation of young engineers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPassing the Baton\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are extremely proud that Deanna took the initiative to select her field, to quietly and quickly apply, arrange her curriculum, and follow through with the completion of her matriculation,\u201d Ronald Yancey said. \u201cDeanna\u0027s graduate degree is truly an impressive achievement.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom a granddaughter\u2019s perspective, \u201cIt signifies the passing of a baton from one engineer to another. But more importantly, the struggle that he saw is not the struggle that\u2019s going on now.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Friday, Deanna Yancey will receive a master\u2019s diploma \u2014 from Tech\u2019s first Black graduate, her grandfather.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"On Friday, Deanna Yancey will receive a master\u2019s diploma \u2014 from Tech\u2019s first Black graduate, her grandfather."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2024-05-01 23:53:02","changed_gmt":"2024-05-02 12:46:28","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-05-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-05-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673897":{"id":"673897","type":"image","title":"Deanna Yancey With \u0027The First Graduate\u0027","body":"\u003Cp\u003EDeanna Yancey with \u0027The First Graduate,\u0027 which honors her grandfather, Ronald Yancey, EE 1965.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1714522682","gmt_created":"2024-05-01 00:18:02","changed":"1714652011","gmt_changed":"2024-05-02 12:13:31","alt":"Deanna Yancey with \u0027The First Graduate,\u0027 which honors her grandfather, Ronald Yancey, EE 1965.","file":{"fid":"257349","name":"yanceys copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/30\/yanceys%20copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/30\/yanceys%20copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1239843,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/04\/30\/yanceys%20copy.jpg?itok=mnkK7sqm"}},"673898":{"id":"673898","type":"image","title":"Deanna Yancey and Ronald Yancey","body":"\u003Cp\u003EDeanna Yancey and Ronald Yancey, EE 1965.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1714522846","gmt_created":"2024-05-01 00:20:46","changed":"1714652128","gmt_changed":"2024-05-02 12:15:28","alt":"Deanna Yancey and Ronald Yancey","file":{"fid":"257350","name":"IMG_5400.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/30\/IMG_5400.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/30\/IMG_5400.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1959814,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/04\/30\/IMG_5400.jpeg?itok=e-ruW6Vp"}},"673899":{"id":"673899","type":"image","title":"Deanna Yancey and \u0027The First Graduate\u0027","body":"\u003Cp\u003EDeanna Yancey and \u0027The First Graduate,\u0027 a statue honoring her grandfather, Ronald Yancey, EE 1965.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1714522922","gmt_created":"2024-05-01 00:22:02","changed":"1714652085","gmt_changed":"2024-05-02 12:14:45","alt":"Deanna Yancey and \u0027The First Graduate\u0027","file":{"fid":"257351","name":"IMG_6633.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/30\/IMG_6633.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/30\/IMG_6633.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1578990,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/04\/30\/IMG_6633.jpeg?itok=QOtgOkm7"}}},"media_ids":["673897","673898","673899"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"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:stacy.braukman@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EStacy Braukman\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}