Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 69) must also live the highest values they can. Georgia Tech has a challenging problem concerning a couple of former employees accused of making personal charges on state-issued credit cards. The state has found similar instances of fraud on other college campuses. What should we learn from this? No matter how much we try to build the highest ethical climate, we will never entirely eliminate bad people who try to do bad things. This is why effective internal control systems are a critical safeguard. We must continually reinforce our expectation of the highest ethical standards of behavior, but we must also have effective systems in place to deter abuses. What is your vision for the College of Management? Georgia Tech is a great institute that deserves a great business school. Building on the Institute’s strengths, we aim to become the world’s pre-eminent business school for management and technology within 10 years. We already are well on our way, with areas like operations management and quantitative analysis now ranked in the top 10, and other areas like information technology management and quantitative finance quickly rising within the top 20 as well. What is your strategy for achieving this? The key is to grow and develop a world-class faculty. Great scholars gain global recognition for their research and provide their students with the very best knowledge — knowledge which they often have created themselves. A world-class faculty provides the structure around which we build a world-class student body, world-class staff and worldclass programs. This has been my highest priority and I am very proud of the job my colleagues have done in attracting many superb new hires during my first two years as dean. What are the biggest challenges you face in achieving your goals for the college? Far and away, the biggest challenge is resources, given the quickly escalating arms race among very well-heeled business schools. But this is a challenge I really enjoy working on. I see my job as working collaboratively with faculty, students, alumni, staff and the business community to develop winning strategies, goals and initiatives. After that, my role is very much external: to build excitement about the direction of the College of Management and generate the resources that will allow all the very talented people in our building — students, staff and faculty alike — to thrive and succeed. Ultimately, my success in this will depend on the commitment and the generosity of our alumni and friends. But no university anywhere, bar none, has more loyal supporters than Georgia Tech. You have won numerous teaching awards. What makes a good teacher? Great teaching comes in many shapes and colors, but there are some attributes that I think are fundamental. Knowledge is obviously very important. Organization is critical. An ability to read an audience is very helpful — it distinguishes those who are responsive to student learning. Respect for students is basic but essential. And if you have all of those, love for teaching is what will put it over the top. Students always know when there is no place you would rather be than with them in the classroom. If you’re passionate about your subject, it shows. And it is infectious. GT “We aim to become the world’s pre-eminent business school for management and technology within 10 years. We already are well on our way, with areas like operations management and quantitative analysis now ranked in the top 10, and other areas like information technology management and quantitative finance quickly rising within the top 20 as well.” Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Spring 2008 69
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