Tech Topics - Summer 2008 - (Page 18) TheHill GARY MEEK ‘NOBLE CAUSE’ By John Dunn P resident Wayne Clough has rolled up his sleeves to tackle a new job as head of the Smithsonian Institution while stepping out of a very large pair of shoes at Georgia Tech. Calling it “a noble cause,” Clough has taken the job to restore the expansive Smithsonian Museum, the nation’s premier educational, historical and cultural archive, from “staggering problems.” He becomes secretary of the Smithsonian, the chief executive post, on July 1. Gary Schuster, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, has been named interim president effective July 1 by Erroll B. Davis Jr., chancellor of the University System of Georgia. Schuster began his tenure at Tech 14 years ago as dean of the College of Sciences. “In the opinion of many, myself included, Wayne Clough was the most influential, successful and positive presidential force in Georgia Tech’s history,” Schuster said. “It is with great honor, humility and care that I take the responsibilities of this interim role.” Students said farewell to Wayne and Anne Clough in a gathering at the Kessler Campanile on April 21. The student government presented him with a framed timeline of his “incredible feats” as president of the Institute. Undergraduate student body president Anu Parvatiyar said an American elm will be planted near the campanile in Clough’s honor. Brock Wester, the graduate student body president, said because Clough is an alumnus of the Institute, “he has had an appreciation of the student experience unlike that of any other former president. He really does understand what it is to be a student at this school — the rigors and the challenges, academically and socially.” Since coming to Tech in 1994, Clough said, he has met with every elected student leader “to emphasize to them that we are an open administration and we want to help make this place a great place.” Clough said student government has been a resource throughout his tenure and many projects undertaken during his administration were the result of student initiatives, including a recycling program recently recognized as the best in the country. “I have been blessed to have a great faculty and staff to work with. I have been blessed to work with a terrific Georgia Tech student body. Every day when I come to work — even those days when things are not going quite right — it makes my day to meet with great Georgia Tech students.” Clough, the first alumnus to hold Georgia Tech’s top office, was quietly nominated as a candidate to run the Smithsonian Institution. When he was asked to consider the job, Clough said it took him by surprise. “I thought, ‘Hmm, I love museums but …” In the meantime, Clough said, he received a comprehensive amount of material about the job and the Smithsonian, a complex of 19 museums, the National Zoo, nine research centers and a staff of 6,300 people. “The more I read about the place I realized it was like a big university. It had many of the same characteristics. They have 500 scientists at nine different locations around the world. They have curators who are much like the very creative people you find on a faculty. They have some issues. Many of those issues are similar to universities. Funding is not as robust as they’d like it to be. They have issues with their facilities. I’m a civil engineer, so facilities, I understand. 18 TECHTOPICS | SUMMER 2008
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