Community Serving

President Mark P. Becker

In the nearly three years I've lived in Atlanta, I've continually been impressed by the many offerings for cultural, social, business, recreational and culinary experiences available just a short distance from Georgia State University. Atlanta has long been known for its quality restaurants, and we're proud of our GSU alumni at the forefront. In this issue, we meet local food entrepreneurs and GSU alums who share their stories of success and talk about the thriving Atlanta food landscape: Nick Carse of King of Pops, Rene Diaz of Diaz Foods, Matt Hinton of Bell Street Burritos, Tad and Nancy Mitchell of Six Feet Under and Tom Murphy of Murphy's in the Virginia Highland area.

This fall GSU's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies is delighted to host a cohort of more than a dozen students from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Sponsored by a $3 million USAID grant, the program aims to prepare young professionals to take on higher levels of responsibility in the Indonesian Ministry of Finance when they return to their homeland, as their nation grapples with a rapidly growing economy and the myriad policy issues associated therewith. You'll get to know some of these remarkable students as they dive into new experiences academically and otherwise, including a change of seasons and the prospect of experiencing snow!

Finally in this issue, you'll follow the personal journey of a true shining star at Georgia State. Sarah Higinbotham, an English doctoral candidate and instructor, has been teaching literature at a Georgia prison for nearly two years. This semester, University Housing is funding a grant for a program in which GSU will provide books and supplies for prisoners in the program. In exchange, Higinbotham will participate in service learning projects with students who live in University Housing. These students will be learning about mass incarceration and will actively engage prisoner students through peer review of one another's essays, as well as through field trips to participate in a GSU and prison student workshop.

This issue celebrates the many faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends throughout our campus, our community - indeed our world - who are pushing back the bounds of common understanding to make a better world for us all, and I could not be more proud of them.

Sincerely,
Mark P. Becker