Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that the Georgia State University Foundation raised $20,480,867 for the fiscal year that ended June 30. This represents a 13-percent increase over the preceding year, and easily surpassed the Foundation's $18M target for the year. At a time when many organizations -- both public and private -- endured a year of economic hardship, this accomplishment is a testament to the hard work and dedication of GSU's development team, as well as the foundation's dedicated and talented staff, volunteers and GSU alumni and friends.
Similarly, I was encouraged by a recent report from the University System of Georgia that stated GSU fueled the Atlanta economy by $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2009. The report placed GSU third in overall economic impact of all 35 USG institutions. In the past 10 years, the university's economic impact has almost tripled. Of particular interest: The study found that for every $1 of GSU spending, it generated $1.58 for the local economy.
These data speak to GSU's many and varied roles as a research university. Our core education and research programs benefit faculty, staff, students and alumni most directly, but more generally Atlanta and Georgia benefit from GSU's presence and activity. And our impact on Atlanta and Georgia -- economic and otherwise -- will only continue to grow as we raise our research profile and expand our footprint.
None of this happened by coincidence or by accident. I thank each of you for all you do, and will continue to do, to make GSU an institution of which we should all be very proud.
All the best,
Mark P. Becker
President
College of Ed minority rankings up
Georgia State University's College of Education increased the number of minority students graduating from its Ph.D. programs, according to a set of national rankings released this year. The College of Education is the eighth producer of African-American Ph.D. graduates and the 13th producer of minority Ph.D. graduates in education nationally, according to "Diverse: Issues in Higher Education" magazine.
J. Rhodes Haverty speaker selected
Richard J. Gelles, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, has been selected as the 2010 J. Rhodes Haverty Lecture speaker. The eighth-annual lecture will be held Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Speaker's Auditorium.
Yuan Liu, assistant professor of biology, was recently awarded a Georgia Cancer Coalition 2010 Cancer Research Award to further her work in studying the inflammatory response in colon cancer.
College of Education assistant professor Andy Roach will be honored for his research and contributions to school psychology as this year's recipient of the American Psychological Association's Lightner Witmer Award. Roach studies the alignment between curriculum and standardized testing, as well as assessment strategies for students with special needs
J. Mack Robinson College of Business alumnus Fred Cerrone (EMBA), president and CEO of Hotel Equities, Ken Bernhardt of the Department of Marketing and Debby Cannon of the School of Hospitality are among the top 100 leaders in Atlanta's $11 billion hospitality industry.
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If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Chandler Brown.