Eight members of the College of Sciences were honored for their work on expanding representation at Georgia Tech during the 2021 Diversity Symposium on Sept. 15^th, sponsored by Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Lewis Wheaton, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences and co-chair of the College of Sciences’ Task Force on Racial Equity, is the 2021 Diversity Champion Faculty Award winner. The 2021 Diversity Champion Awards recognize members of the faculty, staff, and student body, and a unit (office, department, school, or lab) who are advancing the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Georgia Tech community.

Wheaton is a lead principal investigator for a $16 million National Institutes of Health-FIRST proposal, a collaborative project across several institutions that includes the aim of hiring 10 new underrepresented minority faculty in the College of Sciences and College of Engineering joint neuroscience program at Georgia Tech. He is also co-principal investigator on an NSF-funded Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates program in human neuroscience, which focuses on increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities from limited-resource undergraduate institutions.

During the Sept. 15^th event, seven College of Sciences faculty and staff were named Faces of Inclusive Excellence:

Juan Archila, Director of Facilities and Capital Planning, College of Sciences

Serves as the principal empowerment officer for the HOLA (Hispanics Or Latinos and Allies) Employee Resource Group. Led the steering committee to create the College of Sciences Staff Advisory Council. Served on the team that won the 2020 Process Improvement Excellence Award from Georgia Tech Human Resources.

Ruth Kanfer, Professor, School of Psychology:

Co-author of 2021 book Ageless Talent, on managing work­force age diversity. Founding director of the Work Science Center initiative.

Wenjing Liao, Assistant Professor, School of Mathematics:

Won a National Science Foundation (NSF) award in deep neural networks for structured data as a principal investigator in 2020, representing the third NSF award and fourth award overall she has won since becoming an assistant professor at Tech in 2017.

Stephanie Reikes, Lecturer, School of Mathematics:

Received the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Undergraduate Educator Award in 2021 for contributions supporting at-risk students. Actively fosters classroom en­vironments in which diversity and inclusion are respected by all.

Kathy Sims, Development Assistant, College of Sciences:

Serves as chair of the College of Sciences’ Staff Advisory Council. Served on the Task Force for Racial Equity. Member of the Employee Engagement Leadership Council and a recipient of the Women of Georgia Tech ERG Safeguard Freedom of Inquiry and Expression Award.

Emily Weigel, Senior Academic Professional, School of Biological Sciences:

Received the Ecological Society of America’s Education Scholar award for the creation of environmental justice materials on Atlanta’s water quality using open-source coding software readable by screen readers (Inclusive Pedagogy, Data Access Faculty).

Mayya Zhilova, Assistant Professor, School of Mathematics:

Recipient of the 2021 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program Award for research in statistical analysis, outreach, and mentorship plans for students and high schoolers from underrepresented communities.

“All honorees featured in Faces of Inclusive Excellence share one thing in common: They epitomize excellence in their research, teaching, leadership, and service, or have been honored and otherwise recognized by their peers within their respective fields of endeavor,” says IDEI Vice President Archie Ervin. “When you dive deeper to explore the source of Georgia Tech’s greatness, you discover that this diverse group of faculty, staff, and students reveals the true faces of inclusive excellence.”

Some of the instruments in Christy O’Mahony’s Analytical Chemistry Lab are split into two groups: The Avengers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The stickers that students and O’Mahony, senior academic professional in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, have placed on the equipment are appropriate: ‘Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America’ denote equipment that breaks apart and transforms materials into their chemical and molecular components — while the ‘Mutant Turtles’ machines safely look for and analyze possible trace amounts of radioactivity in materials.

Each machine sports a sticker with another popular public figure — Tech’s very own Buzz ringed by a halo saying: “Purchased with Technology Fee Funds.”

Tech Fees “make a huge difference in putting sophisticated instrumentation into our teaching labs,” says David Collard, senior associate dean in the College of Sciences and professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “This allows us to provide our undergraduates with experiences that are far beyond what is available at other institutions.”

“Most curriculum would have an instrumental analysis class, an analytical chemistry class where students are taught the concepts of this in a chemistry curriculum,” says O’Mahony. “But it’s unusual for them to have the access to actually do the measurements.” 

The lab’s latest Tech Fee-funded purchase, a laser-induced breakdown spectrometer, will provide more accurate measurements of chemical components in materials. An earlier purchase, a capillary electrophoresis instrument, helped O’Mahony and a graduate student publish a research paper detailing a new applied lab exercise on analyzing phenylketonuria (PKU), a birth defect. 

“I think the students being able to put on their curriculum vitae that they have done these techniques, they know these software packages, and [that] these are all the exact same ones that industry has, is a huge help for them,” O’Mahony says. “And I've had quite a few students who I've provided references for who have gone into quality control. ‘They say they're familiar with this equipment. So, what level did they use it?’,” she says companies often ask. “Well, they sat down and ran the whole thing, and fixed a problem.”

Hear from a few of O’Mahony’s students on their experiences with the equipment and instruments:

Dhruti Triveti, third-year biochemistry major 

“I did not expect being able to use equipment like this. I did not know that the technology would be this high — that the equipment that we're able to use is very cutting-edge, I believe — and some of this is used in industry, which I think is really a good stepping stone to what we want to do in the future.”

Jack Winn, fourth-year biochemistry major:

“This has given me a chance to dive into a different field of chemistry, and see, as I'm preparing to graduate, which field I want to go into.

That's actually part of the reason I came to Tech. I knew that we had these available resources and cutting-edge technology that would put me at an advantage, I suppose, to other schools.”

Julianna Mercado, third-year biochemistry major:

“I'm able to be a little bit more comfortable going into different jobs, or research internships or something like that, rather than just be, ‘oh, how do I do this again?’ I feel like it gives me a better advantage with that — and that's a good thing.”

Scot Sutton, graduate biochemistry student and Analytical Chemistry Lab teaching assistant:

“One of our experiments for the first rotation is flow injection analysis, which, in a lot of ways, is if you kind of took out the guts of one of our liquid chromatography instruments. That's actually how I explained it to the students — there's a lot of different tubing, so they get to see how the reaction takes place over time and get to see what the differences are between a batch process that they might do by hand, versus what the instrument itself can do. And they see different ways to approach chemical problems they might run into.”

A list of recently purchased College of Sciences lab and classroom equipment, instruments, and resources powered by Tech Fee funds:

Neuroscience/Biological Sciences — Instruments that use light to measure and manipulate the activity of neurons, and read electrical signals from specialized cells triggered by light/photons to learn about neurological activity. 

Biological Sciences — Equipment for "western blotting" protein identification procedures, allowing Intro to Biology students to visualize the presence of proteins downstream of various molecular biology techniques. Fall 2021 students are using it to explore the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. 

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences — Equipment for Kendeda Building EAS Teaching Labs

Chemistry and Biochemistry — Next-Level Laptops for the Biochemistry Teaching Laboratories

Physics (Neuroscience) — Electrophysiology instruments, allowing students to record the activity from neurons and hearts for Georgia Tech’s new advanced neuroscience curriculum.

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences — Equipment and resources for the EAS 1600 courses, including Introduction to Environmental Science and Habitable Planet.

Biological Sciences — Biological safety cabinets

Neuroscience (Biological Sciences) — Microscopy in Neuroscience Undergraduate Laboratory 

Psychology — Psychology Research Methods, including instruments for  eye tracking and skin galvanic response, which measure how the body responds to various emotional states.

Biological Sciences — Green Lab-Living Building Ecology; more campus wildlife data gathering for conservation studies; proposed building of towers on Tech campus for tracking bird migration. 

Tara Holdampf is the new College of Sciences satellite counselor, and will provide consultation services and support for students from an office at the Molecular Science and Engineering Building (MoSE). 

“I'm excited to join the incredibly welcoming and talented group at the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech as a satellite counselor,” Holdampf says, “to continue the process of breaking down barriers between students and mental health services.”

Satellite counselor locations improve accessibility for students by providing counseling in places where students spend most of their time. Placing a counselor in an academic department helps to destigmatize mental health and may serve those who might hesitate to go to the Georgia Tech Counseling Center. A primary goal is to reach students who might not have otherwise sought out services. 

Holdampf will provide a wide variety of services such as individual counseling, group counseling, psycho-educational workshops, and walk-in hours for brief consultations (available to students, or faculty/staff who need to consult about a student). 

Holdampf issues a reminder that “as stress levels increase, and the fall semester continues, please know that GT CARE and GTCC are here to offer confidential support and services to students in need of mental healthcare.”

Currently enrolled interested students can reach out to GT CARE at (404) 894-3498 to schedule an initial assessment, and to be connected to health and wellness services. Current clients can continue to reach their GTCC counselor via email.

Holdampf will be offering consultation hours during which students, faculty, and staff can meet to learn more about mental health resources on campus, and/or to discuss a specific non-emergency student concern. These consults typically last 15 minutes. Those interested can email Holdampf at tara.holdampf@studentlife.gatech.edu to request a meeting. Holdampf will respond with a date/time and link/location for the consultation.

Find Tara's consultation hours and more resources here.

Students in need of mental health support after hours can call the GTCC main number at 404-894-2575, and follow the prompts to speak with an after-hours counselor.  Please visit the GTCC website for upcoming workshops, Let’s Talk sessions, and online offerings.

Holdampf, who has practiced in a higher education setting for seven years, has an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Georgia. Holdampf is also a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and serves on the council of the Georgia College Counseling Association.

That first promotion to a leadership position at work — with more responsibilities, an exciting new challenge, a raise, and fresh confidence that your boss believes in your work and trusts you to deliver results — is the stuff of classic movie moments and sparkling toasts of celebration.

But a new study from Keaton Fletcher and Kimberly French, a duo of assistant professors in the School of Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology, may force some new thinking about how early career advancement can temporarily throw off well-being and shake up feelings of self-esteem in the short-term and long run. 

Using data accumulated on 184 workers over a 12-year period, the new research suggests that taking on a first formal leadership role at work is, in the first year, a stressful experience for all workers — one that can negatively impact men’s self-esteem more than women’s in that period. However, for years after taking on that first leadership role, both men and women report experiencing increased positivity and self-esteem. 

Fletcher and French’s new paper, “Longitudinal Effects of Transitioning Into a First-Time Leadership Position on Wellbeing and Self-Concept,” is published online in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. 

The tough first year of leadership

The researchers reviewed data that was part of an archival Youth Development Study dataset collected by Jeylan Mortimer of the University of Minnesota. The data, which studied formative experiences among adolescents and young adults, was for a wide range of jobs in small and large organizations, but most were considered traditional office positions. 

“We were capturing people toward the beginning of their development as young adults,” French says. “That is a prime time, when work has a major impact on how we feel about ourselves.”

To better understand an employee’s first-time transition to leadership, the study drew upon a concept known as role theory. People take on different social roles throughout their lives, “and they affect everything from how we perceive ourselves, to how others perceive us, how we behave, our mental health,” Fletcher says. The identity-driven roles can be permanent and lasting, such as the concept of being an adult or a parent, “or they can be more transient roles, like the role of a manager or that of a partner in a relationship.”

The data that Fletcher and French analyzed included information on tension (think: feeling stressed), depression, emotional well-being, self-esteem, feelings of control, and job satisfaction before and after people took on their very first supervisory role. 

The researchers unexpectedly found that “men experienced a significant drop in self-esteem at the point of transition compared to women, but otherwise, there were no significant gender differences at the time of, or following, a leadership transition.”

Internalizing societal expectations for leaders

“We were surprised,” Fletcher says. “Because of role theory, we thought women would suffer more in transition to leadership and get fewer benefits out of it” because of certain social expectations that are often internalized.

“Society tells me as a man, I’m a natural leader and should be good at it,” Fletcher explains. “Then when I run into inevitable challenges as a first-time supervisor, I’m going to take those challenges personally, and they’ll challenge my self-esteem. With men, leadership is part of that role. It’s sort of expected that you’re more dominant and effective at being a leader, and what we see during the first year of transition is that’s it’s stressful — and men may feel like they’re failing, and men see that as a challenge to their self-esteem.”

In contrast, Fletcher says that women have a divergent set of societal norms and expectations that could help explain the durability of their self-esteem in a leadership role. “They haven’t internalized that perspective.”

And French explains there’s much more scientific literature on gender and work relationships than there are studies looking at gender and the experience of being a leader. Her research focuses on how managing work and family affects the health and well-being of individuals and their family members, “and there’s a lot of gendered research there because work and family are gendered domains.”

“The question we posed is pretty unique,” she adds. “Most of what we have is looking at perceived effectiveness of leadership, women or men, and how gendered expectations align with expectations for leaders. It was less on how men and women differentially react to events like becoming a leader.” 

Leadership stresses and the 'Great Resignation'

Although the archival data studied was collected from 2000-2011, both Fletcher and French speculate that difficult first-year leadership transitions may have a part to play in the so-called “Great Resignation,” which is a current trend among office workers who are leaving their jobs or beginning to seek out new roles after the pandemic may have forced reappraisals of their employment situations. The employment expert who coined the term “Great Resignation” also came up with “pandemic epiphanies” to describe workers reevaluating work lives, and Fletcher believes first-year leadership stress contributes.

“We are seeing people taking on leadership roles right now when companies are in crisis, and still in remote work because of Covid,” Fletcher says. “If you were making that leadership transition now, you might not see that long-term benefit because in the short term, it’s very stressful, and you won’t see those benefits right away. People may be doing mental calculus of ‘is this worth it?’ and in the short term the answer may be no.”

But, because the years following a transition to leadership can bring increases in emotional well-being and self-esteem, “just taking on this role sets people on a positive trajectory for how they view themselves and the world,” Fletcher says. 

Advice for employers: start small, share support

That’s why Fletcher and French recommend that organizations offer more support to those chosen for leadership, including a gradual assignment of more responsibilities. 

“Based on our study, more opportunities for informal leadership — before you take on a formal role — should help,” he adds. “Then you run into those challenges on a lower level where the stakes are not so high. And during that year of transition, making sure that the company acts as a mentor. Your supervisor is helping you, giving you guidance, and making sure you’re not taking challenges personally, so you can reframe the experience as beneficial.”

Fletcher adds that, because toxic feelings experienced by new supervisors can be passed down to other workers, companies should provide more help when they present opportunities to employees to lead. 

“Helping people be better people should be a goal of an organization — to better society, not just make money,” French says. “The benefits to self-concept are there. The outcome in and of itself, making workers better people, is a valued outcome."

As of this week, the omicron variant makes up the majority of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. Omicron is more contagious than previous variants and has caused a spike in cases across the nation, including locally.

The same prevention measures that have been put in place previously can still help slow the spread of this variant — vaccination, wearing a face covering, physical distancing, and regular surveillance testing. A well-fitting mask with good filtration is a strong defense for when you are out in public, even if you are fully vaccinated.

As the campus community looks toward winter break, Georgia Tech encourages all students, faculty, and staff to get fully vaccinated, including a booster shot. Campus vaccination clinics will resume in January; to find a vaccination site before that, visit vaccines.gov. Vaccines help reduce the risk of severe illness and hospitalization.

Anyone with Covid-19 symptoms — even mild ones — should get tested and wait for a negative result before interacting with others. Testing on campus is closed through winter break and will resume Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. Until then, you can find an alternate testing site.

We recommend all students, faculty, and staff plan to get tested off-campus before returning for the spring semester, and we recommend each person test again on campus upon their return. Campus testing sites will reopen at full capacity on Jan. 4th to accommodate those returning to campus.

James Stringfellow, an employment specialist with a history of helping Atlanta-based veterans and entertainment industry staff in the workforce, has been named the first career educator for the College of Sciences.

“I am thrilled to have James join the Georgia Tech Career Center,” says Laura Garcia, director of Career Education Programs. “I hope everyone gives him a warm welcome to the Georgia Tech community.” 

Stringfellow, who began his duties on January 4, leads the following initiatives:

• Assisting students with career mapping, co-op and internships, and workforce preparedness.
• Supporting College of Sciences programs by facilitating career education events.
• Supporting College instructors with employer updates and industry trends.
• Developing employer partnerships to cultivate employment opportunities. 
• Assisting the Career Center team in meeting its community goals.

Stringfellow will be available for remote meetings from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays. He will work out of Room 2-90 in the Boggs Building from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at the Georgia Tech Career Center (located on the first floor of the Bill Moore Student Success Center) from 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.

Stringfellow previously worked for the Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO) as their employment specialist responsible for assisting veterans with re-entry into the civilian workforce. Prior to the VEO, he served as an award-winning career services manager at SAE Institute where he oversaw employer outreach and graduate employment for audio, film, and entertainment business programs. Stringfellow also worked for DeVry University in both career services and admissions in support of its College of Health Sciences.  

Stringfellow earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Tuskegee University, and received his MBA in International Business from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry. A member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Stringfellow shares that he stays connected to the entertainment industry by coaching creatives on how to protect their musical brand, speaking at related conferences, and serving as a disc jockey at various events throughout Atlanta.

“I am thrilled to have James join the College of Sciences,” shares Cameron Tyson, assistant dean for Academic Programs in the College of Sciences. 

Tyson and Garcia also extend a special thanks to the new role’s search committee for their “hard work and finding a great addition to our team.” Committee members included:

• Alonzo Whyte (search chair), academic professional, Undergraduate Neuroscience Program
• Andrew Newman, professor and undergraduate coordinator, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Enid Steinbart, principal academic professional and director of Undergraduate Advising and Assessment, School of Mathematics
• Mariah Liggins, advisor for Pre-Health, Pre-Graduate and Pre-Professional Advising
• Mackenzie Pierce, undergraduate student, School of Psychology

The Georgia Tech College of Computing has received an $11 million grant from Schmidt Futures to create one of the four software engineering centers within the newly launched Virtual Institute for Scientific Software (VISS). The new center will hire half-a-dozen software engineers to write scalable, reliable, and portable open-source software for scientific research.

“Scientific research involves increasingly complex software, technologies, and platforms,” said Alessandro Orso, the software engineer and professor of computer science who is heading up the project. “Also, platforms constantly evolve, and the complexity and amount of data involved is ever-growing.”

The result is that these software systems are often developed as prototypes that are difficult to understand, maintain, and use, which limits their efficacy and ultimately hinders scientific progress.

Software engineers are trained to address these kinds of issues and know how to build high-quality software, but their time is too expensive for a typical research project’s budget. In typical grants, software is often treated as a byproduct of research, meaning that limited funding is allocated for it.

That’s where Schmidt Futures comes in. Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that bets early on exceptional people making the world better. They are investing $40 million in VISS over five years at four universities: Georgia Tech, University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Cambridge.

“Schmidt Futures’ Virtual Institute for Scientific Software is a core part of our efforts to mobilize exceptional talent to solve specific hard problems in science and society,” said Executive Vice President Elizabeth Young-McNally.

At Georgia Tech, the funds will hire a software engineering lead, as well as three senior and two junior software engineers. A faculty director and an advisory board will help guide the group’s work, which will include collaborations with Georgia Tech scientists.

"We are very proud to host one of the four inaugural Schmidt Futures Virtual Institute of Scientific Software centers,” said Charles Isbell, Dean and John P. Imlay Jr. Chair of Computing.

“Georgia Tech’s center will advance and support scientific research by applying modern software engineering practices, cutting-edge technologies, and modern tools to the development of scientific software. The center will also engage with students and researchers to train the next generation of software engineering leaders.”

Sustainable Development Goals Action and Awareness Week 2022 is Feb. 28 – March 4. The campus community is invited to participate in a variety of events that increase awareness of and encourage actions that advance the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They address the world’s most monumental challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and peace and justice. Some of the objectives are improved industry, innovation, and infrastructure; affordable and clean energy; and sustainable cities and communities. The SDGs appear by name in the Institute’s strategic plan as long-term goals that should guide teaching, research, and operations.

SDG Action and Awareness Week 2022 will begin with an interactive campus discussion, titled Engaging With the SDGs Across Campus, focusing on how the goals are being realized across the Institute and ways to better work together across disciplines and departments to amplify our impact. President Ángel Cabrera will moderate the discussion with participants from the College of Sciences, Serve-Learn-Sustain, Interdisciplinary Research, and Engineers Without Borders.

Other events during the week include a Tech Dining Sustainability Showcase, a panel on Infrastructure and Sustainability, Changing Relationships: You and Your Aging Parents, Toilet Talk With Shan and Shannon, A Healthy Georgia: Exploring the Impact of the Energy Transition on Public Health, the Association for Sustainable Investment Podcast Club Kickoff, and Engaging With the SDGs to Advance Sustainability in Atlanta. View a full listing of the week’s events.

In Fall 2020, a panel discussion and keynote address by Cabrera introduced the Tech community to the 17 goals. The event covered their relevance to the Institute and emphasized how Georgia Tech can lead the region in implementing and advancing these goals.

“If we are committed to improving the human condition, then we should embrace the SDGs to guide our actions as a university,” Cabrera said when introducing the SDGs.

SDG Action and Awareness Week is part of a larger global effort through the University Global Coalition, whose partners are hosting a variety of online events that are open to all. 

As the end of the school year approaches, recognition of exceptional work across research, teaching, administration, and community building took center stage at Harrison Square on April 14 at the College of Sciences Spring Sciences Celebration.

“Our annual celebration is a welcomed tradition in the College,” shared Susan Lozier, dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair. “As we greet new members of faculty, recognize excellence and service in research and teaching, and affirm our special community of staff and faculty, we thank the generous alumni and friends who help make these awards possible.”

In addition to annual awards honoring faculty development and mentoring, this year’s ceremony featured new accolades for staff members, made possible by funding from the Betsy Middleton and John Sutherland Dean’s Chair endowment — as well as a trio of awards recognizing exceptional contributions from postdoctoral fellows and research scientists, established through the advocacy of the College’s Research Faculty Advisory Council.

Faculty Development Awards

The Cullen-Peck Fellowship Awards, established by Frank Cullen (‘73 Math, MS ‘76 ISyE, PhD ‘84 ISyE) and Elizabeth (Libby) Peck (‘75 Math, MS ‘76 ISyE), to recognize mid-career faculty pursuing highly innovative research:

• Dobromir (Doby) Rahnev, associate professor, Psychology

• Molei Tao, associate professor, Mathematics

• Pamela Peralta-Yahya, associate professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Gretzinger Moving Forward Award, endowed by Ralph Gretzinger (‘70 Math) and named to honor his late wife Jewel, recognizing the leadership of school chairs and senior faculty members who have played a pivotal role in diversifying faculty composition, creating a family friendly work environment, and providing a supportive culture for junior faculty:

• Greg Huey, chair and school professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

The Eric R. Immel Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching, endowed by Charles Crawford (‘71 Math) to recognize exemplary teaching in lower-division foundational courses by faculty in the early stages of their career — and to honor a late faculty member in the School of Mathematics, professor Eric R. Immel, who greatly influenced Crawford’s undergraduate experience at Tech:

• Alonzo Whyte, academic professional in Biological Sciences, academic advisor for the Health and Medical Sciences (HMED) Minor, and director of academic advising for the Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience 

• Peter Yunker, assistant professor, Physics

The Leddy Family Dean’s Faculty Excellence Award, established by Jeff Leddy (’78 Physics) and Pam Leddy to support a faculty member at the associate professor level with proven accomplishments in research and teaching:

• William (Will) Ratcliff, associate professor in Biological Sciences and director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences program

The Faculty Mentor Award, established jointly by the College of Sciences and the Georgia Tech ADVANCE Program and presented to exemplary senior faculty who help new faculty advance in their careers as they learn to balance their roles as researchers, teachers, and advisors to their own graduate students and postdoctoral researchers:

• Sung Ha Kang, professor, Mathematics

• Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, professor and associate chair, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

• Loren Williams, professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Research Faculty Awards

The Outstanding Junior Research Faculty Award and Outstanding Senior Research Faculty Award recognize postdoctoral and non-tenure track research faculty who have made exceptional research contributions with significant impact on their field of study:

Outstanding Junior Research Faculty Award

• Gina R. Lewin, postdoctoral fellow in Marvin Whiteley’s research group, Biological Sciences

Outstanding Senior Research Faculty Award

• Anton S. Petrov, research scientist II and co-investigator of the Center for the Origins of Life in Loren Williams’ research group, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Research Faculty Community Trailblazer Award recognizes postdoctoral and non-tenure track research faculty who have demonstrated exceptional and sustained leadership that strengthens and improves the research faculty community:

• Micah J. Schaible, research scientist II in Thomas (Thom) Orlando’s research group, Electron and Photon Induced Chemistry on Surfaces (EPICS) Lab, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Staff Leadership and Excellence Awards

The newly established Exceptional Staff Member Award and Staff Excellence Awards recognize staff who exemplify outstanding performance above and beyond the call of duty — positively impacting the strategic goals of their department and the College, consistently providing excellent service within their school or the overall College, and demonstrating exemplary teamwork:

Exceptional Staff Member Award

• Jasmine Martin, assistant to the chair, Biological Sciences

Staff Excellence Awards

• Katrine Pate, grants administrator, Physics

• Lea Marzo, assistant to the chair, Mathematics

• Stacey Bass, grants administrator lead, Psychology and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

• Steven Daniele, IT support engineer senior, Academic & Research Computing Services (ARCS)

The inaugural Leadership in Action Staff Award and Excellence in Leadership Staff Awards recognize staff who have made exceptional contributions to the College through innovative and strategic leadership, change management, business process improvement, special project leadership, and similar accomplishments:

Leadership in Action Staff Award

• Kimberly Stanley, assistant director of business operations, Mathematics

Excellence in Leadership Staff Awards

• Kathy Sims-McDaniels, development assistant in the Dean’s Office and chair of College of Sciences Staff Advisory Council 

• John Wallom, associate director of IT Operations, ARCS

The College also recognized and welcomed a trio of new faculty members who arrived on campus this school year:

• Onur Birol, academic professional, Biological Sciences

• Tansu Celikel, professor and school chair, Psychology

• Shelby Ellis, lecturer, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences 

The 2022 Spring Sciences Celebration program can be found here, and high-resolution photos can be downloaded here.

Beth Cabrera, the first lady of Georgia Tech, is a psychologist and Tech alumna (M.S. PSY 1993, Ph.D. PSY 1995). Her research focuses on the power of positive psychology to achieve greater success and well-being. For the last few years, she has been sharing her expertise on positivity with Tech students as a guest presenter in a five-week course called "Resilience Building Strategies: Growing Through What We Are Going Through." It was developed in 2019 by Sonia Alvarez-Robinson, executive director of Georgia Tech Strategic Consulting, and Joi Alexander, director of Health Initiatives.  

“Social support is the number one factor for well-being," Cabrera said. "We need people. It’s an evolutionary thing, because back in the caveman days, if you didn’t have your tribe to help keep you safe, you died. You could not survive alone.” 

Today, because of physical distancing in work and social environments brought about by the pandemic, many people are less connected to others. 

“Some people feel like they’re connected because they’re using social media, but that’s not the same kind of connection,” she said. “We are less connected to our communities. We aren’t as involved in our churches or different associations. During the pandemic it was important to have physical distance, but not social distance.” 

Cabrera said that having a positive outlook and experiencing happiness are also important to well-being. But she said that “being happy” should not be the goal. 

“There’s a difference between doing things that allow you to experience positive emotions and having the goal of being happy,” she said. “Being happy all the time is never going to happen, so if you set a goal to be happy, then you’re always going to fall short.” 

Instead, Cabrera suggests participating in activities that make you happy. That could be anything from reading to exercising to hanging out with friends. The result will be a feeling of happiness that can be repeated as needed. 

Positive psychology does not mean you deny your negative feelings. “Positive psychology first and foremost recognizes that we are human and that humans are going to experience a wide range of emotions," she said. "It’s very important to accept all of your emotions, the good and the bad. We know that if you try to ignore or suppress any of those negative emotions, they just get stronger.”

Cabrera is encouraged to see that society is more attuned to mental health issues than ever before. 

“I started talking to companies in 2004 about employee well-being, telling them that it actually is linked to performance. Happy employees will be smarter, more creative, and they will work together better,” she said. “Today there is a heightened awareness of the importance of mental health and the need to help people address these issues.” 

Alvarez-Robinson said, “Having Dr. Cabrera come and speak to our class has been a highlight of the students’ experience since we started the class in 2019. We recognized that our students needed additional skills for navigating change, challenges, and uncertainty. We proposed it as part of the mini-mester pilot program and the first cohort launched in Spring 2020.” 

The one-credit course will be offered again in the fall and is listed as Resilience Building Strategies 4801/8801 (cross-listed for undergraduate and graduate students). 

A recording of Cabrera’s most recent workshop, along with other related sessions, is available on the Georgia Tech Resilience ERG website.