Dean's Dispatch – August 24, 2026

Dear GT Computing community,

Happy New Academic Year! The students are back on campus, bringing with them a fresh wave of energy. I hope everyone is rested and ready for the rollercoaster ride that is part of the academic experience for faculty, staff, and students alike.

Yesterday’s New Student Convocation was a particularly heartwarming way to begin the year. It is always wonderful to see the RAT Cap tradition continue at Georgia Tech, and it was bittersweet to hear President Ángel Cabrera address the gathering in what might be his last formal event in regalia as President.

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Perhaps the most memorable moment, though, was the Student Welcome by second-year computer engineering student Malhad Rathor. He invited everyone to greet their neighbors and then look around at the sea of faces, which he called the “best view” at Georgia Tech. He also shared a moment from the middle of his first semester, after a particularly challenging exam/project in CS 1332, when he found himself thinking, “I cannot do this.” 

His epiphany was to add one word: “I cannot do this alone.” He realized the entire Georgia Tech community was there to support him. What a wonderful message for all of us to carry into the new academic year.

Today, I also had the opportunity to speak with our incoming first-year students in four sections of CS 1100. I was blown away by their curiosity and engagement during the Q&A. I told them that no generation of college students before them has entered an era of such rapid advances in AI, both in what they will experience during their education and in the careers that will follow.

This era brings extraordinary opportunities, but also uncertainty and important questions that we will help them navigate as we integrate AI more holistically into our undergraduate curriculum. Most importantly, I told them that we will be with them every step of the way — continually evolving our curriculum, career services, and entrepreneurship opportunities so that they are prepared not simply to adapt to the changes ahead, but to help shape them.

Upcoming Events

One of our start-of-academic-year traditions since 2024 is the Annual College of Computing 5K Community Walk/Run, to be held this Saturday at 9 a.m. in Noonan Courtyard. This event is free for Georgia Tech faculty, staff, and students, but advance registration is required. See the flyer linked below for details and the registration QR code. Look forward to seeing you there!

I also look forward to seeing many of you at the inaugural ACM AI Leadership Summit. The Summit kicks off on Sunday, with the Future Leaders of AI (Doctoral Consortium) event on the Georgia Tech campus, followed by a GT rooftop welcome reception at CODA.

From August 31 to September 2, the Summit will be held at the downtown Hyatt Regency hotel. With over 700 registered attendees, active participation from institutions across Atlanta and the Southeast, and representation from multiple areas within Computing, this is not an event to miss! Many thanks to our faculty, who are working tirelessly to make it a success — Neha Kumar, general co-chair; Mark Riedl, program co-chair; and Naveena Karusala, communications co-chair, all of whom are with the School of Interactive Computing.

Leadership Updates

First, I am pleased to share that our own Hyesoon Kim has been appointed the next Chair of the School of Computer Science (SCS), effective August 1. Hyesoon joined Georgia Tech in 2007 after earning her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research advances computer architecture, with a recent focus on open-source GPU technologies for next-generation computing. She is an IEEE Fellow and a member of the HPCA Hall of Fame and Micro Hall of Fame. Hyesoon has served as SCS Associate Chair since 2022, and as Co-Director of the Center for Research into Novel Compute Hierarchies (CRNCH) since 2021.

With Hyesoon’s appointment, a search for the next CRNCH co-director. Will be announced soon. Congratulations, Hyesoon, and thank you for stepping up to this important leadership role for our College!

I would also like to thank all members of the SCS Chair Search Committee for their dedication and hard work during the entire search process. It was a rigorous search that included multiple Zoom interviews and five finalist campus interviews. I benefited greatly from their advisory input and am delighted by the final outcome.

And we are deeply indebted to Mostafa Ammar for his dedicated service as Interim Chair — for the second time — and for his willingness to continue in the role until the new SCS Chair was in place.  Mostafa, thank you. I know it was a significant commitment to serve in this role for so long, but I hope you know that your leadership and service were appreciated every day and never taken for granted.

Second, I am pleased to announce that Daurette Joseph has been named Assistant Dean of Academic Programs effective August 1. In this role, Daurette oversees the offices of undergraduate academic advising, course scheduling, course registration, advising for Atlanta graduate programs and the Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS), and international programs. She has served as our Director of Undergraduate Programs since 2018 and is eminently qualified for this new role. Congratulations, Daurette, and thank you for your service to our students and our community!

Third, it is with mixed feelings that I announce that Haesun Park has decided to step down from her role as Chair of the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE). She and I have been discussing her transition plans for some time, and she kindly agreed to remain Chair while we begin the search for the next CSE Chair. Haesun has served as CSE Chair since August 2020, and her wisdom and dedication as the senior Chair have benefited both CSE and our entire College.

With this news, I would like to announce the creation of a search committee to find the next CSE Chair. The members are as follows:

• Umakishore Ramachandran (SCS; Chair)
• Polo Chau (CSE)
• Eric Fowler (CSE, student representative)
• Christine Heitsch (School of Mathematics)
• Suresh Marru (ARTISAN Center)
• Tonya Peoples (GT Computing representative)
• Raphael Pestourie (CSE)
• Joel Sokol (H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering)
• Rich Vuduc (CSE)
• Arlene Washington-Capers (CSE, School Administrative Officer)
• Anqi Wu (CSE)
• Xiuwei Zhang (CSE)

As in the past, this search will be open to internal and external candidates. Stay tuned for more details, and please join me in thanking our committee members for dedicating their valuable time to this important process for our college.

Kudos

I have lots of good news from our community, as always. In fact, I have so much good news that I can’t fit it all in one dispatch. Stay tuned for more of it in the coming weeks!

• The Board of Regents has approved a new Ph.D. program in Integrated Design and Computing, a cooperative effort between the colleges of Computing and Design. This is a great example of X^Computing, bringing two disciplines together to meet a fast-growing need. Thanks to all the faculty members in both Colleges who worked collaboratively to bring this new degree program to fruition.
• I am pleased to announce that four of our alumni were chosen for the Institute’s annual 40 under 40 list. Congratulations to all!
  • Max Mahdi Roozbahani (MS CE, MS CSE 2016, PhD CSE 2019), senior lecturer with the School of Computing Instruction. He is the founder, president, and CTO of Filio, an AI-powered visual documentation platform that began through CREATE-X. His teaching honors include the Class of 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award and the College of Computing Dean’s Award in 2026.  
  • Kourtney R. Wright (CS 2015, MS CS 2023) is based in Atlanta, working as a senior director of operations at Equifax. She is a two-time Tech graduate, with a bachelor’s in computer science in 2015 and a master’s in computer science in 2023. Wright currently serves as the secretary of the Georgia Tech Black Alumni Organization (BAO) and as a trustee for the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees.  
  • Suo Yang (MS AE 2014, MS CSE 2015, PhD AE 2017) is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota. He earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in aerospace engineering, along with a master’s in computational science and engineering, followed by postdoctoral research at Princeton University. He has received four prestigious Department of Defense Young Investigator awards and the inaugural CSSCI Early Career Award. A leader in AIAA and education, Yang advances critical technologies for the U.S. Armed Forces.  
  • Anqi Zou (MS CSE 2013) is a senior vice president and leads Fair Lending Oversight and Analytics at Truist, advancing fair treatment and access for tens of millions of consumers. Over her banking career, Zou has held roles spanning quantitative analytics, corporate investments, technical talent management, and AI innovation. She also serves on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta, 21st Century Leaders, and the International Community School.  

Other recognitions include:

• Tushar Krishna (ECE/SCS) won the 2026 ACM SIGARCH Maurice Wilkes Award, one of computer architecture’s most prestigious awards for mid-career faculty. The honor recognizes more than a decade of research that helped shape the computing infrastructure behind modern AI. Congratulations, Tushar, and thanks for your outstanding contributions to the field!
• Ahmed Saeed (SCS) has received an NSF CAREER Award for his work advancing data center efficiency. This is the most prestigious award for early-career faculty. Congratulations, Ahmed, and thank you for your research excellence! Ahmed also appeared on Atlanta News First to discuss data centers and water usage. Thank you for speaking on this vital topic for our society, Ahmed.  
• Divya Mahajan (ECE/SCS) received an NSF CAREER Award titled Toward Energy-Efficiency and Thermal-Aware Data Centers for Scalable AI. As mentioned above, this is the most prestigious award available to early-career faculty.  Congratulations, Divya, and thank you for your leadership in this important area.
• Rich DeMillo (SCP) and Alex Orso (former SCS) were named to the inaugural class of the ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Academy. The Software Engineering Academy is a standing body of honor that recognizes members of the software engineering community whose lasting technical contributions, leadership, and service have shaped the field. Congratulations, Rich and Alex – this is very well deserved!
• Ellen Zegura has been honored with the ACM SIGCOMM Distinguished Community Service Award. The award recognizes outstanding service to the SIGCOMM community. Congratulations, Ellen, and thank you for your external service and the visibility it brings to Georgia Tech!
• Vijay Ganesh (SCS) has been named the associate director for research at the Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS). He has served in that role as an interim for the past year. Congratulations, Vijay, and thank you for taking on this leadership role!
• Veronica Rivera (SCP) has been selected for the second cohort of the CRA Trustworthy AI Research Fellowship for Early Career Scholars. She was chosen for her research into how technology shapes interpersonal relationships. Congratulations, Veronica, and thank you for your excellent work!
• Tamara Pearson (Constellations) has been named the ACM representative to the board of directors of the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), which has 25,000 members worldwide. Congratulations, Tamara, and thank you for sharing your wisdom with such an important group!
• Christian Battaglia (CS 2017) has endowed a need-based scholarship in the College of Computing. Christian is the vice president of engineering at Sysdyne, a cloud-native software platform for the construction materials industry – concrete, asphalt, and gravel. He calls it “Sweaty SaaS.” Thank you, Christian, for endowing a scholarship and for illustrating the wide range of opportunities available to Computing majors!

That’s all I have for today.  My dispatches are returning to a weekly schedule with the start of the semester, so you’ll be hearing from me more often now.

Best regards,

Vivek

Vivek Sarkar
John P. Imlay, Jr. Dean, College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
EA: Cynthia Bryant, cebryant@cc.gatech.edu, 404-385-5661