Atlanta — June 13, 2019

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) today named Dr. Ángel Cabrera president of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He will assume the position before September 15, 2019.

“Georgia Tech will continue to excel under the leadership of Dr. Cabrera,” said USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley. “His experience, skillset and deep ties to his alma mater will serve the campus community well, and his vision for the future will help lead Georgia Tech to new heights. I am grateful to the Board of Regents and the search committee for their time and effort in this selection process, and I congratulate Dr. Cabrera on his new role.”

Cabrera has served as president of George Mason University (GMU), a top-tier research institution and the largest public university in Virginia, since 2012.

“Dr. Cabrera is an excellent choice to lead Georgia Tech as its next president,” said Board of Regents Chairman Don Waters. “I am confident that he will work diligently on behalf of students while advancing Georgia Tech’s growth, priorities and world-class reputation. On behalf of the Board of Regents, I welcome Dr. Cabrera back to Georgia Tech and look forward to working with him.”

During Cabrera’s tenure, GMU accounted for more than half of all enrollment growth in Virginia. His efforts also include improving student outcomes, enhancing research, strengthening community partnerships and doubling philanthropic contributions.

“I am thrilled to serve as Georgia Tech’s new president,” Cabrera said. “My academic career was shaped here as was my personal life. My wife and I met in graduate school at Tech and our son Alex just finished his undergraduate here this year. In many ways, this is a wonderful homecoming for us. As a member of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board for about a decade, I have witnessed Georgia Tech’s emergence as one of the leading technological universities in the world and admired its role in making Atlanta a thriving hub of innovation. It is an absolute privilege to be asked to lead this remarkable institution into its next chapter.”

“On behalf of the Georgia Tech Foundation, I’m delighted to welcome Ángel Cabrera back to campus in his new capacity as Georgia Tech’s 12th president,” said Chairman John Brock. “He and his family have strong ties to Georgia Tech, and his commitment to and familiarity with the Georgia Tech Foundation and alumni network will be an asset. We look forward to working with him to support our institution and its students.”

Heidrick & Struggles provided executive search consulting services during the presidential search process.

About Dr. Ángel Cabrera

Since Cabrera’s 2012 appointment as president, GMU accounted for more than half of all enrollment growth in Virginia, increased student academic strength and outcomes, and joined the top tier of research universities in the Carnegie classification. It has established the Schar School of Policy & Government, the Institute for Biohealth Innovation, a U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, the Potomac Center of Environmental Studies, the Point of View Center for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and a campus in South Korea. Under Cabrera’s leadership, the university has established partnerships to expand online programs and international recruitment, built several new facilities, adopted a new budget system and received a credit rating upgrade. Philanthropic contributions have more than doubled, and a $500 million campaign was successfully completed in December with a total of $690 million.

Cabrera serves on the boards of the National Geographic Society, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (where he chairs the Federal Reserve System National IT committee), the Bankinter Foundation for Innovation, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, and Inovio, a publicly traded biotech company. He sits on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board (which he chaired in 2011) and the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (Fulbright program). He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served on the board of NSF’s Education and Human Resources directorate, the academic board of Tec de Monterrey, as chairman of International Initiatives of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and past chairman of Virginia’s Council of Presidents.

Cabrera earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in cognitive psychology at Georgia Tech—which he attended as a Fulbright Scholar—and his B.S. and M.S. in computer and electrical engineering at Universidad Politécnica of Madrid, which has awarded him an Honorary Doctorate. Prior to becoming president of GMU, Cabrera led Thunderbird School of Global Management (now part of Arizona State University) and IE Business School in Madrid. He has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute, and as a Great Immigrant by Carnegie Corporation. He is married to management scholar and Georgia Tech classmate Beth Fraser Cabrera and is the father of Alex (a recent graduate from Georgia Tech and incoming Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University) and Emilia (a rising junior at Harvard). He is the first Spanish-born president of an American university.

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