Atlanta — March 17, 2008

The reaction of University System of Georgia (USG) officials to the Sat., March 15 announcement that Dr. G. Wayne Clough, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is to become the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C., was one of both pride and sadness.

“Wayne Clough is one of the nation’s best university presidents,” said Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. “It was a tremendous coup for Georgia to recruit him in 1995 to become Tech’s president, and he has fulfilled the hopes of the Board of Regents many times over during his tenure. We are proud that his leadership and his accomplishments are being recognized with this new and important national opportunity, but there is no question his departure will prove a challenge for us to find Tech’s next president.”

Davis noted that Clough has put in place the people and processes that have led to Tech being widely recognized as one of the world’s top research universities and as one of the nation’s best public universities. “Dr. Clough put Tech on the national and international map,” Davis said.

The value that Georgia Tech represents to the University System and to the state of Georgia is almost priceless, Davis noted. “The attention Tech’s research, teaching and service generates from other public and private research groups, from the federal government and from the business community creates a crucial pipeline that provides Georgia with research dollars, the world’s best scientists and researchers, and business investment,” said Davis. “And that attention is the result of the hard and focused work President Clough has brought to his stewardship of Tech.”

Davis went on to say that he believes the Smithsonian Board of Regents made a wise choice in selecting Clough to be its next secretary. “There is no question that Dr. Clough’s departure from Tech will be a tremendous loss for the institution, the University System and the state of Georgia,” Davis said. “But his new role will be a gain for the nation and we are proud of his selection. On behalf of the Board of Regents and the University System, we wish both Wayne and his wife, Anne, the best in this new challenge.”

While Clough will not take up his new position until July 1, University System officials will move quickly to secure interim leadership for Tech and to put in place a national search for Tech’s next president. “This is a key position within the University System,” said Davis. “We will work with the Tech campus to set in motion the search process that will identify a worthy successor to Dr. Clough and someone who is ready to lead Tech in ways that continue to build its national and international reputation.”

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