Atlanta — April 4, 2008

A 14-year veteran of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Gary Schuster, who currently serves as Tech’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, has been named the institution’s interim president, effective July 1, 2008. University System of Georgia Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. announced the appointment today.

Schuster will serve as interim president until the Chancellor and Board of Regents select a new president. He will take over leadership from current president G. Wayne Clough, who is stepping down June 30 to become the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.

“We entertained a number of names and evaluated a group of highly qualified individuals for this critical interim presidency,” said Davis. “It became clear to us that Gary Schuster was the outstanding choice. We are delighted that he is willing to serve and to lead. I am confident that under Dr. Schuster’s leadership, Tech will continue to build upon the momentum it enjoys as Dr. Clough departs.”

In addition to his current position as provost and executive vice president, Schuster also holds the position of professor and Vasser Woolley Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Previously, he served as dean of the College of Sciences.

Schuster holds a bachelor of science in chemistry from Clarkson College of Technology, Potsdam, NY (now Clarkson University) (1968) and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Rochester, NY (1971). After 20 years in the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign, he became dean of the College of Sciences and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech in 1994. He was a National Institutes of Health Post Doctoral Fellow at Columbia University, a Fellow of the Sloan Foundation and a Guggenheim Fellow. He was awarded the 2006 Charles Holmes Herty Medal recognizing his work and service contributions since his arrival at Georgia Tech.

Schuster is a nationally known scholar and researcher with an extensive list of published articles on topics ranging from biochemistry through physical chemistry as well as a number of scientific discoveries with commercial applications.

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