{"458321":{"#nid":"458321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Happy Birthday, Georgia Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Oct. 13, 1885, the Georgia School of Technology was founded as part of a plan to help transform the agrarian South into an industrial economy. The university officially opened three years later after the construction of Tech Tower and a shop building. It enrolled 84 students and offered only one degree \u2014 in mechanical engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarilyn Somers, director of Georgia Tech\u2019s Living History Program, said she is amazed at how rigorous Georgia Tech was \u2014 even in the early days.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt is clear that from its very beginning, the intention was to set the bar high academically,\u201d said Somers. \u201cBased on the evidence of retention, they met the goal, as only one out of five students who were accepted, were still in school three months later.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat level of rigor has, no doubt, contributed to Georgia Tech\u2019s transformation into a science and technology powerhouse. This year, for the 16th\u0026nbsp;consecutive year, \u003Cem\u003EU.S. News \u0026amp; World Report\u003C\/em\u003E has ranked Tech one of the top 10 public universities. It also has Tech listed at No. 7 among public universities and 35th\u0026nbsp;among all national universities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EMilestones in Tech History\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1885\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 On Oct. 13, the Georgia Legislature passed a bill appropriating $65,000 to found a technical school.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1888\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 The Academic Building, known today as the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Administration Building or Tech Tower, was completed. Enrollment began with 84 students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1893\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Tech played its first football game against the University of Georgia, winning 28-6, making it the school\u2019s very first victory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1905\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Tech adopted \u003Cem\u003ERamblin\u2019 Wreck\u003C\/em\u003E as the official fight song, although it had been the unofficial fight song for several years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1911\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 The first issue of the student newspaper, \u003Cem\u003EThe Technique\u003C\/em\u003E, was published on Nov. 17.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1917\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Women were allowed to attend Georgia Tech \u2014 but only through its Evening School of Commerce. After the School was removed in 1931, women were unable to enroll at Tech \u2014 with the exception of the WWII years when they were permitted to attend but not earn degrees. It would be 1952 before they could do so.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1928\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Former student Frank Gordy opened a restaurant called The Yellow Jacket near campus. The name soon changed to The Varsity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1934\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 To boost the state\u2019s economy in the midst of the Great Depression, the Engineering Experiment Station, now known as the Georgia Tech Research Institute, was founded as the nonprofit applied research arm of Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1948\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 The university\u2019s name was changed to the Georgia Institute of Technology, reflecting an increasing focus on technological and scientific research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1952\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Women were permitted to enroll only in Georgia Tech degree programs not offered at other universities in Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1961\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Tech became the first university in the Deep South to admit African-American students without a court order. Ford Greene, Ralph A. Long Jr., and Lawrence Michael Williams were Tech\u2019s first three African-American students.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1965\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Ronald Yancey, the first African-American student to graduate from Tech, earned a B.S. in electrical engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1968\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Helen E. Grenga, a chemical engineer, became Georgia Tech\u2019s first full-tenured female engineering professor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1970\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 The Board of Regents voted to allow women to enroll in all programs at Tech, superseding the 1952 policy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1985\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Tech President Joseph E. Pettit and J. Erskine Love Jr. spearheaded the Institute\u2019s $100 million Centennial Campaign, raising a total of $202.7 million.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1990\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Georgia Tech-Lorraine opened in Metz, France. Its primary focus is graduate education, sponsored research, and an undergraduate summer program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1996\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Georgia Tech was the Home of the Olympic Village for the Summer Olympic Games. A substantial amount of construction occurred, including the erection of housing, the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, and the renovation of the Alexander Memorial Coliseum.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E2003\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Technology Square, the heart of the Institute\u2019s internationally recognized innovation ecosystem, opened its doors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E2013\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Tech introduced the first accredited Master of Science in Computer Science degree that students can earn exclusively through the massive open online course (MOOC) delivery format \u2014 for a fraction of the cost of on-campus programs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E2015\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 The freshman class is record-setting in its diversity and academic prestige. It is 41 percent female and has 35 percent more African-American students than 2014. The academic profile, which includes SAT scores and number of college-level classes taken, is the best it has ever been.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInstitute marks 130 years since its founding on Oct. 13, 1885.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Institute marks 130 years since its founding on Oct. 13, 1885."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-10-13 09:17:59","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:43","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"458341":{"id":"458341","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Historical Marker","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Georgia Tech Historical Marker","file":{"fid":"203540","name":"screen_shot_2015-10-13_at_9.00.01_am.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2015-10-13_at_9.00.01_am_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2015-10-13_at_9.00.01_am_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":796995,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/screen_shot_2015-10-13_at_9.00.01_am_0.png?itok=IyuNGQdt"}},"458331":{"id":"458331","type":"image","title":"Tech Tower and Shop Building","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Tech Tower and Shop Building","file":{"fid":"203539","name":"tech_tower_and_shop_1899.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tech_tower_and_shop_1899_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tech_tower_and_shop_1899_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":20635,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tech_tower_and_shop_1899_0.jpg?itok=DWlwzSV-"}}},"media_ids":["458341","458331"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/livinghistory.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Living History Program"},{"url":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/gtlivinghistory","title":"Georgia Tech Living History Program on Facebook"},{"url":"http:\/\/library.gatech.edu\/archives","title":"Georgia Tech Library Archives"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"144471","name":"founding"},{"id":"1683","name":"history"},{"id":"10270","name":"living history"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EVictor Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}