{"59871":{"#nid":"59871","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech to honor Ivan Allen\u2019s legacy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article was originally published in \u003Cstrong\u003EThe Atlanta Business Chronicle\u003C\/strong\u003E on November 20, 2009\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe legacy of former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. will live on at Georgia Tech in far-reaching ways that will cover the entire institution. The centerpiece of that legacy will be the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize in Social Courage, which will be awarded to a national or international leader every year. That leader will receive $100,000 along with the prize.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETom Glenn, president of the Hilda and Wilbur Glenn Family Foundation, made the $2 million gift to Georgia Tech in Ivan Allen\u2019s memory. Allen is credited for being a progressive Southern mayor during the volatile days of integration and for helping keep the peace in Atlanta. He was the only elected official from the South to testify before Congress in favor of the Civil Rights Bill and the public accommodations provision.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is such a lesson in leadership that Georgia Tech now plans to incorporate it through all its areas of study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWe have been entrusted with the responsibility to perpetuate the legacy of Ivan Allen Jr., and we take that very seriously,\u201d Georgia Tech President Bud Peterson said. \u201cThis is an institute-wide initiative that will cut across all our fields of study.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAllen received his degree from Georgia Tech in 1933. Through a then-anonymous gift, Georgia\u003Cbr \/\u003ETech established the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts in 1998. The Ivan Allen Initiative \u201cwill be broader than the boundaries of a single college,\u201d Peterson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech intends to have an Ivan Allen lecture series, public policy initiatives with visiting scholars-in-residence, public and community service opportunities for students, and enhanced work in the areas of quality growth and regional development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cTo have a role model that we can point to like Ivan Allen and an initiative like this makes me very proud,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cIt will require some resources, and we are committed to identifying those resources.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe \u201ccornerstone\u201d of the Ivan Allen initiative will be the Ivan Allen Prize in Social Courage, which will begin to be awarded in 2011 \u2014 the 50-year anniversary of the peaceful integration of Georgia Tech and the 50th anniversary of the election of Allen as Atlanta\u2019s mayor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn a recent private gathering of Atlanta leaders, Glenn explained why his family foundation was so committed to honoring the former mayor. \u201cThe Ivan Allen legacy is about many things: about the man\u2019s greatness as a leader, a civil servant, as a devoted husband, and as a kind and loving father. But the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage is about one specific quality: the man\u2019s courage,\u201d Glenn said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cTo understand just how courageous Ivan Allen was, we should begin by noting that there was a time when vast numbers of people hated him intensely because of hi stand on integration, so much so that the Allens had police protection in their home for a time,\u201d Glenn added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cAnd these feelings were not limited to the raw fringes of society. They were present at all social levels, up to and including the elite members of Atlanta\u2019s power structure of which Ivan Allen was a notable member.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGlenn went on to say: \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to do battle with a distant enemy when those around you are supportive. It is altogether different when those closest to you are against you.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough Allen died in 2003, Glenn said the former mayor\u2019s legacy is too valuable to die with him. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHis courage should continue to be a source of inspiration for others who are willing to stand up for their beliefs in a worthy cause,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cAnd that is the objective of the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage \u2014 to inspire others to display the kind of courage demonstrated by Ivan Allen Jr. for generations to come, long after those of us who can appreciate just how brave and selfless he was, are dead and gone.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInman Allen, son of the former mayor, believed Georgia Tech was the best institution to honor his father. Allen passed away 10 days after former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson passed away. As a way to remember Atlanta\u2019s first African-American mayor, the airport was renamed in his honor to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt was important to many leaders in Atlanta that Allen also received a lasting tribute for his\u003Cbr \/\u003Econtributions to the city.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cIt makes abundant good sense for Georgia Tech to take a leadership role in the legacy of Ivan\u003Cbr \/\u003EAllen Jr.,\u201d said Bill Todd, chairman of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. \u201cIt is my hope that the University can teach, nurture and promote the style of courageous leadership that defines Ivan Allen Jr.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPeterson said that while many Atlantans know the story of Allen\u2019s leadership and courage, many others do not. The goal of the Ivan Allen Initiative and the annual prize will keep the story alive.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s so important to continue protecting and expanding Mayor Allen\u2019s legacy because there\u2019s a whole generation that\u2019s not aware of what he did,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cWe are trying to ensure that many of the things he stood for are not lost.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe legacy of former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. will live on at Georgia Tech in far-reaching\u003Cbr \/\u003Eways that will cover the entire institution.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The legacy of former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. will live on at Georgia Tech in far-reaching ways that will cover the entire institution."}],"uid":"27377","created_gmt":"2010-06-29 14:44:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:06:59","author":"Chris Gonzalez","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"58132","name":"Ivan Allen Prize"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["maria@saporta.biz"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}