{"65967":{"#nid":"65967","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Celebrates Spring 2011 Commencement","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMore than 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students will\ncelebrate Georgia Tech\u2019s 239th commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m.\nin Georgia Tech\u2019s Ferst Center for the Arts and Sunday, May 8, at noon in the\nGeorgia Dome.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMichael Duke, president and chief executive officer of\nWal-Mart Stores Inc., will address the undergraduate and master\u2019s students,\nwhile Subra Suresh, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), will\naddress the PhD candidates. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;The\nInstitute will award bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and doctoral degrees through its six\ncolleges, thirty schools and the Georgia Tech\u2013Savannah program.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAs CEO, Duke leads a strong management team that is focused\non keeping Walmart\u2019s mission of \u201csaving people money so they can live better\u201d\nrelevant to every customer, every day. The company also continues to broaden\nand accelerate its global efforts on environmental sustainability, responsible\nsourcing and associate opportunity.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESince joining Walmart in 1995, Duke has led the logistics,\ndistribution and administration divisions as well as Walmart U.S. As vice\nchairman, Duke was actively involved in developing and executing corporate\nstrategy. He focused on setting higher standards of excellence for the\ncompany\u2019s resources and people\u2014from the redesign of logistics and merchandise\ndistribution systems to the recruitment of talent and development of strong\nteams.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EUnder Duke\u2019s leadership, the company\u2019s international\nbusiness became a fast-growing part of Walmart\u2019s overall operations. In leading\nWalmart\u2019s expansion into mature and emerging markets, Duke built an\ninternational management team that delivered strong operational results in a\ncomplex global environment. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EPrior to joining Walmart, Duke had 23 years of experience in\nretailing with Federated Department Stores and May Department Stores.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EDuke serves on the board of directors of Wal-Mart Stores\nInc., the board of directors of The Consumer Goods\nForum, the executive committee of Business Roundtable and the executive\nboard of Conservation International\u2019s Center for Environment Leadership in\nBusiness. He also serves on the board of advisors for the University of\nArkansas and the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics\nand Management in Beijing, China.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA member of the National Academy of Engineering, Duke holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in industrial engineering from\nGeorgia Tech. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA\ndistinguished engineer and professor, Subra Suresh was sworn in as the thirteenth\ndirector of the NSF last October. Suresh leads the only federal agency charged\nwith advancing all fields of fundamental science and engineering research and\neducation. He oversees the NSF\u2019s $7 billion budget, directing programs and\ninitiatives that keep the United States at the forefront of science and\nengineering, empower future generations of scientists and engineers, foster\neconomic growth and innovation and improve the quality of life for all\nAmericans.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EPrior\nto his confirmation as NSF director, Suresh served as dean of the Engineering\nSchool and Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts\nInstitute of Technology (MIT). He joined MIT\u2019s faculty in 1993 as the R. P.\nSimmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. During his more than 30\nyears as a practicing engineer, he held joint faculty positions in four\ndepartments at MIT as well as appointments at the University of California at\nBerkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Brown University.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA\nmechanical engineer interested in materials science and biology, Suresh\npioneered research to understand the mechanical properties of materials. His\nmost recent research tackled the biomechanics of red blood cells under the\ninfluence of diseases such as malaria. In 2006, \u003Cem\u003ETechnology Review\u003C\/em\u003E\nmagazine selected Suresh\u2019s work on nanobiomechanics as one of the top ten emerging\ntechnologies that \u201cwill have a significant impact on business, medicine or culture.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHolding\ntrue to his personal ideals, Suresh successfully leveraged his renowned\nresearch and leadership positions in academia to increase the number of women\nand minority engineers. He personally mentored more than 100 engineers and\nscientists in his research group. As department head and dean of engineering,\nhe also led a successful campaign to increase the number of women among MIT\u2019s\nengineering faculty ranks.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\nPadma Shri Award (2011) from the president of India, Indian Science Congress\nGeneral President\u2019s Award (2011), Society of Engineering Science Eringen Medal\n(2008), European Materials Medal (2007) and Acta Materialia Gold Medal (2006)\nare among the many prestigious awards Suresh has received for his innovative\nresearch and commitment to improving engineering education around the world. He\nholds honorary doctorates from Sweden\u2019s Royal Institute of Technology and\nSpain\u2019s Polytechnic University of Madrid. He has been elected a fellow or\nhonorary fellow of all the major materials societies in the United States and\nIndia.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESuresh\nhas been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, American Academy\nof Arts and Sciences, Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, German National\nAcademy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences of the Developing World, Indian\nNational Academy of Engineering and Indian Academy of Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESuresh\nearned a bachelor\u2019s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras in\n1977; a master\u2019s from Iowa State University in 1979; and a doctorate from MIT\nin 1981. \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMore than 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students will\ncelebrate Georgia Tech\u2019s 239th commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m.\nin Georgia Tech\u2019s Ferst Center for the Arts and Sunday, May 8, at noon in the\nGeorgia Dome.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Alumnus Michael Duke will address the undergraduate and master\u2019s students."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2011-05-05 15:33:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:41","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-05-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-05-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"65965":{"id":"65965","type":"image","title":"Mike Duke","body":null,"created":"1449176884","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:04","changed":"1475894585","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:05","alt":"Mike Duke","file":{"fid":"193274","name":"mike_duke.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mike_duke.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mike_duke.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":171344,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mike_duke.jpg?itok=P6V2DrGo"}},"65966":{"id":"65966","type":"image","title":"Subra Suresh","body":null,"created":"1449176884","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:04","changed":"1475894585","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:05","alt":"Subra Suresh","file":{"fid":"193275","name":"subra_suresh_h1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/subra_suresh_h1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/subra_suresh_h1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":405106,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/subra_suresh_h1.jpg?itok=UTEO9NNx"}}},"media_ids":["65965","65966"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.commencement.gatech.edu\/","title":"Commencement information"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"}],"keywords":[{"id":"627","name":"commencement"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"1397","name":"Mike Duke"},{"id":"167492","name":"Subra Suresh"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["MattNagel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}