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1952

On April 9, the Board of Regents votes to admit women into the Georgia Institute of Technology. Elizabeth Herndon and Barbara Diane Michel enroll for the fall quarter, becoming Tech’s first female students.

1956

Tech's first female graduates, Shirley Clements and Diane Michel, receive their degrees. 

1961

Georgia Tech is the first major state university in the Southeast to desegregate without a court order. Black men and women are eligible to enroll for the first time.

1965

Ronald Yancey becomes the first Black student to graduate from Georgia Tech.

1968

Women are eligible to enter any degree program at Georgia Tech.

1970

MaryAnn Jackson Wright earns a Ph.D. from the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering.

The first Black female students enroll at Tech.

1972

Dorothy Coswer Yancy becomes the first Black female faculty member and first Black professor to receive tenure at Tech.

1979

The Office of Minority Educational Development is founded and charged with the retention and development of traditionally underrepresented students

Amelia “Amy” Milburn, a junior management major, becomes the first Black Miss Georgia Tech

1983

Adesola O. Kujore, a chemical engineering major, becomes the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech

1992

The Focus Program is held for the first time to attract the nation’s best and brightest students from diverse backgrounds to pursue graduate studies and careers in academia.

N. Jan Davis, the first Tech alumna to become an astronaut, boards her first flight on the space shuttle Endeavor.

1995

The Women, Science, and Technology minor is introduced

1998

The Center for the Study of Women, Science, and Technology, and the Women’s Resource Center are established

1999

Sue Rosser is named dean of the Ivan Allen College, the first female dean in Tech history. 

Terry C. Blum becomes the dean of the Dupree College of Management. 

2001

Tech is named first in the nation in the graduation of African-American engineers at all degree levels by Black Issues in Higher Education and celebrates the 40th anniversary of its integration with a minority student enrollment of 34 percent.

Janice Wittschiebe becomes the first woman to serve as chair of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board

The National Science Foundation awards the ADVANCE institutional transformation grant to Georgia Tech

2002

The Office of Hispanic Initiatives is created

2003

Hispanics become the fastest-growing student group at Georgia Tech.

2008

Gilda Barabino, Ph.D. is named the first vice provost of Academic Diversity

2010

Rafael L. Bras becomes the first Hispanic provost and executive vice president for

Academic Affairs

Jacqueline Jones Royster becomes the first Black dean at Tech, in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

2011

Institute Diversity is established; Archie W. Ervin is appointed inaugural vice president and chief diversity officer. 

Jane Chumley Ammons, Ph.D. IE 1982, becomes the first female chair of the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Gary S. May, EE 1985, becomes the first Black dean of the College of Engineering.

2013

The first Lavender Graduation celebrates the accomplishments of LGBTQIA graduates at every level.

2014

Aby Parsons is appointed the inaugural director of Georgia Tech’s LGBTQIA Resource Center

2015

Institute Diversity expands to create the Staff Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement unit.

For the first time, women make up 41% of the first-year class, which also sees a 35% increase in the number of Black students.

2016

Institute Diversity opens the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion in the renovated Chapin Building.

Georgia Tech announces the Black Student Experience Task Force recommendations and Gender Equity Initiatives to help ensure a welcoming, inclusive campus

2017

Georgia Tech launches A Path Forward — Together, which outlined the Institute’s commitment to creating an inclusive, safe, and healthy community

Georgia Tech receives the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity for the fourth consecutive year.

2018

“Continuing the Conversation,” a sculpture of Rosa Parks at ages 42 and 92, is unveiled in Harrison Square

The African American Student Union (AASU) celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

2019

Ángel Cabrera, M.S. PSY 1993, Ph.D. PSY 1995, becomes the first Spanish-born President of an American university when he is selected as Tech’s new president.

Tech honors the legacy of its first Black students and Black graduate with “Trailblazers: The Struggle and the Promise”, bronze statues dedicated and installed on campus in their honor.

Institute Diversity becomes Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to better reflect the Institute’s values.

2021

Georgia Tech celebrates 60th anniversary of the matriculation of Black students.

2022

The first DEI Plan is launched, outlining the steps the Institute will take to become a more equitable and inclusive community.