Joseph Mayo Pettit | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1916-07-15)July 15, 1916 Rochester, Minnesota, United States |
| Died | September 15, 1986(1986-09-15) (aged 70) Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley Stanford University |
| Awards | President's Certificate of Merit(1949) IEEE Founders Medal(1983) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electronic Engineering |
| Institutions | Stanford University Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Doctoral students | Donald Pederson |
Joseph Mayo Pettit (July 15, 1916 – September 15, 1986) was an engineer and the president of theGeorgia Institute of Technology from 1972 to 1986. He previously served as the dean of theStanford University School of Engineering from 1958 to 1972.[1]
While president of Georgia Tech, Pettit advanced the causes of research and industrial development at the school; Tech's research budget surpassed the $100 million mark and Pettit headed Tech's $100 million Centennial Campaign.
Joseph M. Pettit was born inRochester, Minnesota.[1] He earned a B.S. degree from theUniversity of California, Berkeley, in 1938, an engineering degree fromStanford University in 1940, and a Ph.D. from Stanford in 1942.[1]
From 1940 to 1942, Pettit served as an instructor at theUniversity of California.[1] He then joined the World War II radar countermeasures project at theRadio Research Laboratory ofHarvard University. Following the war effort, Pettit became supervising engineer withAirborne Instruments Laboratory in New York.[1]
In 1947, Pettit joined the faculty ofStanford University, and was named Professor of Electrical Engineering in 1954. He was named Dean of theStanford School of Engineering in 1958, and would remain in the position until 1972.[1][2]
Pettit became president of theGeorgia Institute of Technology in 1972.[3] During his 14-year tenure as president, Pettit was credited with turning Georgia Tech into a top tier research institution.[4] Pettit has also received credit for shifting Georgia Tech back to its roots with regard to providing assistance with economic development within the state of Georgia. In the decades known for theVietnam War and the launch ofSputnik, research at Georgia Tech and theGeorgia Tech Research Institute had become so tied with NASA and the Department of Defense that local industrial development had been largely forgotten.[5] In 1975, theGeorgia General Assembly designated the Engineering Experiment Station (now theGeorgia Tech Research Institute) as the "Georgia Productivity Center". Georgia was the first state to designate such a center to encourage business productivity.[6]
In the aftermath of the launch ofScientific Atlanta byGlen P. Robinson and the subsequent disputes, Georgia Tech's culture encouraged hard work, but did not encouragestart-ups.[5] This changed during Joseph Pettit's administration; Pettit was at Stanford during the development ofSilicon Valley and worked to change the culture to inspire something similar in Atlanta. "That was when Tech began actively encouraging faculty, staff and students to be entrepreneurial... In some ways it was a shift back to our roots, with Tech beginning to reconnect with the state through theAdvanced Technology Development Center, theEconomic Development Institute and theGeorgia Research Alliance", according toBob McMath.[5][7]
During Pettit's tenure as Georgia Tech's president, the Institute progressed into top tier of technological education institutions. Under his leadership, Tech's research budget surpassed the $100 million mark for the first time in its history. In addition, Pettit spearheaded Tech's historic $100 million Centennial Campaign.[5][8] A total of $202.7 million was raised during the Centennial Campaign, which was Georgia Tech's first major fundraising effort.[9] Pettit worked closely withJ. Erskine Love, Jr. with regard to these fundraising efforts; Love was later asked to deliver the eulogy at Pettit's funeral.[10]
Numerous research centers were established during Pettit's tenure at Georgia Tech.[6] In 1978, Georgia Tech established theGeorgia Mining Resources Institute, which was linked to theU. S. Bureau of Mines; they also established the Fracture and Fatigue Research Laboratory.[6] Other centers established around this time included theComputational Mechanics Center in 1979; theCenter for Rehabilitation Technology in 1980; theAdvance Technology Center, theTechnology Policy and Assessment Center, and theMicroelectronics Research Center in 1981; theMaterials Handling Research Center,Center for Architecture Conservation,Center for Excellence in Rotary Wing Aircraft, andCommunication Research Center in 1982; theResearch Center for Biotechnology in 1983; and theCenter for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, and theCollege of Architecture Construction Research Center in 1986.[6] The general assembly granted $15 million in funding for theCenter of Excellence in Microelectronics in 1985.[6]
Pettit also oversaw Georgia Tech's application and admittance into theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC), an athletic league founded in 1953 which included seven charter members. Georgia Tech had withdrawn from theSoutheastern Conference in January 1964 and had operated as an Independent until 1975 when Georgia Tech joined theMetro Conference. Georgia Tech was admitted to the ACC on April 3, 1978. The ACC has expanded from 8 to 12 members since that time.[6][11]
Pettit died of cancer in 1986, and his vice president of academic affairs,Henry C. Bourne, Jr., served as interim president.[12]
Pettit was awarded thePresident's Certificate of Merit in 1949 for his contributions during World War II.[1] He was named aFellow of theInstitute of Radio Engineers (now part ofIEEE) in 1954 and served on that organization's board of directors from 1954 to 1955.[1] He was elected as a life member of IEEE in 1982.[1] While in IRE and later IEEE, Pettit founded two academic conferences:Wescon in 1949 andSouthcon in 1981.[1]
Pettit was also involved in theAmerican Society for Engineering Education, serving two terms on their board of directors and one term, 1972–1973, as their president.[1] He served on theNational Science Board from 1977 to 1982, and also served as an advisor to theNational Science Foundation.[1]
The Joseph Mayo Pettit Distinguished Service Award, conferred by theGeorgia Tech Alumni Association, is named after Pettit.[13]
