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Georgia Tech's 264th Commencement, held May 5 and 6 at Bobby Dodd Stadium, celebrated 5,673 graduates. Tap here for a few moments captured during the event.

More images from Spring Commencement are available on Flickr.

One of the Institute Strategic Plan (ISP) goals is to connect globally and amplify impact by contributing “to global collaborative efforts that advance the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through our education, research, and service.” In response, Sustainability Next developed a plan to expand SDG concept and skill integration across the undergraduate curriculum. In support of the plan, 21 projects representing all six colleges and 15 schools were presented at the Undergraduate Sustainability Education Jamboree, held on April 26 in the Kendeda Building auditorium. With many winning projects featuring high enrollment and core courses, this first round of sustainability education “seed grants” will significantly expand the reach of Georgia Tech’s sustainability-across-the-curriculum initiatives.

“Our Strategic Plan commitment to bring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into our teaching is part of our vision for transformative teaching and learning more broadly,” explains Larry Jacobs, Senior Vice Provost for Education and Learning. “Helping students identify connections between disciplinary concepts and skills and complex societal challenges enhances learning and supports Georgia Tech’s mission to equip students to improve the human condition.”

The Jamboree featured lightning presentations from the award winners, as well as presentations about related initiatives at Georgia Tech to help instructors, students, and staff better understand the landscape of sustainability education innovation on campus. Instructors engaged in course design or re-design through the awards will have opportunities to collaborate with and learn from their peers through a Community of Practice on Transformative Teaching with the SDGs and a SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) research group. Many began identifying potential collaborators at the event, as they heard from other award winners. “The afternoon of lightning presentations by fellow faculty was exhilarating,” Sabir Khan, Associate Professor, Schools of Industrial Design and Architecture, shared. “I came away impressed and excited at the range of projects and have already invited a few instructors to join my class in the fall to discuss their approaches to tackling the UN SDGs."

Presenter Kate Williams, Interim Director, Transformative Teaching and Learning, Faculty Initiatives, shared connections between the Sustainability Innovation Awards and Georgia Tech’s Transformative Teaching and Learning (TTL) strategic initiative. “The success of the first round of Sustainability Education Innovation Grants demonstrates our faculty's commitment to creating innovative experiential learning opportunities for students,” Dr. Williams noted.

For more information about future award opportunities or the communities of practice described above, please contact Jennifer Leavey (Assistant Dean for Faculty Mentoring, College of Sciences) or Rebecca Watts Hull (Assistant Director, Faculty Development for Sustainability Education Initiatives, Center for Teaching and Learning).

Review all 21 awarded Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation projects.

The College of Sciences at Georgia Tech continues to advance in the graduate school rankings published by the U.S. News and World Report.

Released on April 25, the 2023-2024 U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings features all six College of Sciences schools among its best science schools for graduate studies:

Biological Sciences – No. 37
Chemistry – No. 20
Earth Sciences – No. 33
Mathematics – No. 20
Physics – No. 21
Psychology – No. 39

The 2023-2024 rankings of doctoral programs in the sciences are based solely on the results of surveys sent by U.S. News to academic officials in fall 2022 and early 2023 in chemistry, earth science, mathematics, physics, and computer science (which is part of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, see here). Surveys for biological sciences, statistics and biostatistics were sent to academic officials in fall 2021 and early 2022.

Georgia Tech College of Sciences rankings

Biological Sciences retains its No. 37 rank from 2022, in a nine-way tie with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Dartmouth College, Indiana University-Bloomington, Ohio State University, University of Utah, and UT Health MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Chemistry and Biochemistry rises by one spot to No. 20, tied with Johns Hopkins University, Ohio State University, and University of California (UC)-San Diego.

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences ranks No. 33 (ranked No. 28 in 2022, No. 38 in 2019) in a tie with Ohio State University, University of Oregon, University of Southern California, Virginia Tech, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Mathematics advances by one to No. 20, tied with Carnegie Mellon University, Johns Hopkins University, UC-San Diego, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland-College Park, and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Physics rises by seven to No. 21, in a tie with Northwestern University, Pennsylvania State University-University Park, Rice University, Stony Brook University-SUNY, UC-San Diego, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Psychology retains its No. 39 rank from 2022 in a tie with Arizona State University, Michigan State University, Stony Brook University-SUNY, University of Florida, University of Iowa, and University of Pittsburgh.

U.S. News previously ranked graduate science programs in their 2022 Best Graduate Schools Edition, published in March 2022. Current rankings for Biological Sciences and Psychology were part of those 2022 rankings.

Among specialty science graduate programs at Georgia Tech, Analytical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Theoretical Chemistry all rank in the top 20.

In Mathematics specialty graduate programs, Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics remains the top 5, while Analysis ties for No. 20, and Applied Math ties for No. 16. Uniquely organized across the Colleges of Sciences, Computing, and Engineering, the Institute’s Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization program kept its No. 5 spot from last spring.

Chemistry specialty graduate programs

Analytical Chemistry – No. 11
Inorganic Chemistry – No. 20
Physical Chemistry — No. 14
Theoretical Chemistry — No. 18

Mathematics specialty graduate programs

Analysis — No. 20 (tie)
Applied Math — No. 16 (tie)
Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics — No. 5 (tie)

Fellow colleges across Georgia Tech are also on the rise in this year’s U.S. News “Best Graduate Schools” set, with Engineering remaining in the top ten in its overall disciplines — and Business, Computing, and Public Affairs also ranking among top programs in the nation. The full roster of current Georgia Institute of Technology graduate school rankings can be found here, along with U.S. News’ methodology for graduate rankings here.

The College of Sciences at Georgia Tech continues to advance in the graduate school rankings published by the U.S. News and World Report.

Released on April 25, the 2023-2024 U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings features all six College of Sciences schools among its best science schools for graduate studies:

Biological Sciences – No. 37
Chemistry – No. 20
Earth Sciences – No. 33
Mathematics – No. 20
Physics – No. 21
Psychology – No. 39