Yesterday the announcement that GT was invited to join the Association of American Universities (AAU) was destributed to all faculty members, students, and staff. According to Robert M. Berdahl, AAU President , "Georgia Tech is an outstanding institution that, like other AAU universities, plays a major role in the nation’s research enterprise, as well as in training the next generation of scientists, engineers and scholars."

AAU is a selective group of research institutions and the Chronicle of Higher Educaiton notes "AAU affiliation has become a standard thumbnail definition of the prominence of a research institution. The eligibility criteria include objective factors such as the amount of federal grants and the number of faculty awards and research citations."

Today,an internal email circulated within our school from a distinguished professor highlights the role of the school in GT's efforts in joining AAU. The quotations in the email include one from the Chronicle of Higher Education "Georgia Tech made its case by emphasizing the quality of its programs and their breadth, especially the university's emphasis on exploring the ways in which scientific exploration affects public policy, Mr. Peterson [current president G.P. "Bud" Peterson] said. That emphasis includes ties between the sciences and the university's schools of public policy and international affairs, Mr. Peterson said. 'We have very specific areas that we work in,' he said, 'and that is really focused on the role and impact of science, technology and engineering on society.'" and the other one from Peterson's talk on WABE radio this morning "the school's inclusion is an honor: we've got faculty that are doing work in medicine, health, medical records, developing new technologies for architecture, music technology and a school of public policy."

So EXCITED about the news and President's recognition of our work's importance that cannot help writing this down even during my office hour.

BTW, President Peterson will visit China in next week. Some of you may have interest in the following information.