Laying the Foundation for a College (1990–1995)

This chapter will describe the conditions existing in 1990 and the approaches that the faculty and I took in the first 6 years of the College’s existence along with some of the major events and developments of those years. A brief outline of the general state of Georgia Tech and the new College of Computing in 1990 will be followed by a narration of the most important initial actions we took in the first few months. This is followed by descriptions of the approach we took, the principles we tried to follow, and the major themes of activity that characterized not only the first 6 years of the College but up to 2003 and beyond, with some important distinctions that will be elaborated on in succeeding chapters. The content in this chapter is not always organized chronologically, but is key to understanding what has made the College a success. The remainder of this chapter provides a more straightforward narrative of the period up to the summer of 1996.