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“PRESIDENT GEORGE P. ``BUD'' PETERSON'S RETIREMENT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E838 on June 25, 2019.
The Department includes the Census Bureau, which is used to determine many factors about American life. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department is involved in misguided foreign trade policies and is home to many unneeded programs.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PRESIDENT GEORGE P. ``BUD'' PETERSON'S RETIREMENT
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HON. JOHN LEWIS
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Mr. LEWIS. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Dr. George P. ``Bud'' Peterson, Ph.D. on his retirement.
For the past 10 years, Dr. Peterson served as the 11th president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, a world-renowned higher education institution that is located in my district. Under Dr. Peterson's leadership, the Institute has consistently ranked among our nation's best institutions of higher education, and he managed to exceed benchmarks outlined in Georgia Tech's strategic plan.
Madam Speaker, we are very fortunate to have an institution like Georgia Tech educating our young people in Atlanta. President Peterson worked tirelessly to open the doors of opportunity to young people from every corner of Georgia. During his tenure, undergraduate applications tripled, graduate applications doubled, and the student body increased by 69 percent to more than 32,000 students. In 2014, the Georgia Tech guaranteed admission and financial support to valedictorians and salutatorians from Atlanta Public Schools. In 2017, it extended these offerings statewide through the Georgia Tech Scholars Program. Access to a quality education changes the very trajectory of these young people's lives.
For visitors to Metro Atlanta, Dr. Peterson's impact is arguably most visible in Tech Square in Midtown Atlanta. There is an important national conversation on how to create new livable-wage, manufacturing jobs and bolster United States' global competitiveness. In our region, Dr. Peterson ensured that Georgia Tech became the regional center for this discussion. For these reasons, former Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke appointed President Peterson to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and President Barack Obama appointed him to the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership
(AMP) steering committee and its 2.0 successor.
President Peterson excels in connecting young minds with great ideas to emerging industries and opportunity. Since 2013, 30 corporations have set up innovation centers in the area, engaging students' creativity, growing our economy, and ensuring that Atlanta remain a center for talent and technology. In fact, Madam Speaker, last week Dr. Peterson welcomed my staff and me to Georgia Tech's new Coda building. This incredible facility, along with the rest of Tech Square, shows how the Institute will continue to shape Atlanta's future. Dr. Peterson was instrumental in making this vision a reality.
Before coming to Georgia Tech, Dr. Peterson served as chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder and provost at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. Born in San Francisco, California, Dr. Peterson grew up in Kansas and earned degrees from Kansas State University and Texas A&M University. Throughout his career, Dr. Peterson focused on promoting research and scientific education and received national accolades for his work. For these reasons, President George W. Bush appointed him to serve on the National Science Board in 2008, and President Obama re-appointed President Peterson for a second six-year term in 2014.
Although Dr. Peterson is retiring this summer from the administration, he is staying in the Georgia Tech family and returning to the Institute's faculty. On behalf of the people of Atlanta, I thank President Peterson for his years of dedicated leadership to our community and to Georgia Tech. I wish him, his beloved wife Val, and their four children continued success and happiness in this next chapter of their lives.
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