(applause) - Good morning.
I'm so delighted to be here celebrating
this wonderful day with you.
We're a lot alike, you and I.
It's the color of these robes and all that it represents.
It was 30 years ago, I sat in this very auditorium
waiting to walk across this stage
to be hooded by my advisor.
Today, I stand here, as an advisor,
waiting to hood my own student.
Hey Michael! (audience laughter)
I remember as a graduate student at Georgia Tech so fondly.
Sure, I worried about passing the qualifying exam.
Actually, I don't think I got more than
two hours of sleep the night before, I was just so nervous.
But, once you pass the qualifying exams and your courses,
graduate school can be pretty interesting.
You get to spend all of your time
thinking about things and trying new things.
Grad school was where I learned to be
independent, and innovative, and resourceful.
It's where I learned the satisfaction and joy
of being a researcher.
Today, you will leave here with your hard-earned degree.
So it's time to pause and contemplate your career paths.
There's this statistic from the World Economic Forum,
predicting that today's graduates,
will have more than 15 jobs in their lifetimes.
What does that mean for you as a Ph.D?
My own career journey started with a job
working as an engineer in industry.
I got to work on the space shuttle flight controls
and on a space station project.
It was really cool.
I know that many of you also worked in industry.
What did you gain from that experience?
I learned professionalism and responsibility and discipline.
But most importantly, I learned what it was like
to work on a team towards a common goal.
Not on an individual project,
but it was in the very fabric of the culture.
That time in industry left a lasting impression on me.
My next job was in academia.
I became a faculty member in electrical engineering
here at Tech immediately after finishing my Ph.D.
How many of you are planning to go into academia?
(applause from the crowd)
You will spend many years balancing
research, teaching and service.
Recall what I said about 15 jobs in your lifetime?
In a research position, this might mean
changing focus and direction of your work.
For example, I learned a lot about
computer science to go from being
an electrical engineer to a computer engineer.
And then I went even further
when I started doing work in engineering education.
That's basically behavioral science.
What an eye opener!
To go from understanding how technology interacts
to how people interact.
Another career shift will come for those of you
who want to go into management
or become a project director, or administrators.
My background in engineering and in behavioral science
set me up for administrative jobs.
My first one was as associate chair for graduate studies,
then I switched to being associate chair
for undergraduate studies.
Most recently, I became Vice Provost.
So my count is seven jobs so far.
Along the way, I had three wonderful kids.
Some of you have kids now, some of you are thinkin about it.
There's a whole nother world out there besides work.
Personally I did a stint as a den mother for Cub Scouts.
A Girl Scout leader, a homeroom mom,
a science Olympiad coach, and a whole lot of
K through 12 outreach activities.
So, depending on how you count it,
that could be several more jobs.
Considering the career shifts that I made,
there's some advice that I'd like to share with you.
Most important, is to be willing to challenge yourself
and to be willing to shift into new areas of specialty.
It may feel, sort of like starting a Ph.D. all over again.
You may feel vulnerable, trading your expertise in one area
to become a learner or apprentice in another.
What does that look like?
Well for me, I read, take online courses,
enroll in workshops, I even sat in on a few courses
while I was a professor here.
Mostly, I talked to other people with different expertise,
to get their perspectives, or to
help me clarify my understanding.
As a student, you may have been comfortable
going to ask professors for help on your research.
After today, you will be a colleague.
And it may feel a little bit more awkward
to ask for help from fellow researchers but do it anyway.
If you can keep expanding what's in your wheelhouse,
you'll be more adaptable to changing times.
And even more so, if you can keep the joy of learning alive
life is just so much more fun.
For example, I learned something recently
that was really inspirational.
You and I, we know a lot about innovation.
By it's very nature, the Ph.D. is about being creative.
There's a company called IDEO that developed
a Venn diagram that describes the conditions
for sustainable and impactful innovation.
The first circle in the diagram is desirability.
What do we want? What do we need?
What should we do?
This circle embodies the fields of ethics
and humanities and social sciences and design.
Desirability. The second circle
is feasibility.
What can we do? How could we make this?
How can we solve this?
How can we understand this?
This circle represents engineering, science and computing.
Engineering, science, and yeah, computing: feasibility.
The last circle is viability.
How can we make it sustainable, marketable?
This covers the fields of policy and business: viability.
Ideas born at the intersection of
desirability, feasibility, and viability
are more sustainable and impactful.
Said another way: the intersection
of the humanities and sciences with business and technology
is the sweet spot for innovation.
This is where Georgia Tech lives.
And this intersection is where I'd like
all of us to strive to move.
Not just to be able to solve problems,
but being able to identify what problems need to be solved.
Perhaps we all can't be adept at all three areas
but we can learn to talk and work across disciplinary lines.
Appreciating what people from each area brings to the table.
To me, stretching my mind into these disciplines
that are so different from my formal training,
has been so rewarding to me.
Not only intellectually, but it has enabled
my career to move forward and made me
more effective in what I do.
Always learn and be agile enough
to pivot directions as needed or as your interests vary.
Open your mind to new perspectives
from different fields of thought.
Cross those disciplinary boundaries.
Finally, Georgia Tech would love to be partners with you,
now and as you progress through your careers.
We would love for you to return
and give back to future students.
Give seminars, judge events, be a mentor.
And support future Ph.D. students.
But are goal is that we, Georgia Tech
will be there for you as well.
A place where you can attend lectures and workshops.
Take courses and learn new fields.
A place where we can support you.
Not just through seven career changes
like I made, but 15 as predicted.
It's a new era for us.
You as graduate alums and we
the faculty and administrators here.
Building a bridge, a partnership
that will last throughout your lives.
This partnership is at the heart of the
creating the next-in-education initiatives here.
These initiatives strive for a lifetime
commitment to you, wherever you live.
I hope that you work with us to create that future.
But let's start thinking and planning
about that future tomorrow. Today,
is a day to celebrate your tremendous accomplishments.
We the faculty are so very proud of you
for earning Georgia Tech's highest degree.
Congratulations fellow Ph.D. alums of Georgia Tech.
Thank you. (crowd applause)