Stories by Tony Rehagen and Austin L. Ray

Georgia Tech might be best known for training world-class scientists, researchers and engineers, but the Institute’s driving mission to make the world a better place also includes educating future generations of public servants and politicians. Though it’s a magnet for students from all reaches of the globe, Tech’s direct impact on the government of its hometown and native state might be easily overlooked.

Today, in fact, there are Yellow Jackets doing impressive work in almost every branch and form in Georgia, from the campus Student Government Association to the Atlanta City Council to the U.S. Senate. They’re helping to shape policy and guide change throughout the metro area and Georgia and using their positions to bolster one of the state’s most important institutions.

“Georgia Tech’s success is due in large part to our alumni, a number of whom are serving in public office carrying out the Institute’s motto of ‘Progress and Service’ in their daily lives,” says Dene Sheheane, Tech’s vice president of government and community relations. “These leaders work hard to make a difference in their communities and to further the impact Georgia Tech has on our state and nation. Their support has allowed all of us in government relations to better assist President [G.P. “Bud”]Peterson in achieving the goals of the Institute.”

Tech provides direct connections to the world of government and state politics through the Georgia Legislative Internship Program, which introduces students to life under the Gold Dome, as well as the strong Capitol Jackets advocacy network through which alumni cultivate relationships with lawmakers. Yellow Jackets in office, like Georgia U.S. Sen. David Perdue, IE 72, MS OR 76, and Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan, IE 88, say they have been greatly influenced by the the informal political education they received during their years on campus. These lessons stem from the Institute’s focus on innovation, collaboration, analytical thinking and problem-solving; exposure to a diverse student body from around the world with differing perspectives on issues facing society; and a fundamental commitment to hard work and results.

“Georgia Tech alumni are known for their ability to develop innovative solutions on the job, as well as in the communities where they work and live,” says President Peterson. “We are very proud of Georgia Tech alumni who are working to make a difference in Atlanta, the state of Georgia, throughout the U.S. and around the world.”

The U.S. Senator: David Perdue, IE 72, MS OR 76

Unlike many of his colleagues in the U.S. Senate, David Perdue did not attend college with the intent of going into public service. He didn’t even want to major in political science or pre-law. Raised in Middle Georgia by two schoolteachers, Perdue primarily wanted a technical education to prepare him for a career in business. He worked his way through Georgia Tech by taking on construction and warehouse jobs.

However, after using a Tech bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a master’s in operations research to build a 40-year corporate resume that includes stints as CEO of
the Reebok brand and Dollar General, Perdue’s concern over what he saw as the government’s mounting debt crisis spurred him to run for U.S. Senate in 2014. Today, Sen. Perdue says that his years as a Tech engineering student prepared him just as well for his legislative role on Capitol Hill as if it had been a three-pronged doctoral study in governing.

First, he says there was a focus on results. “In every class at Tech, you had to master the material,” Perdue says. “You had to get results.” For Perdue, that often meant persevering through subjects in which he was not naturally gifted. “I suffered through two years of calculus,” he says. “But you have to do the work.”

Second, as competitive as the curriculum was at Tech, Perdue also remembers an atmosphere of collaboration in problem solving. At this institution, that meant working with some of the most brilliant young thinkers of the day—who eventually became today’s leaders. “At Tech you develop relationships with so many driven students,” he says. “I was at Tech with great leaders like Alan Lacy [IM 75, Sears], David Dorman, [IM 75, AT&T], and Mike Duke [IE 71, Hon Phd 11, Walmart]. Those are relationships you have for a lifetime.”

Lastly, as an engineer, Perdue was well-drilled in the scientific method of problem solving. Tech taught him how to analyze a complex issue and break it down into more manageable components. “Sometimes there was no right or wrong answer,” Perdue says. “It was about how far you could take the issue. It often required a creative approach.”

As a current member of the Senate Budget Committee, Perdue says those same three Tech tools have helped him tackle the debt—as well as other key issues. He can scientifically analyze the roots of the problems; he knows how to collaborate with his fellow lawmakers and his Tech connections in the corporate world to gather ideas; and, if he wants to keep his job, he knows he and his fellow legislators have to buckle down and get results. “There are not many in the Senate who have an engineering background,” he says. “I’m using that experience to help us focus on the problems we’re faced with and to work through to find solutions.” — Tony Rehagen

The Mayor: Hardie Davis Jr., EE 92

Hardie Davis admits that when he arrived at Tech in the late 1980s, he had a fairly limited perspective of the world. The teen had spent his entire life in the smaller Georgia cities of Macon and Augusta, and had come to Atlanta with the singular goal of becoming an engineer. But once Davis set foot on campus, he soon realized that his viewpoint was just one of many in a truly international community.

“We had students from all over the world,” Davis says. “Different languages. Different experiences. Different problems and different ways of approaching them. We were all part of that melting pot. It shaped my perspective about my fellow man.”

Sharing dorms, commons and classrooms with students from Europe, Africa, Asia and other parts of the United States, not only awoke Davis to the harsh realities of the world—such as poverty and crumbling infrastructure—but it also instilled in him the importance of political activism as a means to tackle those concerns. Though he was too focused on his studies to run for student office, Davis says that his years at Tech were the first in which he educated himself on contemporary issues. In 1992, his fourth year, Davis voted in his first national presidential election, casting a ballot for Bill Clinton—a sign that the previously conservative Georgian’s political views were evolving.

Still, Davis had no personal political ambition. He graduated with a bachelor’s degreen in electrical engineering in 1992 and promptly embarked on a career in engineering, first for the U.S. Department of Energy in South Carolina and then in automation for Monsanto back in his hometown of Augusta.

It wasn’t until March of 2006—14 years after leaving Tech—that the school again nudged Davis in the direction of public service, albeit in an indirect way. Davis was attending Leadership Georgia, a training program for prominent young business and community forerunners, when he saw Tech professor Catherine Ross, a renowned expert on urban planning growth, speak at the Governor’s Mansion. “She spoke about volunteering and working in our communities,” Davis says. “I began to think about my role in the city of Augusta. That’s when I made my decision to run for state representative.”

That November, Davis won his home district’s seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, which he held for three years before being elected to the state Senate in 2009. There, he was named Policy Maker of the Year by the Georgia Association for Career and Technical Education. After serving in the Senate for five years, he resigned his seat to run for mayor of Augusta, a role in which he has served since May 2014.

Throughout this second career as a public servant, Davis has drawn from his time at Tech—both his degree and his informal education as a world citizen. “I cannot emphasize how important it was to be at an international school,” he says. “It shaped my broader worldview, showed me how we all intersect. And when I was thrust into that world, it better prepared me for everything I’ve done in my life.”

— Tony Rehagen

The Student Body President: Jennifer Abrams, PP 17

Barely six months into her term as president of the Student Government Association, Jennifer Abrams faced an issue that tested everything she had learned at Tech about being a leader—and about herself.

In October, a professor approached Abrams about the possibility of changing the lyrics to the 107-year-old school fight song, “Ramblin’ Wreck,” to make them more inclusive of females. As president, Abrams heard the professor out and said she would take it under advisement. But rumor of the proposed break with tradition leaked to the students, igniting an overnight uproar and making Abrams the unwitting target of hateful emails and online commentary. “They were really beating me up,” she says. “It was like they forgot I was human.”

Fortunately, Abrams’s experience of service during her four years at Tech had prepared her for this predicament. When she arrived in 2012, Abrams started at home in her freshman dorm, Field and Hopkins, throwing her name in the hat for residence hall president on a whim and winning. In that role, she helped bring in speakers, put on workshops and even organized a small carnival. She presided over weekly meetings, dealt with budgets and worked alongside a small group to see to the needs of a diverse constituency with differing perspectives. “It was much harder than I thought it would be,” she says. “I learned a lot about leadership and how to account for a group of residents from different backgrounds.”

Undeterred, Abrams decided to stick with Residence Life and became a resident adviser, serving as a counselor for younger dorm mates. “You learn to think on your feet,” she says. “You’re trained to handle anything—suicide threat, sexual violence, underage drinking.” Fortunately, Abrams never had to deal with the first two, but she did have to call the police on some students she found drinking in the dorms. That’s when she realized that as a leader, you sometimes have to do things that make you unpopular with some. “I want to get along, but I couldn’t ignore those students,” she says. “They were four of 72 under my charge.”

After her second year, Abrams was asked to join the cabinet of the Student Government Association. Then, last April, she was elected president. Now in charge of much more than a dorm, she oversees public policy for all of student life. “It helped me understand how you implement change and policy,” she says. “You can’t always make both sides happy. You try to best benefit the most people without costing those who’ll benefit the least.”

That’s a maxim Abrams saw applied by legislators and staff members during her internships with the Georgia Secretary of State and state Chair of Higher Education. In those roles, she helped run meetings, reviewed invoices and worked first-hand with constituents, answering phone calls and emails and connecting them with the right departments.

In the case of the fight song, that has meant putting the question to public opinion to better inform a decision and shrugging off the extremist vitriol. “You can’t take things so personally,” Abrams says. “People are always going to have opinions. All you can do is say ‘thank you’ and move on to the other things you want to do.”

For Abrams, that includes finishing out her term as president this April and then graduating with her bachelor’s degree in public policy—then grad school. She says she wants to work in government, possibly with the CDC or the Carter Center, but adds that she’ll take a break from public office. As she can learn from other Yellow Jackets who were latecomers to elected posts, the opportunity will be there if she changes her mind.

— Tony Rehagen

The City Councilman: Alex Wan, IE 88

Alex Wan will never forget the most important lesson he learned in his four years at Tech—and it wasn’t found in any of his chemistry books or math labs.

The year was 1987, the beginning of his fourth at Tech, and Wan had decided to run for president of the interfraternity council. He had been extremely active throughout his time as a Yellow Jacket, had been a member of the Ramblin’ Reck Club and Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honor society, an orientation leader and president of his own fraternity, Kappa Sigma. He had big ideas for the council and felt he was more than qualified. And yet he lost to Andy McHenry, ME 89—whose name Wan will never forget because McHenry was better able to get that name into the minds of voters. “I thought I was the best candidate,” Wan says. “But I should’ve worked harder to meet people. They may have gotten my flier, but when it’s people casting votes, they’re not looking at a piece of paper. The better way to influence them is through direct contact.”

Wan quickly put the loss behind him, but he put the lesson in his pocket along with his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and went to work in finance, first on Wall Street and then back in Atlanta. At the same time, Wan kept his hand in volunteering with various organizations to help the less fortunate, and in 2003, he founded For the Kid In All of Us, a nonprofit that holds toy and school-supply drives for disadvantaged children. It was then that Wan realized he wanted to get back into public service full time.

In 2004, Wan threw his hat into the race for Georgia State Representative from District 57 in Atlanta. Remembering his failure from the Tech IFC race, Wan got out among his prospective constituents and, along with his campaign team, knocked on some 10,000 doors, trying to connect with voters one on one. He still lost. But his outreach helped him garner 38 percent of the vote against an entrenched incumbent, eventually emboldening Wan to seek a seat on the Atlanta City Council in 2010. This time he won, and he has been serving as the District 6 councilman ever since. He is the first Asian-American and first openly gay man to serve on the council.

Wan says that his Tech engineering degree now makes him the man to go to with numbers, metrics and quantitative data among his fellow council members. And that analytical way of approaching problems does come in handy. But he says it’s the interpersonal lesson he learned at the unwitting hands of Andy McHenry that has best prepared him for public life. “Meeting the people is the only way to know what they’re thinking,” he says. “You might think you have the right idea or the right solution to a problem, but until you’re out there among the people testing that hypothesis, you don’t know.”

— Tony Rehagen

The Commissioner: Amy Phuong, IA 05, MBA 14

Amy Phuong never imagined she’d become the City of Atlanta’s parks and recreation commissioner. Growing up in Gwinnett County, Phuong balanced dreams of becoming a basketball star or a master chef with a growing interest in community service. But then again, she also loved chemistry and thought that perhaps she’d work for a nonprofit one day.

Her wild variety of passions eventually brought her to Tech and what she calls its “fantastic campus in the heart of the city” that proved so alluring to a suburban teenager. And it’s on that campus that her dreams and interests began to crystallize in a more focused direction.

While studying international affairs, economics and public policy, Phuong got more and more involved in public service. She was elected student body president and won an internship at Leadership Atlanta. “Because Tech is in the heart of Atlanta, I could balance being a student leader while also being involved civically,” she says. “Then-mayor Shirley Franklin was trying to get students in metro Atlanta to increase their voter residency, so I was involved with her administration to get that moving.”

When Phuong “got out” of Tech, she first found work in the private sector. But before long, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed recruited her. “He gave me a position that was created to bridge his administration with the civic good of the city—anything related to philanthropy, nonprofits, etcetera,” Phuong says. “I got to develop relationships and key initiatives the mayor was most interested in to help impact the social wealth of the city.”

That work would eventually lead him to appointing Phuong as interim parks and recreation commissioner in late 2014, a job she would officially take over just four months later.

Now, she leads an organization with more than 330 full-time employees and 200 seasonal employees. Her team is responsible for the maintenance of more than 360 park spaces around Atlanta. She humbly says that her biggest accomplishment so far is getting her team “on the track of producing a higher rate of service,” and cites the rebuilding of the Martin Luther King Jr. Natatorium as one of her biggest upcoming projects.

“If you’re a resident of Atlanta, you might at some point have swam in the current natatorium that was closed due to some major structural issues back in 2012,” she says. “We’re going to be leading the final design phase in the new year and breaking ground to rebuild the natatorium while deconstructing the current location and turning it into a green space.”

As she looks forward to this massive undertaking in 2016, she also fondly looks back, remembering how she learned to lead in college. Oh, and how to get hash browns when you really
need them.

“I got to be involved with the student input on Fifth Street, trying to understand what the students really wanted, including restaurants,” Phuong remembers. “I was excited when Waffle House finally came to campus. At the time, we really fought hard to give our input on that. I didn’t get it done when I was a student at Tech, but it’s exciting to see other students have their voices heard. Being a student leader at Tech allowed me to hone in on those skills early.”

— Austin L. Ray

The Power Couple: Patrise Perkins-Hooker, IM 80, and Doug Hooker, ME 78, MS TSP 85

Perhaps it’s no surprise that Atlanta power couple Doug Hooker and Patrise Perkins-Hooker met at Tech. “I was a freshman and he was a junior,” Patrise recalls of the moment that set the stage for decades to come. “We’ve been married for 36 years.”

Those years have been filled with a lot of love and a lot of professional accomplishments. Patrise is vice president and general counsel of Atlanta BeltLine Inc., and, in 2014 was named the first African-American and third woman president of the State Bar of Georgia. Meanwhile, Doug serves as the executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, co-founded the Civic League of Atlanta, and has served on myriad boards, including the Council for Quality Growth and the Atlanta Symphony. They’re the kind of people for whom you could spend all day listing qualifications and achievements. And if you ask either of them how they became the successful, civic-minded citizens they are today, they point to Tech.

“The professors were tough,” Doug remembers fondly. “No matter what, they were going to push you to do well and excel. I found that I was much better prepared for the workplace than a lot of my colleagues of a similar age. The thing about Tech is that it makes you feel confident that you can solve problems and overcome obstacles. Just getting through that tough curriculum itself makes it feel like you’re capable of doing a lot of things.”

The couple found common ground in their studies at Tech, despite their differences. Patrise is a native Atlantan, while Doug grew up in Cincinnati. And while she was focused on business management, he held a long-term artistic streak, performing with orchestras since age 8. They met through a mutual friend, Patrise says. “We ended up working together to plan the convention for the National Society of Black Engineers,” she says. “Through that group, we developed a very strong friendship, and that became the basis for our relationship.”

Doug says the dynamism of Atlanta was one of the reasons he ended up at Tech, and one of the reasons why he loves the city so much to this day. Patrise, similarly, realized this was a place where she could help minority business leaders, particularly in the business and legal realms. The city and these motivations are what led Doug to create a leadership legacy in the Atlanta Department of Public Works and what led Patrise to lend her talents to the merger of Clark-Atlanta University.

If you look around Georgia’s capital city, you’ll see Doug and Patrise’s imprint all over it. They hope to continue in that tradition for as long as possible.

“I just want to use my life in a way that benefits people,” Patrise says. “I don’t know how that will manifest itself in the future, but I know that, whatever I do, it will benefit people. My job at the Atlanta BeltLine is benefitting my community by transforming large sections of the community that were previously blighted into areas that are not. It’s those types of projects I like to get involved with. I like to make a difference. We both do.”

— AUSTIN L. RAY

Capitol Interns

Tech students learn firsthand how state government works.

For Atlanta attorney Kaitlyn Whiteside, HTS 11, working in the office Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, Mgt 91, while still a student at Tech—through the Georgia Legislative Internship Program (GLIP)—was a bona fide life-changing experience. She not only learned about the legislative process and cemented her own political beliefs, but also developed interpersonal skills that she now uses every day in the real world.

“I think the first and most important lesson was the power of relationships,” Whiteside says. “Legislation can be created or destroyed on the basis of loyalties. They’re a powerful thing. I also learned so much about politics generally and started to really form my own political identity.”

GLIP is a statewide program administered by the Georgia General Assembly that has engaged Peach State students for more than 40 years. Getting young people involved in state government is important to the General Assembly, and GLIP gives these students an opportunity to see how the legislative process works up close. Since 2000, about 170 Tech students have interned with state politicians. Interns can then go on to positions in the General Assembly working as budget analysts, legislative staffers and policy analysts.

“I would say that my internship with Gov. Zell Miller was a turning point in my life,” says Stacy Peery, director of Senate Staffing at the state capitol. “I met so many smart, passionate people and gained real-world experience. And I learned that this was the career I wanted to follow.”

Peery says that she and the House Intern Coordinator interview all intern candidates, then figure out how to place them based on personalities, interests and legislative need. Because Georgia’s legislature is parttime (running January through April), there isn’t a huge full-time staff, which makes the interns—and the work they do—even more valuable. This work and the one-on-one connections interns make lead to great opportunities after the session ends.

“One of the best parts is the networking opportunities,” Peery says. “The interns have the opportunity to meet state agency directors, political leaders and lobbyists from all over the state. We have former interns working nearly everywhere: the Senate, the House, state agencies, universities and lobby firms to name a few.”

More than just jobs and connections, GLIP fosters pride in Tech alumni and furthers the interests of the university. Whiteside sees it as an essential tool to getting Tech students involved in local government and changing the future.

“I also think the program is instrumental in creating a sense of identity with the State of Georgia,” Whiteside says. “Georgia Tech is so underrepresented at the Capitol, and GLIP is a great way to foster and encourage Tech students to get—and stay—involved at the state level. I love seeing qualified, smart Georgia Tech alumni, like Taylor Bennett, IA 08, running and winning races. We need more of that.”

— Austin L. Ray

Capitol Jackets

Alumni network helps keep legislators up to date with Tech priorities.

Back in the early 1980s, former Alumni Association Chair Don Chapman and other trustees introduced something known as the “buddy system”—pairing up Tech alumni with local legislators. Soon it gained a more formal title: the Legislative Network. Eventually it arrived at its modern-day moniker, the Georgia Tech Capitol Jackets Advocacy Network.

In its earliest incarnation, this alumni-driven network was formed to educate state legislators about the Institute’s priorities, strengths and major ongoing projects. As this group of interested alumni joined forces to work for the best of Tech’s needs, it strived to increase the Institute’s visibility and impact in the eyes of legislators and policy makers.

Patrise Perkins-Hooker, vice president and general counsel of Atlanta BeltLine Inc., was one of the original members of the group. She’s worked with fellow alumni over the years to leverage their professional relationships and Tech insight with senators, representatives and other government leaders to help position their alma mater in the best light. “We’ve worked diligently to keep legislators informed about what’s happening at the Institute,” she says.

Network members—today they number more than 700 alumni, students, faculty and staff—routinely participate in annual legislative events and briefings, community happenings and alumni gatherings to engage with local politicians and citizens. “Events like these are the perfect opportunity for Capitol Jackets to invite their local delegations and elected officials to connect with the Tech community in their area,” says Casey Aultman, the Institute’s legislative advocacy manager. “The network has a tremendous and lasting impact when they reach out to discuss Georgia Tech priorities with officials.”

From weighing in on budgetary actions to strategic governing priorities, the efforts of the Capitol Jackets are as vast, varied and important as the people who graduate from Tech themselves. For alumni, such advocacy is a convenient and effective mix of high impact and low time-commitment, Aultman says. Her office works to make sure network members are apprised of high-level happenings that affect where Tech is heading and that help ensure the Institute remains one of the best universities in the country.

“Advocacy can take place in many different ways, and our alumni can make an impact simply by being informed and sharing information about Tech in their communities,” Aultman says. “If just one external official or influencer learns something impactful about Georgia Tech that they didn’t know before, that’s effective advocacy for us.”

More formally, about 20 steering committee members meet four to five times a year to guide Capitol Jackets initiatives and decide which ones will take priority in the future. “Our job is to keep the group informed of issues and policy decisions that will impact Tech, and to suggest ways to engage in the political process to influence outcomes,” says Stephanie Kindregan, Bio 05, immediate past Capitol Jackets chair and director of public affairs for energy infrastructure giant Kinder Morgan.

However, the network is about more than just legislative change, Kindregan says. “It taught me how important it is to actually thank the people that help and support your cause—not assume you are owed it,” she says. “Being thankful and gracious is a trait that is often forgotten these days in the business world, but it is still relevant and will always help set you apart from others.”

As someone who has been part of Capitol Jackets since its early days, Perkins-Hooker has a unique perspective on its evolution. She’s proud of what the network has done and what it will continue to do in the future. “Capitol Jackets has grown and refined its method of operations to have fewer but more targeted and effective liaisons,” Perkins-Hooker says. “Many of us have been assigned to the same legislator for decades, and this has established credibility and trust. I think that our program is a model for legislative outreach programs.” — Austin L. Ray

Yellow Jackets Helping Shape the Future of Georgia’s Higher Education System

Three Georgia Tech alumni, appointed by the governor to serve a seven-year term, currently sit on the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. This appointment is a voluntary one without pay, and they donate their time and expertise to help govern the state’s 31 public colleges and universities.

C. Dean Alford, EE 66, is president-CEO of Allied Energy Services and is a former chair of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees. He has served several statewide education appointments and was a five-term member of the Georgia House of Representatives.

Sachin Shailendra, CE 01, is president of SG Contracting Inc., an Atlanta-based general construction company and contractor, and is chair of the University System of Georgia Foundation. He is also a board member of the Georgia REACH Foundation and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Sports Network.

Benjamin “Ben” J. Tarbutton III, Mat 94, is president of the Sandersville Railroad Company, where he oversees daily operations. He is a past chairman of Leadership Georgia and serves on the board for Oconee Fall Line Technical College and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

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