Wayne Clough to deliver first Hyatt Distinguished Alumni Lecture

Friday, 21 November 2014
Smithsonian secretary and former Georgia Tech president picked to kick off series of talks from CEE alumni

The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering will welcome G. Wayne Clough as the inaugural speaker for the School’s new lecture series this spring.

The selection committee weighing nominations for the series had almost no choice in the matter; Clough was the overwhelming favorite among the names put forth for the first lecture.

He’ll speak March 24, kicking off a twice-yearly event to be called the Kenneth Hyatt Distinguished Alumni Leadership Speaker Series.

Clough graduated with Georgia Tech civil engineering bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the mid-1960s and eventually returned to campus as president of the Institute. Since 2008, Clough has been secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a post he will leave at the end of the year.

With the support of Ken Hyatt, B.S. 1962, the series will tap CEE’s broad alumni base to bring a distinguished speaker to campus each spring and fall who can share their wisdom and insight with the School’s students and the wider Georgia Tech community and inspire the next generation of leaders.

Speakers will be prominent leaders in industry, academia, government and nonprofits who have used their careers to make a difference in the world.

“There’s a lot of value in exposing the students in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering to people who have made a contribution to society and have done well in their field,” said Hyatt, who also has a master’s in industrial management from Tech.

Organizers say Clough’s lecture will be in the late afternoon with a reception to follow. More details will be available in the coming weeks.