In the past one-hundred days since Ángel Cabrera was invested as Georgia Tech’s 12th president, he has been involved with numerous breakthroughs and advancements on campus. Back in October of last year, Cabrera officially became the first Spanish-born president of any American university.
One of the first things on Cabrera’s agenda was to fully immerse himself within the student body and the various organizations on campus. In his first few weeks as President, he met with the Student Government Association and the Society of Black Engineers. He got to know student leaders and discuss different issues that afflict the student body.
In September, he addressed guests at Georgia Tech’s 11th Annual Diversity Symposium. The symposium panel featured the first three African American students and first graduate of this university. At the conclusion of the ceremony, a sculpture of the three students was unveiled in order to commemorate the great strides the institution has made to increase diversity since then.
In his first few months, President Cabrera also traveled to New York City to be involved in a meeting regarding Sustainable Development Goals. These goals cover an array of problems plaguing the human race like climate change, poverty, hunger and gender equality. Seventeen goals are advocated by the United Nations General Assembly with the intention of being completed by the year 2030. After this meeting, Cabrera brought back numerous ideas and concepts to Georgia Tech and in turn made the student body aware of the UN’s biggest concerns. This past November, President Cabrera was also responsible for hosting the Association of University Research Parks for its annual international conference. This organization provides a platform for districts across the continent to take part in research and technological innovation.
One of Cabrera’s main focuses since being invested has been to keep the Institute moving forward in all aspects. One example of doing this was the idea of having “Visioning Sessions” which would be conducted by the Strategic Consulting department and allow students to give their opinions as to how Georgia Tech can improve in the next ten years. These “Visioning Sessions” will be conducted via iPads and carried out in order to increase efficiency within the administration.