Georgia Tech Foundation Records
Collection
Identifier: MS111
Founded in 1932 as the Georgia Tech Alumni Foundation, the Georgia Tech Foundation raises and distributes funds for the benefit of the Georgia Institute of Technology and higher education in Georgia. These records primarily document the establishment of the foundation and its financial status in the 1970s.
(one document case)
None.
Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Head of Archives and Special Collections
0.4 Linear Feet
The Georgia Tech Foundation records include financial records, reports, administrative materials, and a small amount of correspondence. The financial records include balances of various funds, dating primarily from 1968 through 1977. The administrative materials include photocopies of the organization's charter and by-laws, along with amendments to both of these documents. The correspondence, also composed primarily of photocopies, contains scattered letters concerning the Foundation's tax status, notices of meetings, and letters of solicitation to the faculty and staff. Reports primarily include annual reports to the President, 1955-1964, although there is also a report entitled "Revised Report of The Study Committee Georgia Tech Foundation, Inc. on the needs of The Georgia Institute of Technology." Dated 1957, this report, commissioned by the Foundation, notes the building and staffing needs of the institution at a critical juncture in its history. These records provide only a superficial glimpse on the founding and administration of the Georgia Tech Foundation.
Ongoing financial problems at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the 1920s and 1930s, complicated by the Great Depression, threatened the institution's continued growth and development. Alumni G. M. ("Pup") Phillips and Everett Strupper explored the possibility of organizing a separate nonprofit corporation to receive and administer funds for Georgia Tech. At their urging, prominent alumni Robert Gregg, Floyd W. McRae, Jr., Y. F. Freeman, William H. Glenn, George T. Marchmont, and Frank H. Neely petitioned the state in 1931 to charter the Georgia Tech Alumni Foundation, Inc. These six men served as the first board of trustees for the Foundation, which raised and distributed funds to benefit Georgia Tech and higher education in Georgia.
In 1956-1957, the Foundation initiated a faculty salary supplementation program to help attract and maintain qualified faculty, despite Georgia Tech's low pay scale. The Foundation also aided with additional expenses of the institution. In 1961, the Foundation, in cooperation with the Georgia Tech National Alumni Association, funded four external studies as part of an overall institutional self-study. The Foundation funded a Keck Engineering Associates report, Formula for Growth (1962), which set the stage for Georgia Tech's future urban renewal plans. The Foundation also contracted for the Perkins and Will Comprehensive Campus Development Plan (1965) which provided a master plan for campus growth during the next twenty years.
Currently, the Foundation is governed by a 36-member Board of Trustees, composed of individuals distinguished by success in their chosen professions and their long-time service to and support of the Institute. These trustees include the president, president-elect, and immediate past president of the Alumni Association and chairman of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board as ex-officio members. Twenty-three emeritus trustees continue to advise the Foundation and actively support the Institute. The office of the Foundation is located in the William C. Wardlaw Center on North Avenue.
These records are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
A print copy of this finding aid is available in the Georgia Tech Archives reading room.
Unknown (Accession #1993.0603; old number: 93-06-03).
(one document case)
Susan J. Illis processed these papers in 2000.
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Library, Georgia Institute of Technology Repository