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EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH

Undergraduate Degree:
Youngstown State University

Doctoral Degree:
Georgia Institute of Technology

Chaouki Abdallah

Chaouki T. Abdallah is the Executive Vice President for Research (EVPR) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. As chief research officer, Abdallah provides overall leadership for the Institute’s $1 billion portfolio of research, economic development and sponsored activities, including the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), 10 interdisciplinary research institutes (IRIs), and related research administrative support units. He also serves on the executive committee of the Council on Research for the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU), the executive committee for the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR), and the advisory committee for the Center on Measuring University Performance (MUP).

Since Abdallah assumed the role of EVPR, the Institute took occupancy of Coda, a first-of-its kind, mixed-use facility in the heart of Tech Square, designed to create opportunities in interdisciplinary research, commercialization and sustainability. Under his leadership, Georgia Tech also recently launched the “Commission on Research Next,” a process that will map a comprehensive future for research at Tech. The initiative will also develop the Institute’s strategy to bolster commercialization efforts and tech transfer initiatives, and grow critical collaborations with industry, government, the national labs, and foundations.

Abdallah came to Georgia Tech from the University of New Mexico, where he served as the university’s 22nd president, as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, as well as department chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department. During his tenure, Abdallah oversaw long-range academic planning and efforts to improve student success, as well as retention-achievement and graduation achievement rates.

He conducts research and teaches courses in the area of systems theory with a focus on control, communications, and computing systems. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, national laboratories, and various companies. Abdallah, who is fluent in English, French, and Arabic, is a senior member of IEEE and a recipient of that organization’s Millennium Medal.

Abdallah began his college career at the Faculté d’ingénierie of the Université Saint-Joseph in Lebanon, then obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree from Youngstown State University in 1981, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1982 and 1988, respectively.

He has published eight books (three as co-editor and five as co-author) and more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, and provided expert testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.