The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly known as Georgia Tech, or, Tech, is a public, coeducational research university, part of the University System of Georgia, and located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; with satellite campuses in Savannah, Georgia; Metz, France; Athlone, Ireland; Shanghai, China; and Singapore. Georgia Tech is best known for its programs in engineering, computing, and the sciences, though it also offers degrees in architecture, liberal arts, and management. Georgia Tech is organized into six distinct colleges containing approximately 31 departments/units with a strong emphasis on science and technology.

Founded on October 13th, 1885 the school was started in response to the Reconstruction-era plans to develop the industrial base of the Southern United States. The school opened in 1888 with the construction of Tech Tower and a shop building, and offered only a degree in mechanical engineering. By 1901 however, degrees in electrical engineering, civil engineering, and chemical engineering were also offered to reflect the school's growing academic breadth, as well as a need for well qualified individuals with a technical inclination to fuel the growth of the new south. Originally named, the Georgia School of Technology, the school changed its name in 1948 to reflect its evolution from a trade school to a larger, more capable technical institute and research university, and its history and traditions reflect that change. In 1996, it was the site of the athletes' village and a venue for a number of athletic events for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Georgia Tech's campus occupies a large part of Midtown Atlanta.

History

main: History of Georgia Tech

Establishment

In 1882, prominent Georgians, authorized by the Georgia State Legislature and led by Harris, formed a committee and visited the Northeast to see firsthand how technology schools worked. Using examples from the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science (now Worcester Polytechnic Institute) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Atlanta technology school began development on the Worcester Free Institute model, which stressed a combination of "theory and practice," the "practice" component including student employment and production of consumer items to generate revenue for the school.

On October 13, 1885, Georgia Governor Henry D. McDaniel signed the bill to create and fund the new school. In 1887, Atlanta pioneer Richard Peters donated four acres of his extensive land holdings to the state; this land was bounded on the south by North Avenue, and on the west by Cherry Street. He then sold five adjoining acres of land to the state for $10,000, approximately equivalent to $182,717.44 in 2006. This land was located near the northern city limits of Atlanta at the time of its founding, although the city has now expanded several miles beyond it. A historical marker on the large hill in Central Campus notes that the site occupied by the school's first buildings once held fortifications built to protect Atlanta during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. The surrender of the city took place on the southwestern boundary of the modern Georgia Tech campus in 1864.