The history of the Georgia Institute of Technology can be traced back to Reconstruction-era plans to develop the industrial base of the Southern United States. Founded on October 13, 1885, in Atlanta as the Georgia School of Technology, the university opened in 1888 after the construction of Tech Tower and a shop building and only offered one degree in mechanical engineering. By 1901, degrees in electrical, civil, textile, and chemical engineering were also offered. In 1948, the name was changed to the Georgia Institute of Technology to reflect its evolution from an engineering school to a full technical institute and research university.
An early photograph of Georgia Tech depicting the shop building (left) and Tech Tower (right)
Atlanta during the Civil War (c. 1864)
Samuel M. Inman, an early and lifelong supporter of Georgia Tech
Isaac S. Hopkins, president of Georgia Tech from 1888 to 1896
Blake R. Van Leer
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Blake Ragsdale Van Leer was an engineer and university professor who served as the fifth president of Georgia Institute of Technology from 1944 until his death in 1956.
Main entrance to the Van Leer Building on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology