Southern Polytechnic State University was a public, co-educational, state university in Marietta, Georgia, United States approximately 20 miles (32 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta. Until 2015, it was an independent part of the University System of Georgia and called itself "Georgia's Technology University."

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.