STEVE HARMON
Managing Director, GT Atrium
Executive Director, C21U
Stephen Harmon serves as the Executive Director of the Center for 21st Century Universities (C21U), associate dean of Research in the College of Lifetime Learning, professor in the Georgia Tech College of Design, and managing director of GT Atrium, LLC. In these roles, he leads the invention, prototyping, validation, and implementation efforts associated with educational innovation and strategic planning for the future of higher education.
Harmon’s research centers on educational uses of emerging technologies and has, for the last few years, focused on the changing dynamics of higher education, particularly with respect to AI and Lifetime Learning. He is a past president of the Association of Educational Communications and Technology. Harmon has over 200 professional publications and presentations and is a recipient of Georgia State University’s Innovative Instruction Award. He is also a joint recipient of the 2022 University Professional Continuing Education Association Research & Scholarship Award, the 2024 1EdTech Power Learner Potential Award, and the 2025 UPCEA Research and Scholarship Award.
GT Atrium Advisory Board
Nelson C. Baker
Nelson C. Baker is the inaugural interim dean of the College of Lifetime Learning and professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. As dean, Nelson leads a multifaceted enterprise comprising Tech’s research, educational programs, activities, and services for the ongoing educational needs of individuals and the workforce throughout a lifetime, from the early stages of one’s life to the later stages of their career.
Baker’s award-winning work on the impact of technology on engineering students’ learning has generated projects such as multilingual web-based intelligent simulations for problem-solving, among others. Leading Nelson’s list of honors are the W.M. Keck Foundation Award for Engineering Teaching Excellence and the University Professional Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) Julius M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary Leadership. He has also been named an ENR Educator for Construction’s Next Generation and NSF National Young Investigator.
Bernard Kippelen
Bernard Kippelen is the vice provost for International Initiatives and the Steven A. Denning Chair for Global Engagement. He is a Joseph M. Pettit professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Kippelen joined Georgia Tech in 2003 as a member of the faculty. From 2011 to 2019, he served as director of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. He is a co-founder and co-president of the Institut Lafayette, an innovation platform on the Institute’s European site, Georgia Tech-Europe, formerly known as Georgia Tech-Lorraine (Metz, France).
David Bridges
B. David Bridges is the vice president for the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) at Georgia Tech. EI2 is the largest, oldest, and most successful economic development organization at any university in the country. It is home to 11 economic development programs that build and scale startups, grow existing small and medium-sized enterprises, including manufacturing firms, and energize ecosystem builders (communities, governments, universities, and non-profits). These programs serve the State of Georgia, with programmatic reach across the Southeast region, the United States, and five continents worldwide.
Bridges concurrently serves as the Economic Development Lab (EDL) director within EI2. The Lab works with communities in Georgia on projects such as workforce development, fiscal and economic impact analyses, strategic planning, and downtown redevelopment. This Lab also works locally and globally, conducting innovation policy research and implementing innovation ecosystem-building projects in 23 countries worldwide.
Janet Kinard
Janet Kinard is the vice president of Engagement for the Alumni Association. She provides strategic direction for the Engagement team, working to build and connect the Georgia Tech community across age groups, interests, and geographic areas. Her team creates programs and activities to engage alumni near and far and works with hundreds of volunteers – students and alumni – who support the organization’s mission. Before joining the Association, Janet worked in organizational development and volunteer management for local nonprofits. She continues to serve on the boards of several education-focused organizations.
Janet is a double Jacket, earning a degree in textile engineering in 1997 and a master’s in mechanical engineering in 1999. A long-time resident of Atlanta, she lives near campus with her husband, a fellow GT alum, and has three daughters, including graduates of UC Dublin and NYU. Janet enjoys running (usually training for something), gardening, and wishes she had more time to read.
Dilruk De Silva, Director of Global Operations, GT Atrium
Claire Kinane, Research Operations Program Manager, C21U
Yelena M. Rivera Vale, Communications Program Manager, C21U