Georgia Tech Savannah gets new focus, new leader

The Georgia Tech-Savannah campus will be converted to a hub for professional education, and Professional Education Dean Nelson Baker will lead the new program.

Just more than 10 years ago, area business leaders hailed the establishment of the Georgia Tech-Savannah campus as the key to the region's high-tech future. But state education resources are dwindling, and last year Georgia Tech officials in Atlanta decided it was time to phase out Savannah's undergraduate engineering degree programs.

Tuesday they announced that, beginning this fall, the campus will offer professional education classes in the areas of OSHA, LEAN Healthcare, supply chain logistics and project management, with additional programs to be scheduled in the future.

Baker, a nationally recognized leader in award-winning educational technologies designed for and applied to engineering and technical environments, will lead the center.

Currently he works as dean for professional education at the Georgia Institute of Technology and associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is responsible for the oversight of all professional education programs at Georgia Tech and for the distance delivered master's degree programs.

For more information on Georgia Tech Professional Education, visit http://gtpe.gatech.edu.