.
4
//
2013-14 GSU Men’s Basketball
THI S I S GEORGI A STATE MEN’ S BASKETBALL
GSU PRES I DENT
Reflecting his vision of the urban public
research university for the 21st century, the
university adopted a dynamic 10-year stra-
tegic plan that has Georgia State well on its
way to becoming one of the nation’s premier
urban research universities.
As a first generation college student who
began his educational career at a community
college, Becker is personally and profession-
ally committed to ensuring that students of all
economic backgrounds succeed and are given
opportunities to compete on a level playing
field. Under his leadership, Georgia State’s
graduation rate has already increased by 10
percent, and the university is becoming a
national model for undergraduate education.
It leads the nation in eliminating disparities
in graduation rates based on race or ethnicity,
and, as one of the most diverse universi-
ties in America, is first in the nation among
non-profit institutions in graduating African-
American students.
By promoting the achievements of the
university, making it more visible locally and
nationally, and demonstrating the value of
a Georgia State degree, the university under
Becker’s leadership has set a series of univer-
sity records for enrollment, graduation rates
and total graduates. Becker has also placed
high priority on ensuring financial support
for students, and as a result need- and merit-
based scholarship funds distributed by the
university have tripled since his arrival.
Becker’s passion for student success
has been matched by his commitment to
increasing multidisciplinary research and
economic development as facilitated by the
creation of new research centers, the Second
Century Initiative—an ambitious program to
hire one-hundred senior faculty members to
serve in interdisciplinary research clusters,
and an enhanced emphasis on the transla-
tion of faculty research into products and
companies. This commitment has brought the
university to new heights of research accom-
plishment, as reflected, for example, in new
university records for sponsored research
funding and federal research funding.
Being globally connected and engaged
is another important component of Becker’s
vision for the modern research university.
Seeking to position Georgia State faculty and
students to thrive in an increasingly complex
and global landscape, Becker has worked
with faculty leaders and international part-
ners to enhance Georgia State’s global profile.
In 2010 the university partnered with Beijing
Language and Culture University to establish
a Confucius Institute with an emphasis on
business and commerce. In 2012 the institute
was named a “2012 Confucius Institute of the
Year.”
Becker
is
particularly
committed
to developing strong partnerships with
universities in rapidly growing economies.
As a result, the university is working to
strengthen relationships with counterparts
in Brazil, China, South Africa, South Korea
and Turkey. These partners are the basis for
the development of new student and faculty
exchanges, study abroad programs, research
collaborations, executive training initiatives,
government and private sector networks, and
dual-degree programs.
Becker has aggressively advanced
the campus’ physical development and
revitalization of downtown Atlanta. This has
included major additions to campus housing
and dining, research and academic facilities,
as well as intramural and athletics facilities.
In 2010 the university added football to
its athletics program, and in 2013 added
sand volleyball and moved to the Sun Belt
Conference to advance into the Division I –
FBS level of NCAA competition.
Throughout his career Becker has served
on boards and committees of civic, govern-
ment and professional bodies. He serves, for
example, on the boards of the Coalition of
Urban Serving Universities, World Affairs
Council of Atlanta, Georgia Chamber of
Commerce, Georgia Aquarium, Georgia
Research Alliance, Woodruff Arts Center,
and the Atlanta Committee for Progress. He
also serves on the executive committees of
the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce,
Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Educa-
tion (Chair) and Central Atlanta Progress.
Trained as a statistician, Becker has had a
distinguished career in biostatistics and public
health sciences. For most of his professorial
career he was a member of the faculty in the
Department of Biostatistics at the University
of Michigan, where he also held appointments
in the Institute for Social Research, and the
Department of Statistics. He wasmade a Fellow
of the American Statistical Association, and
the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science. Becker has been principal
investigator on research grants from the
National Institutes of Health and the National
Science Foundation. He has published exten-
sively in leading journals, and his doctoral
students have gone on to successful careers
in leading higher education institutions and
with multinational companies. Becker served
on multiple editorial boards, was co-editor of
Sociological Methodology, and was a guest
editor for Sociological Methods and Research
and for the Journal of the American Statistical
Association.
Prior to his appointment as president
of Georgia State, Becker was executive vice
president for academic affairs and provost at
the University of South Carolina and dean
of the School of Public Health and assistant
vice president of Public Health Preparedness
and Emergency Response at the University of
Minnesota. From 1989 to 2000, Becker was
a professor in the University of Michigan’s
School of Public Health, where he also was
associate dean for academic affairs. He has
held academic appointments at the University
of Washington, the University of Florida and
Cornell University.
Becker attended Harford (Md.) Commu-
nity College, earned his bachelor’s degree in
mathematics from Towson State University
in 1980 and his Ph.D. degree in statistics from
the Pennsylvania State University in 1985.
Becker grew up in Havre de Grace, Md., near
Baltimore. He and his wife, Laura Voisinet,
have two adult children, Matthew and Julia.
ince beginning his tenure as Georgia State University’s seventh
president in January 2009, President Mark P. Becker has provided
a vision for the future of Georgia State University and led the
institution into a period of marked growth and advancement.
