BY Leslie Overman
When alumna Janice Wittschiebe inducted the more than 2,100 bachelor's and master's degree graduates at the May 5 commencement into the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, she couldn't help but be reminded of the day she received her Georgia Tech diploma.
"I know I've been reflecting on addressing you today, and if you knew my GPA, you'd be reflecting on why I'm here today as well," Wittschiebe, Arch 78, M Arch 80, said to the chuckles of the crowd at the Georgia Dome.
The keynote speaker at the 227th Georgia Tech commencement was Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric. Immelt advised Tech's graduates to "live with passion, live with purpose, live for others. People are afraid. They need new leaders. ... They need you, our greatest generation," he said.
Raymond Orbach, the Department of Energy's first undersecretary for science, spoke at a separate ceremony for PhD graduates on May 3 at the Ferst Center for the Arts.
Wittschiebe said speaking at commencement was an unexpected honor. "When I graduated over 25 years ago and sat where you sit now, speaking at commencement was the last thing I felt I would have the honor to do," she said. "But now, you are going places where you will no longer be evaluated by a grade or a GPA, but by your integrity, work ethic and results."
Wittschiebe's integrity and work ethic have served her well. A principal of Richard Wittschiebe Hand Architects in Atlanta, she is chair of the Alumni Association and a trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation.
"When you leave the campus or the Dome today, I want you to know that you take a set of skills with you honed in the long hours of class work, labs, involvement in athletics, Greek life or student organizations. Skills you have in common with all Georgia Tech alumni," she said.
"Georgia Tech is supplying the United States and the world with an entrepreneurial work force that will help enhance our lives and make the world a better place, and you have the full force of this university and over 100,000 alumni behind you every step of the way.
"You have just joined an elite organization. You now have at your fingertips a network of alumni support, because they understand what it took for you to get to this point," she said.
"Maya Angelou, who visited the campus this past year, asked us to be composers in our lives and in the lives of others," Wittschiebe said. "But for me, I ask you to be innovators, creators, builders and architects. When leaving Tech, we know that you will do well. We also ask that you do good."
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