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John Patrick "Pat" Crecine, the ninth president of Georgia Tech whose high-tech vision was instrumental in attracting the 1996 Summer Olympic Games to Atlanta and whose restructuring of the Institute embroiled him in controversy, died April 28.
He died of cancer in hospice care at his home in Pittsburgh.
Dr. Crecine's six-year tenure at Tech was often stormy, much of it resulting from one of the chief achievements of his administration — a restructuring of the Institute's academic framework.
Dr. Crecine created the College of Computing at Tech during his tenure from 1987 to 1994. But he also melded the College of Management and the College of Science and Liberal Studies into the Ivan Allen College of Management, Policy and International Affairs. The College of Architecture was augmented with a new Division of Fine Arts.
When Dr. Crecine announced the massive academic reorganization in 1988, in the words of one faculty member, "all hell broke loose."
Dr. Crecine's visionary role was instrumental in helping Atlanta win its bid to host the Olympic Games. An interactive multimedia tour of Atlanta and its Olympic venues, championed by Dr. Crecine and developed by Georgia Tech researchers, was a crucial element in the city's successful bid presentation. As a result, the Georgia Tech campus became the site of the Olympic Village.
He became president of the Institute on Nov. 1, 1987, coming from Carnegie-Mellon University, where he had been vice president for academic affairs. After leaving Tech, Dr. Crecine entered the private sector.
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