2025 Gold & White Gala
2025 Honorees
Tom Umstead, IM 56
Humanitarian & Philanthropist
Dean Griffin Community Service Award
At 91 years old, Tom Umstead, IM 56, continues to embody Tech values through his unwavering dedication to community service. For more than 26 years, he has dedicated his life to serving metro-Atlanta residents and charities, volunteering seven days a week.
Umstead’s service began in 1999 with a gesture of gratitude. After witnessing the compassionate care his grandson received during an emergency room visit, he purchased doughnuts to thank the staff. He continued bringing the team treats and in 2007, became an official volunteer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). After retiring, his commitment deepened when a chance encounter at Publix led to daily food donations to Ronald McDonald House—a tradition that has flourished since. “The manager was throwing day-old food away and I told him Ronald McDonald would love to have that. I came back two days later to pick up more food. Eventually, he asked if I could pick up five days a week. I told him I could pick up food seven days a week. That’s how it started,” he explains.
In 2015, Umstead founded Mr. Tom’s Heart (MTH), a nonprofit with a simple, but impactful mission: connecting people in need with available resources. MTH delivers essential food and hygiene items to organizations like CHOA, Calvary Children’s Home, Ronald McDonald, and the Aflac Cancer Center. MTH also supported a prom for young girls undergoing chemotherapy, providing dresses, food, and flowers.
Thanks to MTH’s innovative partnerships, Publix store managers are trained to support Mr. Tom’s Heart’s initiatives, Costco regularly donates essential items, Trader Joe’s provides flowers for 100 bouquets weekly, and Plaid Enterprises contributes art and craft supplies. On Saturdays, MTH delivers Papa John’s pizzas to patients, families, and staff at Scottish Rite. These efforts are powered by Umstead and volunteers. “We don’t have any employees, but we have 400 volunteers, and we do about 50 pick-ups at Publix, Trader Joe’s, and Costco every day.”
Umstead also founded a basketball group that 400 local students enjoy. Additionally, he sponsors and mentors current Tech students alongside his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers.
Even with arthritis, Umstead handmakes clay medallions and ornaments—a skill he learned at Tech. In 2019, Umstead received the Southeast Regional Emmy and the Georgia Hospital Association’s Hero Award in 2024 for his community impact, but his focus remains on service. “I do what I do because it’s in my heart. Most of the children I serve get better, but they don’t always get cured, so I like being able to put a smile on their face.”
Umstead’s advice to current and future Yellow Jackets is short, but meaningful: have values, believe in Tech, and give 110% everywhere you go.
Jen Abrams, PP 17
Strategy and Transformation Consultant, Guidehouse
Outstanding Young Alumna
Jen Abrams was living out the Institute’s motto of Progress and Service well before she obtained her Tech degree. While a student, Abrams was in the Marching Band, the Student Alumni Association, Student Ambassadors, FASET, and the Student Government Association, serving as SGA’s undergraduate president.
Her leadership and commitment to progress didn’t end after graduation. She has served on the Alumni Association Board of Trustees, GT Women Alumnae Network, and the Georgia Tech Black Alumni Organization. She also worked in athletic development at Georgia Tech.
“As a student leader, I saw this opportunity to step through a door of engaging to make a very fine institution even better and I can't seem to stay away,” Abrams jokes. “Surprisingly, that opportunity to see the insides of Georgia Tech is what has made the most impact. It's given me a fire in my belly never to settle for less, to always push for better for myself and others, to be intentional with my time, and to know that I have the ability to make an impact.”
Her impact is felt not only at Tech, but also in healthcare and public policy. As a graduate student in public health at the University of North Carolina, she worked on the Building Veteran-Healthy Communities team, applying her skills to improving the well-being of veterans and their families. She received the Gillings School Service Award from UNC for her practice-based public health contributions to the Gillings School of Global Public Health and the larger field of public health.
For her many contributions as a student leader at Tech and in the community, Abrams received the Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Award, the Black Women in STEAM Ursula Burns Award for Leadership from the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Joseph M. Pettit Outstanding Sophomore Leadership Award from Omicron Delta Kappa.
Abrams, a self-described “born and bred Yellow Jacket,” was inspired by her parents, who are both Tech alumni, and other Black Tech graduates to excel through hard work and by setting high expectations.
Grateful for the skills and relationships she built at Tech, Abrams immediately applied these lessons in her professional career. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she played a crucial role in a large healthcare system, even becoming the youngest person on her team running one of the system’s largest regional vaccine clinics. “Like any good Tech grad, I was given a problem, and I was going to do my best to find a solution.”
She sees the Outstanding Young Alumni recognition as a reminder to keep working toward positive change. “While I am humbled, honored, and touched by the selection, I hope to also be a good steward of this recognition from my fellow alumni.”
Gregg Garrett
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of TeleNet Marketing Solutions
Honorary Alumnus
Game day is a big deal in the Garrett family, starting from the moment they wake up and ending well after the final whistle blows.
“It’s become a part of the fabric of our lives,” says Gregg Garrett. “We’ve been fortunate to have a suite at Bobby Dodd Stadium now for 20 plus years. We call it our happy place.”
Garrett’s passion for the Yellow Jackets began in his early childhood with his father, a huge Tech football fan. They would listen to games on the radio at his father’s store. When Garrett was six, he also attended a football camp at Tech led by Coach Pepper Rodgers. “I just always felt an identification or affinity for the school. It was important for me, even from a young age, to learn the fight song and to learn what the school was about.”
He cherishes those early memories, and, as a longtime season ticket holder, the newer ones he’s made on the Flats. Since 1989, he hasn’t missed a single Georgia Tech football home game.
After graduating in 1990 with a degree in Fine Arts from Valdosta State University, Garrett joined an Atlanta-based marketing firm and became vice president of sales and marketing within five years. In 1999, he co-founded TeleNet Marketing Solutions to help other businesses grow their sales pipelines through lead generation. The company recently celebrated their 25-year anniversary. “I’ve been extremely blessed to be surrounded by some incredible, talented individuals who’ve joined us here. And to see them grow in their careers and personally.”
While achieving success in the business world, Garrett also fostered a sense of community for Georgia Tech fans. In 1992, he started the Golden Sports Report, an independent sports publication, which quickly gained popularity. Garrett took on multiple roles as editor, writer, and publisher. Balancing these responsibilities while growing his business and family led him to sell the publication in 2000 to the Georgia Tech Athletic Association.
Garrett has been a longtime supporter of the Alexander-Tharpe Fund, giving at the Golden Jackets level, the highest level of donor recognition. Among his many contributions, he also established the William Wesley Garrett Football Scholarship, named in honor of his father.
A proud Georgian, Garrett has dedicated his time to multiple civic organizations, including the Georgia Public Telecommunications Committee and the Gwinnett Development Authority. He helped oversee incredible growth in Gwinnett County while serving on the development authority. “I think it’s important that we all do our part to help our communities grow,” he says. “As I’ve become more familiar with Georgia Tech beyond athletics, I’ve also become more interested in how much Georgia Tech impacts the state.”
It's another reason why the Honorary Alumni recognition is so meaningful, he says. “I told someone recently that I’ve been trying to figure out for 45 years how to get a Tech degree without taking a physics class and I finally did it!” he jokes. “I’m incredibly honored and incredibly proud.”
Deborah Kilpatrick, ESM 89, MS ME 94, PhD ME 96
Venture Partner, Sonder Capital and Former CEO and Executive Chair, Evidation Health
John B. Carter, Jr. Spirit of Georgia Tech Award
Georgia Tech’s mission is to develop leaders who improve the human condition, and a prime example of this mission in action is Deborah Kilpatrick. A triple Jacket, Kilpatrick’s doctoral research at Georgia Tech on the biomechanics of human tissue inspired her remarkable career in bioengineering, medtech, and digital health.
Her pioneering work in the healthcare industry has led to multiple U.S. patents in medical devices, and her roles have spanned early-stage research to commercialization in both Fortune 500 and startup companies.
“It really starts with staying grateful for the opportunities I was given at Georgia Tech, as well as the ones that followed in my professional career. In so many cases, those things happened because people believed in me or gave me a chance to work on a problem or a cause where I had conviction,” Kilpatrick says. “In turn, I have always been drawn to organizations committed to directing their energy and resources towards tackling society’s toughest problems.”
Kilpatrick began her medtech career at Guidant Corporation, leading the research and development of medical devices for cardiac and vascular diseases. She held several leadership roles at Guidant, including Research Fellow, director of R&D, and director of New Ventures in Guidant’s Vascular Intervention Division, before the company was acquired by Boston Scientific. She would later become CEO of Evidation Health, a technology company that pioneered the use of person-generated health data in clinical research for the biopharma sector, becoming executive chair of their board in 2020. Currently, she is an early stage medtech investor at Sonder Capital in Silicon Valley while serving on the board of multiple organizations, including Sleep Number and Sutter Health—one of the nation’s largest and most innovative healthcare delivery systems providing care to millions in California.
Even more impressive than Kilpatrick’s professional achievements might be her steadfast commitment to uplifting those around her. In 2010, she co-founded MedtechWOMEN and hosted an inaugural conference to connect and spotlight women voices in the industry called MedtechVISION, now held annually in Silicon Valley. She is an ongoing advisor to many startup founders as well as a business coach for the renowned Biodesign Innovation Fellows program at Stanford University.
Through her mentorship and support, Kilpatrick’s impact has rippled through the healthcare industry. In turn, her focus on uplifting underrepresented communities is shaping the industry for the better. Her approach was greatly influenced by her time at Georgia Tech.
“I grew up in Georgia, dreamed of attending Georgia Tech and being a Ramblin’ Wreck, then spent almost a decade of my life pursuing three degrees in the College of Engineering. My time there was truly formative for developing my own approach to leading innovation—in particular, leveraging diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas as a means to champion it.”
Kilpatrick and her wife, Kacey Fitzpatrick, are deeply committed to supporting Georgia Tech. The couple are members of The Hill Society, which recognizes Tech’s major philanthropists, with their family's support focused on diverse graduate students and faculty in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, the Women in Engineering (WIE) program, and the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems. Kilpatrick formerly chaired and serves on the College of Engineering Advisory Board and has previously served on the GT Advisory Board, the Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience Advisory Board, and the Woodruff School Advisory Board. She was inducted into the College of Engineering’s Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni in 1999, the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni in 2016 and the Engineering Hall of Fame in 2023.
Given her deep connection to the Institute, Kilpatrick says that receiving any honor from the Alumni Association would be incredibly meaningful. However, this award is particularly special because of what it represents. “To receive this award in the context of embodying the spirit and values of Georgia Tech is very, very special for me.”
Jocelyn Stargel, IE 82, MS IE 86
Founder and Managing Partner, Stargel Consulting, Inc.
The Joseph Mayo Pettit Distinguished Service Award
For many Yellow Jackets, the longest time they’ll spend at Tech is as a student. For Jocelyn Stargel, graduation was just the start of a lifelong connection with the Institute and its people.
“I think about Georgia Tech’s mission—to improve the human condition through advanced science and technology—and then I think about the community I found as an out-of-state, Black female student. Tech prepared us to innovate and solve the critical problems of the world. My community and I flourished with that foundation,” Stargel says.
As a proud alumna, Stargel has significantly contributed to the Institute, serving in various capacities to make Georgia Tech the best it can be for future Yellow Jackets.
“I feel so fortunate to be the recipient of this opportunity and want to ensure that future generations of underrepresented students are afforded the same opportunities to make an impact.”
Currently, she serves as the chair of the College of Engineering’s Advisory Board and as a trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation Board. She has also served on her 40th Reunion Committee, the Alumni Association Board of Trustees, and the ISyE Advisory Board. A longtime volunteer with the Georgia Tech Women Alumnae Network, she served as its president in 2014–2015. In 2020, she became the first African American woman to serve as chair of the Alumni Association’s Board of Trustees. She is one of the inaugural alumnae honorees of the Pathway to Progress, a permanent campus tribute to Georgia Tech women, which will open in 2025.
While her education was primarily in engineering, Stargel excelled in business arenas outside her core skillset. She joined Southern Company Services in 1990 and held multiple leadership roles over the course of the next 23 years. Within the company, she established the Business Assurance program, served as director of External Affairs for a gas marketing subsidiary, and held several leadership positions within the company’s information technology. She retired from Southern Company in 2015 and founded Stargel Consulting, which specializes in IT and Risk Management.
She has never hesitated to give her time and resources to her alma mater, returning to campus as a guest lecturer within the Scheller College of Business and the College of Engineering. Additionally, she has mentored students and remained active with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta.
In addition to meeting lifelong friends at the Institute, Stargel met her husband, Bob Stargel, EE 83. Their daughter, Chloe (Stargel) Engler, is a 2015 graduate. Their philanthropic support includes consistent support of Roll Call and scholarship endowments, such as the Stargel Family GTBAO Scholarship, an academic scholarship, and the Promise scholarship.
In recognition of her outstanding support for Georgia Tech and the community, she was inducted into the Council of Outstanding Young Engineers in 1999 and the College of Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2016. She was also named to the Women Out Front Class of 2017 by Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball. The award honors women leaders who have made significant impact in their fields and who serve as role models for young women who aspire to leadership.
Stargel’s legacy of service to both Tech and the community are an inspiration to her fellow alumni and future generations of Yellow Jackets.
“Receiving the Joseph Petitt Distinguished Service is an honor I never imagined that I would receive. I have gotten to know past honorees personally and am in awe of their career achievements. I am truly humbled to join such an esteemed class of recipients.”