100 Years: The Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine
By: Jeniffer Herseim | Categories: Tech History
On the front page in bold, Staton wrote: “The only way we can make The Georgia Tech Alumnus a real paper is for every alumnus to cooperate. Send us suggestions as to subject matter. Ask questions you want answered. Request information you wish us to print.”
Much has changed in the last 100 years since that first issue went to print. Today, the magazine is a 100-page quarterly that reaches more than 167,000 Yellow Jackets around the world. In comparison, the first issue was a 29-page paper with a circulation of 4,500. Staton, ME 1922, left a few months after the first issue and was temporarily replaced by Dean George Griffin, CE 1922, MS IM 57. R.J. “Jack” Thieson, EE 1910, then took on the position of executive secretary and full-time magazine editor until his retirement in 1951.
In the early 1920s, the Alumni Association was still in the midst of a restructuring. W.H. Glenn, ME 1891, had led a complete reorganization in 1919 and was beginning to host regular meetings. When the magazine launched a few years later, it became the primary method of communication for the Alumni Association to reach alumni and the primary means for alumni to stay informed about the school and stay connected with each other. Back when the association required membership dues, the paper also served as a not-so-subtle reminder to pay up, and it tasked each reader with tracking down those who had lost touch with “Ma Tech.”
The Alumni Association later dropped its dues requirement. Today, all alumni receive two issues and our Roll Call donors receive four issues of the magazine. Each issue includes a theme as well as alumni profiles and recurring sections covering campus, athletics, Alumni Association news, and Tech history. As the Institute has grown over the years, the magazine has also grown to reflect an increasingly diverse population of Georgia Tech alumni and students.
While much has changed since 1923, there is one important similarity between that very first edition of the Georgia Tech Alumnus and today’s publication. Staton’s call to action remains true, even a century later. This paper—whether you’re holding it in print or on a screen—is still in your hands. These stories are your stories. And we couldn’t do it without you.
