Warren L. Batts, EE 61, retired chairman of Premark International in Chicago and Tupperware Corp. in Orlando, Fla., has awarded $1 million to begin endowment of a Georgia Tech program known as TI:GER that brings vital new technologies to the marketplace.

TI:GER, an acronym for Technology Innovation: Generating Economic Results, is a collaboration between Tech's Colleges of Management, Engineering and Sciences and Emory University's law school.

"In a very short time, TI:GER has amassed an extremely impressive track record for commercializing important new technologies," Batts said. "Our commitment to the program is designed to expand the number of graduate students participating in TI:GER, thereby expanding the number of new products coming to the marketplace — products that vastly improve the quality of human life. I can't think of a better use for these funds."

Marie Thursby is TI:GER executive director and professor of strategic management in the College of Management. The highly competitive, two-year program includes seven student teams formed around the research interests of doctoral students.

"The main obstacles to commercializing research are rarely the technology, but issues at the interface of business and legal issues with capturing value from the technology," Thursby said. "There are four times as many PhD students interested in the program than there are funded slots. This wonderful gift from Warren Batts will allow us to bring more students to work on these critical issues."

The program was created in 2002, mostly funded by a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation, including support from the Alan and Mildred Peterson Foundation, Georgia Tech Presidential Fellowships, the Hal and John Smith Chair and the National Collegiate Investors and Innovators Alliance.

Alumnus Stephen P. Zelnak Jr., chairman, chief executive officer and president of Martin Marietta Materials in Raleigh, N.C., matched an anonymous challenge grant that establishes a $2.5 million dean's chair in the College of Management and made a seven-figure contribution to modernize the freshman gym.

The dean's chair in management will be named for Zelnak, IM 69.

"Steve's wonderful expression of philanthropy, coupled with the college's growing reputation and constantly improving rankings, will allow us to recruit the finest candidates available during our search for a new management dean," President Wayne Clough said.

The Zelnak dean's chair in management is the second chair at that level among the Institute's six colleges, joining the John P. Imlay Jr. Dean's Chair in the College of Computing.

Zelnak said the College of Management's achievements are apparent. "When it comes to teaching students how to be successful leaders in today's highly complex, technological business settings, the College of Management is among the best in the country. My hope is that the dean's chair will go a long way toward attracting a new leader who will take the college to even greater heights."

In addition to working to help the management college excel, Zelnak has a passion for Tech athletics, particularly basketball. His seven-figure donation to athletics funds the renovation and expansion of the freshman gym, the basketball teams' practice facility adjacent to Alexander Memorial Coliseum.