Ronald H. Bayor, a professor at Tech since 1973, is the new chair of the School of History, Technology and Society in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

He filled the post vacated by Willie Pearson, who stepped down as chair but remains on the History, Technology and Society faculty.

Bayor won the 2006 Geoffrey G. Eichholz Faculty Teaching Award and the Association for Asian American Studies 2006 Lifetime Service Award for his dedication as the founding editor of the Journal of American Ethnic History, which he led from 1981 to 2004, and his support of scholars in the field of Asian American Studies. He is a past recipient of the School of Social Science Excellence in Teaching and the Georgia Tech Outstanding Teacher awards.

The current president of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society, Bayor is the author of several books, including "Neighbors in Conflict: The Irish, Germans, Jews, and Italians of New York City, 1929-1941" and "Race and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century Atlanta." He also is the co-author of "Engineering the New South: Georgia Tech 1885-1985."