Three Ivan Allen College Faculty Members Named Brook Byers Fellows

Posted November 2, 2023

Three Ivan Allen College faculty members are among 11 Georgia Tech faculty who have been named Brook Byers Faculty Fellows.  

Omar Asensio, Kelly Comfort, and Neha Kumar will work with other fellows to serve as a board of advisors for the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS); foster the culture and community of sustainability researchers, educators, and students at Georgia Tech; and communicate broadly the vision, mission, values, and objectives of the BBISS.

Fellows will work with the BBISS for three years, with the potential for a renewed term.

The BBISS Faculty Fellows program has been in place since 2014. Fellows are drawn from across all six colleges and GTRI at Georgia Tech. BBISS Interim Executive Director Beril Toktay says, "I’m delighted with the diversity of backgrounds and disciplines among the fellows and look forward to seeing the strengthening ties and growing collaborations in the sustainability community."

All three Ivan Allen College fellows are associate professors. Asensio is in the School of Public Policy. Comfort is on faculty in the School of Modern Languages. Kumar is jointly appointed to the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing.

Ther other new BBISS Faculty Fellows are:

• Christos Athanasiou - Assistant Professor, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
• Fani Boukouvala - Associate Professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Peng Chen - Assistant Professor, School of Computational Science and Engineering
• Constance Crozier - Assistant Professor, H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Ashutosh Dhekne - Assistant Professor, School of Computer Science
• Jennifer Kaiser - Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Jian Luo – Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Akanksha Menon - Assistant Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

These faculty members will join the current roster of Faculty Fellows, including four from the Ivan Allen College:

• Baabak Ashuri - Associate Professor, School of Building Construction
• Joe Bozeman – Assistant Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, with a courtesy appointment in the School of Public Policy
• Dylan Brewer - Assistant Professor, School of Economics
• Kate Pride Brown- Associate Professor, School of History and Sociology
• Andre Calmon – Assistant Professor, Scheller College of Business
• Kevin Caravati – Principal Research Scientist, Georgia Tech Research Institute
• Ellen Dunham-Jones – Professor, School of Architecture
• Brian Gunter - Associate Professor, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
• Daniel Matisoff - Associate Professor, School of Public Policy
• Jenny McGuire – Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Jessica Roberts – Assistant Professor, College of Computing
• Ilan Stern – Senior Research Scientist, Georgia Tech Research Institute
• Yuanzhi Tang - Associate Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Anjali Thomas> - Associate Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
• Zhaohui Tong - Associate Professor, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
• Perry Yang – Professor, School of City and Regional Planning

More information can be found on the BBISS website.

A version of this story first appeared on the Georgia Tech Research News webiste.