An institute world renowned for its engineering programs was the perfect fit for Rafael Bras, who became provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs on Sept. 1. A native of Puerto Rico, Bras earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering and a doctorate in water resources and hydrology at MIT, where he enjoyed a long tenure — from 1976 to 2008 — on the faculty, including eight years as head of the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering; a nine-year stint as head of the civil and environmental engineering department; and three years as chair-elect and chair of the MIT faculty. Bras came to Tech from the University of California-Irvine, where he served two years as the dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and as a distinguished professor. Bras is the inaugural holder of the K. Harrison Brown Institute Chair at Georgia Tech, with a joint appointment in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
1. What attracted you to Georgia Tech?
I am convinced that science and engineering not only has been the driver of economic development and growth worldwide in the last 30 years but will continue to be so for the next century. There are just three or four world-class institutions in the United States that have a science and engineering focus. Georgia Tech is one of them. It’s a great opportunity.
2. What are the differences in the state of higher education in California, where you came from, and Georgia?
California historically had what nobody will deny was the best public higher education system in the country. It is an extraordinary collection of extraordinary universities. … They did it like nobody else has done it. Nevertheless, in the last few years the system has been under enormous stress, and the compact that higher education had with the state and the people of the state is no longer operational.
I don’t want to sound tremendously negative because, in fact, California’s budget problems are bad, but so are the budget problems of most states. So when you look at it in terms of cuts and percents of cuts and the like, they’re not completely out of order vis-a-vis what we have seen here. It’s very similar.
I perceive though that the state of Georgia and the system in Georgia recognize that they have a gem in Georgia Tech, a gem that needs to be protected. Most importantly, the government recognizes that it is better to let the system be managed by those that know better rather than attempting to manage it from the outside.
3. How do you feel about the University of Georgia’s proposal to expand its engineering offerings?
I am concerned about finances of the state and the cost of building up an engineering program, which is an expensive proposition at a time when we don’t have much to spare and there is no compelling argument of need. I’m fearful about how the state will handle the demands of budget and how we make sure we maintain the excellence that we have. I think we have provided for the education of the engineering demand that exists. I think there are various ways we could expand, when needed, efficiently and at a reasonable cost. I respect the aspirations of other institutions but at the same time have to say this is not the best time to have the pie cut into smaller pieces.
4. Are there certain parts of Tech’s new 25-year strategic plan that resonate strongly with you?
It’s a visionary document, and that’s what it should be. … The mandate of a more flexible education … is something I find very attractive. I find the emphasis of the strategic plan on servicing students … very attractive. That is our reason to exist. The challenge is going to be how we … translate that visionary statement to an implementation plan that leads to a series of action items to be carried out over the coming years. … I’m focusing on all of them. I’m nothing but a conductor.
5. Have you set goals to accomplish in your first year as provost?
We have a lot of important issues to address. One of them we already addressed, implementation of the strategic plan. Our successful international activities must be rationalized, a strategy for engagement must be articulated. We will be pursuing increasing educational collaboration with other institutions in and out of Georgia, but most importantly we want to strengthen and expand our relationship with Emory University. By the end of the academic year we hope to develop a new strategy for our activities in Savannah that will consider and balance the opportunities, challenges and obligations that we have in projecting the Georgia Tech brand outside Atlanta. Selecting a new dean of engineering is very much at the front of my agenda. By the summer I would hope we would have a new dean.
6. You’re also looking at Tech’s international efforts. Will we see more foreign campuses?
I want to develop the principles, the guidelines that we will use to decide how we measure success. We have activities in France. We have activities in Ireland. We have activities in Beijing. We have activities in Singapore. We have activities all over the world. … How do we know whether we’re succeeding or not? What are the metrics? All those things need to be a little more fleshed out to make sure we’re doing it well and we know what we need to change, if we need to change anything.
7. What was your message at the diversity symposium on campus?
To me, diversity is good business. It is excellence, an improved environment to work in. It is making sure that we get the most out of each other, that we achieve the maximum. It is well known and proven that in a diverse working environment you just simply do better. This is not something to do because we have to do it. This is not something we do because we want to address injustices of the past. This is something we do because it makes good sense.
8. Where is Georgia Tech in terms of diversity?
In absolute numbers of women and other underrepresented minorities, for example in graduating students, we’re doing very well. In numbers of underrepresented minorities and women in faculty, reasonably well. In percentage vis-a-vis the total population, not tremendously different than many other places. We’re doing OK, better than many, but we’re not outrunning others by a lot. I am very, very intent on making sure that this campus becomes an example of diversity. I want a very diverse student body — at the undergraduate and graduate levels. I would like to see an increasingly diverse staff. I would like to see a significantly more diverse faculty. This is something that is not solved overnight, and it is not something that has anything to do with resources. It is about making sure that everybody understands this is not a passing fad, this is not to be taken lightly. I know President Peterson and I are intent on making Georgia Tech the clear leader and an example of a diversified enterprise. We believe this is the best course of action. It will give us the best institution possible, and it will happen. That’s the culture of the place.
9. What does the term “endless frontier” mean to you?
The endless frontier is actually a phrase quoted from a report by Vannevar Bush right after the second World War. Vannevar Bush set the science policy that dominated this country and its science and technology for 50 years after it was first suggested. His view was that science, technology and engineering presented that endless frontier, that we were obliged as a nation to pursue it, not to limit it, to let people explore and that societal benefits will follow. I think that idea has eroded … and has left the nation, in my humble opinion, somewhat lacking of a clear science policy. I wish that we could go back to the ideas and ideals of Vannevar Bush. I don’t think they are outdated. I think people are coming to realize that the endless frontier was a good blueprint of how to move the nation ahead. It was a visionary policy. … I would hate to adopt a science policy that lacks that vision, that imposes unnecessary or arbitrary limits on our ability to dream.
10. What have you learned about Tech so far?
I have been very pleasantly surprised with two things in the short time that I have been here. One is the incredible collegiality that exists among the leadership and certainly among the deans of the various colleges. The healthy competition that is there, and should be there, is always tempered by an understanding that the good of the institution must always come first. And I’ve been incredibly pleased with the extraordinary loyalty of the alumni. I’ve seen this alumni group and friends really come through in ways that are unique to this place.
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