Mike Messner Honored for Service to Georgia Tech

Mike Messner, CE 76, was honored with the Joseph Mayo Pettit Distinguished Service Award, the highest award conferred by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association in honor of his outstanding support of Georgia Tech and community service. Giving back to Georgia Tech has been a central part of Messner’s life, and his support is helping the Institute maintain its position as a leader in higher education by recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty. In 2018, Messner launched the Messner Faculty Endowment Challenge, which supported the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering through dollar-for-dollar matching, up to $5 million, for endowed faculty chairs. He has also served on the Georgia Tech Foundation Board of Trustees and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Board. With his wife, Jenny, the Messners’ philanthropic giving has contributed significantly to the enrichment of the sciences, culture, and community. They founded the Speedwell Foundation, which provides full study abroad scholarships to students in central Pennsylvania and supports efforts to restore and expand public parks and green spaces in major U.S. cities. The Messners were also early supporters of the G. Wayne Clough Georgia Tech Promise Program and supporters of the Frederick Law Olmsted Professorships in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is currently a Professor of the Practice for the Scheller College of Business and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, where he teaches courses on management and civil engineering to the next generation of problem-solvers.