MARK P. BECKER

SINCE BEGINNING HIS TENURE as Georgia State University’s seventh president in January 2009, President Mark P. Becker has pursued an ambitious vision for the future of the institution and has led it through an unparalleled period of growth and advancement.

Since beginning his tenure as Georgia State University’s seventh president in 2009, President Mark P. Becker has led Georgia State through a dynamic period of growth and advancement and put it on a trajectory to reshape itself and its region. Reflecting his vision of the urban public research university for the 21st century, the university has pursued a 10-year strategic plan through which Georgia State has emerged as one of the nation’s leading urban research universities.

Georgia State, one of the most diverse universities in the U.S., is a national model for student success, setting records for its graduation rates and the number of students it graduates, and leading the country in eliminating disparities in student achievement based on race, ethnicity and income. Under Dr. Becker’s leadership, Georgia State has built a burgeoning research enterprise, growing sponsored research at more than twice the national rate. Widely recognized for his work in building a growing national profile for Georgia State, Dr. Becker has been named among the 10 most innovative presidents in the country by Washington Monthly magazine. U.S. News & World Report magazine has ranked Georgia State second among the nation’s “most innovative” universities. Dr. Becker is vice-chair of the University Innovation Alliance, a coalition of 11 public research universities working to make college degrees more accessible to all students.

Through the rapid development of its campus and its engagement with civic and business leaders, the university has been recognized as a major catalyst for the revitalization of downtown Atlanta and the economic vitality of its region. Adding to Georgia State’s increasing national profile, Dr. Becker has fostered the development of NCAA Division 1 athletics, and the university’s intercollegiate teams have won six conference championships since rejoining the Sun Belt Conference in 2013. Prior to his appointment as president of Georgia State, Dr. Becker was executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina and dean of the School of Public Health and assistant vice president of public health preparedness and emergency response at the University of Minnesota. From 1989 to 2000, Dr. Becker was a professor in the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, where he also was associate dean for academic affairs. He has held academic appointments at the University of Washington, the University of Florida and Cornell University.

Dr. Becker attended Harford (Md.) Community College, earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Towson State University in 1980 and his doctor’s degree in statistics from the Pennsylvania State University in 1985. He grew up in Havre de Grace, Md., near Baltimore.