Regents’ Professor Steps Up for Second Stint as Interim School Chair

A veteran computer science professor is stepping up as the interim chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Computer Science (SCS).

Regents' Professor Mostafa Ammar was named interim chair following the departure of Vivek Sarkar, who began as Dean of the College of Computing on June 1.

This is Ammar’s second stint as SCS interim chair. He filled the role from August 2019 until August 2020, prior to Sarkar’s term as School chair. Ammar also served as the SCS associate chair from 2006 to 2012.

"The SCS chair transition was one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind as the Provost was offering me the Dean position,” said Sarkar.

“I know that I speak for all SCS faculty and staff when I say that it was extremely reassuring to us when Mostafa agreed to serve as interim chair again.”

Ammar, whose research focuses on network architectures, protocols, and services, has worked at Georgia Tech for 40 years and advised more than 35 Ph.D. recipients. From his perspective, he says that the School has never been in a better place than it is today.

“Together, we comprise a collaborative community of world-class faculty, staff, and students, united by a common mission: to propel the field of computer science forward through innovative teaching and groundbreaking research,” Ammar said.

“During my time as interim chair, I look forward to serving as both an enabler and a catalyst, fostering our collective momentum and advancing our shared mission.”

Sarkar says that he has the utmost respect for Ammar and that the School will continue to flourish under his guidance.

“We have worked closely in multiple roles when he was interim chair and later when I was chair,” Sarkar said.

“I look forward to the School's momentum and community spirit continuing to grow under his leadership as we prepare for an exciting internal and external search for the next chair of SCS."

Georgia Tech's School of Computer Science is home to 58 faculty members and 137 Ph.D. students with research at the forefront of AI foundations, computer architecture, data systems, programming languages, software engineering, networking, systems, and theory in computer science.

Mostafa Ammar and Vivek Sarkar at an SCS event celebrating Sarkar's new role. Photo by Kevin Beasley/College of Computing.