Michael Messner – Ph.D. Ceremony
With a civil engineering degree from Georgia Tech, where he now serves as a professor of the practice in the Scheller College of Business, Messner began his career in the railroad industry before pivoting to finance and co-founding Seminole Management in 1995. In 21 of 23 years as Seminole’s CIO, the firm’s assets totaled over $3 billion.
In 2001, Messner and his wife, Jenny, created the Speedwell Foundation to assist with funding for education and study abroad programs in urban areas. The Messners donated a sizeable gift to the G. Wayne Clough Georgia Tech Promise scholarship fund and continue to support the program that provides a debt-free education to qualifying students from low-income Georgia families.
With an affinity for urban park development, Messner funded Tech research showing the positive effects of increasing greenspaces in U.S. cities, and he serves on the board of the City Parks Alliance, the Drexel Education Fund, and the Piedmont Park Conservancy.
For his ongoing commitment and service to Georgia Tech, Messner will be receiving an honorary degree at Commencement.
