Bill (IE 1964) & Penny George

The George Fellowship Program is designed to recognize exceptional students who have interests, activities, and research related to health systems and to prepare students for leadership roles in the field of health. Recipients of the fellowships are named George Fellows and are dedicated to the mission of advancing, leading, and transforming healthcare systems and improving the health and well-being of individuals and societies.

Eligibility & Application Process

  • Deadline: The application deadline is July 28, 2024
  • Eligibility: The nominee must be a graduate student in ISyE for the academic year following the date of nomination, preferably with interests and/or past activities broadly related to health systems.
  • Required documents:
    • Student Resume or CV: current resume highlighting activities and accomplishments that are relevant to the George Fellowship
    • Faculty Nomination Letter: A nomination letter from an ISyE faculty member describing the accomplishments and goals of the student in the area health. The letter must certify that the student satisfies the eligibility conditions.

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APPLICATION COMING SOON

 

2023 - 2024 George Fellows

Ali Abdeen

Ali Abdeen

Ali Abdeen is a PhD student in Industrial Engineering SCE track. He holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from UW-Milwaukee and an MBA from Clemson University. Ali's primary research focus is on healthcare analytics, decision-making, and disease modeling. He is also interested in using mathematical modeling and simulation techniques on real-world healthcare data. This approach aids in clinical decision-making and plays a crucial role in shaping healthcare policies.



Joseph Bakhtiar

Joseph Bakhtiar

Joseph is currently a Machine Learning Ph.D. student. Previously, he completed dual degrees in Mathematics and Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. He possesses a unique combination of machine learning, mathematics, and aerospace engineering expertise. His diverse academic journey culminated in a Ph.D. focused on groundbreaking research that intertwines financial planning with health-related uncertainties. This research includes leveraging advanced statistical models to optimize retirement strategies based on an individual's health and financial data.



Michael Biehler

Michael Biehler

Michael Biehler received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2017 and 2020, respectively. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree with the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology advised by Dr. Jianjun Shi. His research focuses on enabling efficient and safe decision-making in complex systems. Specifically, his main research areas are 3D Machine Learning and Cyber-Physical Security.



Abigail Chambless

Abigail Chambless

Abigail is a master’s student pursuing a health systems degree in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, from where she also received her bachelor of science in industrial engineering in 2021. Throughout both her undergraduate and graduate programs, she has worked for the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems (CHHS), an interdisciplinary research center on campus. She is drawn to making processes and systems more simple, intuitive, and effective, and is excited to apply her technical skills to the fields of healthcare delivery or public health.



Manvitha Kalicheti

Manvitha Kalicheti

Manvitha is a second-year master's student in ISyE, majoring in Computational Science & Engineering. She is actively involved in the Health Analytics Centre where she uses data to address real-world healthcare challenges. Prior to this, she completed her bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. She is passionate about using analytical tools to solve problems such as disparities in access, provider burnout, and improving outcomes within healthcare.



Daniel Kim

Daniel Kim

Daniel Kim is a Ph.D. student in Industrial Engineering, where he is advised by Professor Pinar Keskinocak. He received his B.S. degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering in 2018 and M.S. degree in Operations Research in 2022 from Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interests lie primarily in the fields of decision making, healthcare and humanitarian operations management, and health economics and outcomes.



Mina Kim

Mina Kim

I am Mina Kim, a first-year Ph.D. student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in Industrial Engineering within the Industrial and Systems Engineering department. I am truly honored to have the opportunity to work under the guidance of Professor Valerie Thomas in the ISyE department. My research focuses on the application of data science and machine learning tools, with a particular emphasis on explainable AI techniques to enhance the precision of decision-making processes. My primary research area centers on technology portfolio optimization problems within the energy sector.



Zhaowei Li

Zhaowei Li

Zhaowei Li is a dedicated PhD student at the renowned Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE) department of Georgia Tech. Working under the esteemed guidance of Dr. Chip White, Zhaowei delves deep into the intersections of machine learning, biotechnology, and industrial systems. A pioneer in the burgeoning field of Digital Twins for CAR-T cell therapy and other bioindustry products, Zhaowei combines advanced techniques from Deep Reinforcement Learning and Meta-Learning to address complex challenges in bioinformatics.



Lingchao Mao

Lingchao Mao

Lingchao Mao is a Ph.D. student in Machine Learning at the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. She holds bachelor's degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering and in Statistics from North Carolina State University. Currently, she works with Dr. Jing Li on projects that use machine learning for the diagnosis and prognosis of neurological diseases such as brain cancer (glioblastoma), Alzheimer's Disease, and Post-Traumatic Headache. Her research interests include methodological developments in statistics and machine learning, specifically, how to integrate domain knowledge into machine learning models when working with high-dimensional and multi-modal health datasets.



Amaya McNealey

Amaya McNealey

As a second-year Ph.D. candidate in Industrial Engineering, Amaya McNealey earned her undergraduate degree from North Carolina A&T State University in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Her research pursuits center around rectifying bias and enhancing fairness in medical decision-making and public health using data mining, statistics, and interpretable machine learning. Amaya's current focus lies in developing methods to mitigate bias in predictive maternal health models and analyzing trends in the opioid epidemic. Additionally, she is the founder of "Your Health, Our Hope," a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying minority advocacy in health-related issues, while also fostering accessibility and mentorship for aspiring healthcare professionals.



Nathan Popper

Nathan Popper

Nathan Popper is a current Master’s in Analytics student from Dallas, Texas. He discovered a deeper passion for analytics during his recent work experience at Dallas County Health and Human Services. Analyzing COVID-19 data and formulating data-driven infection prevention strategies was the experience that crystallized his decision to pursue a career in data science. He aspires to improve people’s lives using data, and is confident that he will leave Georgia Tech with the skills required to bring this vision to fruition. In his free time he enjoys basketball, exercising, and nature.



Hairong Wang

Hairong Wang

Hairong Wang is a Ph.D. student in Operations Research at the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. She obtained B.A. in Mathematics from University of Oxford. She works with Prof. Jing Li on developing efficient, robust, and generalizable models for real-world problems in healthcare. Her work can be summarized into the following two areas: methodology development, where she integrates domain knowledge and data-driven algorithms to overcome the limitations of small sample sizes, and applications aimed at improving clinical decision-making, and supporting disease characterization understanding and discovery.



With special gratitude to Bill and Penny George; George Family Foundation

Bill (B.I.E. ‘64, Honorary Ph.D. ‘08) is the former CEO of Medtronic and a Senior Fellow at Harvard Business School, where he specializes in developing authentic leaders. Penny, Ph.D., is a leader in the national movement to transform medicine and health care through the principles and practices of integrative medicine. Together, they founded the George Family Foundation in 1994 to support programs they are passionate about and that transform lives by changing the systems affecting those lives for the better. Their foundation focuses on three primary areas: Penny’s passion for integrative health and healing; Bill’s passion for authentic leadership, and a shared passion for community. “To identify and address a need — especially one that connects with something we understand and can bring resources to — brings us pure joy,” said Penny. In addition to providing support for the George Fellows and Leadership Program in ISyE, Bill and Penny support Georgia Tech at the Institute level through the naming of George Tower as part of Tech Square Phase 3. They have also established the William W. George International Study Abroad Scholarships and the George Family Foundation Women in Engineering Leadership Initiative in the College of Engineering. Bill and Penny also funded the William W. George Chair Endowment in Health Systems and general program support for health systems, currently held by Dr. Pinar Keskinocak.