The Student Center is named in honor of John Lewis, the renowned civil and human rights leader and longtime U.S. representative from Georgia’s fifth congressional district.
From 1987 until his death in 2020, the son of Alabama sharecroppers served in Congress representing the district in which the Tech campus is located. During that time, he was a frequent guest at the Institute — delivering the keynote address at Commencement in 1995 and 2011, imparting wisdom about leadership to students, providing internship opportunities to students, and accepting Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage in 2013.
In matters of policy, Lewis was a strong advocate for federal programs that are important to Tech students, including the Pell Grant and federal work-study programs, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Office of Science.
Beginning in the 1980s, he became a visible presence in Atlanta, where he served on the city council from 1981 to 1986. Even after his election to Congress, Lewis met with his constituents, made frequent public appearances, and participated in the city’s biggest events.
Rep. John Lewis addresses graduates as the keynote speaker during Fall 2011 Commencement exercises.
Above all else, John Lewis was a towering yet humble leader in the movements for equality and social justice that have reshaped the United States since the mid-20th century. From the Freedom Rides to the 1963 March on Washington, from serving as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to leading peaceful protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and for decades of service in the halls of Congress, Lewis demonstrated quiet determination, courage, and constancy in all of his efforts to ensure that the American promise of justice and equality could become accessible to all citizens.
There is also an endowment named to honor Lewis’ legacy, the John Lewis Student Leadership Endowment Fund, that will provide comprehensive, inclusive leadership development opportunities for student leaders, including some scholarships.
Jacqueline Royster and G. P. "Bud" Peterson presents John Lewis with the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage on April 4, 2013.