Mark Nolan to Step Down as Associate Vice President of Corporate Engagement

J. Mark Nolan, associate vice president of Corporate Engagement, will step down from his role effective Aug. 31 after years of transformative leadership advancing the Institute’s partnerships with industry.

Since joining Georgia Tech in 2022, Nolan has played a pivotal role in elevating the Institute’s approach to corporate engagement — expanding relationships beyond individual research agreements to broad, long-term collaborations that integrate research, talent development, professional and executive education, co-location, and other strategic investments. Under his leadership, corporate partners have become an increasingly vital component of Georgia Tech’s research portfolio, contributing significantly to the Institute’s growth and resilience during a time of shifting federal funding landscapes.

A central element of Nolan’s impact was the creation of the Office of Corporate Engagement (OCE), merging the Office of Industry Research and the Office of Corporate Relations into a unified function. This model strengthened alignment across research and philanthropy and created a more coordinated, institution-wide approach to corporate partnerships.

This approach has delivered strong results.

Under Nolan’s guidance, OCE secured nearly 15% of the campus’s total research funding from industry—well above the national average of 6%. In the past fiscal year alone, corporate spending on Georgia Tech research exceeded $70 million, a 28% increase from the prior year — with additional corporate research funding gained at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

Expanding the metrics of the OCE team, additional corporate investments were realized in philanthropy, professional and executive education, core facilities, sponsorships, as well as successes in the promotion of Atlanta’s midtown innovation ecosystem.

Because of these achievements, Georgia Tech’s model has been widely recognized as a blueprint for the 21st-century university, prompting leaders from institutions across the country to seek out Nolan’s expertise.

“Mark has brought vision, energy, and a deep understanding of how to build meaningful partnerships with industry,” said Tim Lieuwen, executive vice president for Research. “Thanks to his leadership, corporate engagement is now a defining strength for Georgia Tech, and we are grateful for the foundation he has built.”

In close partnership with campus leadership and development colleagues, Nolan helped align corporate engagement with broader institutional priorities—strengthening coordination across research, philanthropy, and academic programs.

“Mark has been an exceptional partner to our development team and to the Institute as a whole,” said Jim Hall, vice president of Development. “His expertise and creativity have elevated how we engage with corporate partners and opened new pathways for impact. We are deeply appreciative of his service and the lasting contributions he has made to Georgia Tech.”

Nolan’s leadership has left an enduring mark on the Institute’s research ecosystem, positioning Georgia Tech to continue growing its industry partnerships.

“From the outset, I was charged with building the Office of Corporate Engagement by merging two teams into a unified, strategic function — and I’m proud to say, mission accomplished,” Nolan said. “We also introduced a channels framework to strengthen partnerships, built a holistic CRM to track engagement, applied AI to improve account management and prospecting, and implemented front-end partner screening to protect our community and ensure compliance. These, along with the merging of teams, are among the strategies other universities regularly seek my advice on.”

The Institute will share additional details about leadership plans for corporate engagement in the coming months.