J. Rhett Mayor

Interim Associate Dean for Faculty and Graduate Student Affairs

J. Rhett Mayor, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and secretary of faculty, is a distinguished expert in thermal sciences, electro-mechanical machine design, and micro-manufacturing. 

As the interim associate dean for Faculty and Graduate Student Affairs of the College of Lifetime Learning, Mayor is responsible for advancing and supporting the needs and interests of academic faculty and graduate students across the College. Additionally, he assists with recruitment and faculty searches, oversees the processes for reappointment, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review, and, in general, provides guidance and advice to the faculty in the College. He works closely with the Faculty Advisory Committee on key governance matters, including helping draft the College’s foundational faculty handbook.

Mayor began as an assistant professor at the Institute in Fall 2006. Before that, he was the president and CEO of Powerix Technologies and previously was an assistant research scientist with the S.M. Wu Manufacturing Research Center at the University of Michigan.

Mayor served as the chair of the Institute Undergraduate Curriculum Committee from 2014 until 2018. In this role, he oversaw the passage of several major curriculum initiatives, including significant revisions to the undergraduate mathematics programs, the new degree program in music, and the Institute guidelines on multidisciplinary minors, many with joint B.S./M.S. programs being offered for the first time. Mayor has also served in leadership roles for professional societies, including as president of the International Institute of Micro Manufacturing. He is the founder and president of DHX Electric Machines, Inc., launched to commercialize patented electric machine technology developed in his research lab at Georgia Tech.