Gerald Wayne Clough (born September 24, 1941) is President Emeritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. A graduate of Georgia Tech in civil engineering, he was the first alumnus to serve as President of the Institute. The Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, which officially opened its doors in August 2011, is named in his honor. Clough has garnered many other awards and honors, including the title of President Emeritus, two Norman Medals, eight honorary degrees, and membership in the National Science Board. Personal life and education Clough was born on September 24, 1941 in Douglas, Georgia, the youngest of three children born to Daniel and Bessie (née Johnson) Clough. Clough's parents ran the local ice and coal plant. After electricity spread to south Georgia, the family moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where Clough attended City High School. Clough also met his future wife, Anne Olivia Robinson, during this time. They have two children, Eliza and Matthew. Clough entered Georgia Tech in 1959 and earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1964. While an undergraduate at Georgia Tech, Clough participated in the cooperative education program, and was, against his wishes, a surveyor for a railroad company. Clough was a member of Georgia Tech's chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and lived in their fraternity house on North Avenue for half a year. Clough originally planned to receive only a bachelor's degree; however, the faculty encouraged him to pursue a graduate degree, so he continued his education and received his master's degree in civil engineering in 1965. In 1969, Clough received a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley with the thesis "Finite element analyses of soil-structures interaction in U-frame locks". Research After earning his doctorate, Clough began his academic career as an assistant professor at Duke University in 1969. He joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1974 first as an associate professor and then later as full professor. In 1982, he joined the faculty of Virginia Tech as a professor of civil engineering and served as head of their Department of Civil Engineering for seven years. In 1990, Clough became dean of the Virginia Tech College of Engineering. Clough continued his research and instruction of graduate students at Virginia Tech in addition to his administrative responsibilities. Clough's research focused on geotechnical engineering, including earthquake studies, numerical analysis, soil