A tour from a fellow student changed Jones' major and her trajectory at Georgia Tech, putting her on a career path in materials, energy, and more.
A number of factors brought Jacqueline Gilyard Jones to Georgia Tech after her high school graduation. The biggest was her parents.
“They sacrificed so much for me to ensure that I would have a great education,” Jones said. “My mother, Velma, attended college and later become a statistician. She knew that educational attainment is a primary driver of social mobility. As a result, she made sure that her children received a college education.”
To honor her parents’ sacrifices, and give other students from underrepresented backgrounds the same opportunity, Jones has established the Robert & Velma Gilyard Memorial Scholarship to support students in the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE).
Jones’ road to campus began when she traveled from her home in Maryland to attend “Minority Introduction to Engineering,” a Georgia Tech summer program for high school students. She had already been accepted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. But it was her positive summer experience, and the friends she made in the program, that led her to Atlanta for her freshman year.
