Dawn Baunach has been named Georgia Tech’s new associate vice provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development. She will assume her duties on April 1.

“After an extensive search, we’re so glad to welcome Dawn to our team,” said Bonnie Ferri, vice provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development. “Her enthusiasm as well as her years of experience when it comes to supporting faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and students make Dawn an important asset who will help our office as we put Georgia Tech’s new strategic plan into action within our unit.”   

Since 2020, Baunach has served as the interim associate dean for Faculty/Student Development and Strategic Initiatives in the Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State University.

Baunach came to Kennesaw in 2016 to serve as a professor of Sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. During her time at the university, Baunach received Kennesaw’s Teresa M. Joyce Presidential Diversity Award and served as diversity fellow for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

She also established a College Diversity Council and Makerspace Advisory Board within the Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and created a New Faculty Series to support new college faculty in their first year.

Prior to 2016, Baunach spent 20 years serving in roles ranging from director of Graduate Studies to interim chair in the Department of Sociology at Georgia State University. In these positions, her accomplishments included creating an alumni advisory board, developing a faculty affiliate program for scholars internal and external to the university, increasing graduate student enrollment by 50%, and doubling funding levels for graduate teaching and research assistants.

Baunach earned a bachelor’s in sociology from Duke University, and a master’s and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Virginia.

“I’m thrilled to join Georgia Tech's community of world-class faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars, and am looking forward to helping them grow and succeed,” Baunach said. “Plus, I’m especially excited about collaborating with my colleagues in Graduate Education and Faculty Development on initiatives that support leaders in technology — leaders who can use their skills to ultimately improve the human condition. This position feels like a perfect fit for where I’m at in my career.”