Growing up in a small rural town in Georgia, young Jacqueline Jones Royster was constantly surrounded by “people dedicated to the welfare of their community.”

Specifically, growing up as a black girl in a small, rural town in Georgia, Royster was also constantly reminded of the powerful women that came before her and paved the way for her to be in the position she is today.

It was this upbringing that has inspired Royster to relentlessly continue her pursuit of knowledge while simultaneously giving back to the community.

“I’ve been a person who has always felt obligated to engage with whatever the community is that I’m a part of, whether it’s the campus community or the local community or the professional community,” said Royster.

Before serving as the Dean of Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Royster initially specialized in rhetorical studies and then went on to take the position of Executive Dean and Senior Vice Provost at Ohio State.

Despite her success in the realm of administration, Royster still considers herself a student at heart.

“Some people in my family say I went to school and never left,” said Royster. “Above all, I’m an academic — I don’t define myself as an administrator, teacher, learner or scholar.”

Today, the three main objectives Royster prioritizes in her life are: “teaching, scholarship and service.”

Although she never imagined she would end up becoming the dean of a liberal arts college — especially at a technical university like Tech — in 2010 Royster found herself taking that position and transforming the program.

“I consider myself to be the number one cheerleader for liberal arts at Georgia Tech, and not just for the cheerleading but for the advocacy, trying to make sure that if there are resources that we could garner, that I did my part in making sure that we had those resources if we had any chance of getting,” said Royster.

Over the course of her two terms as the Dean of Ivan Allen, Royster is commended for the growth of research in the humanities and an increase in visibility and coherence of the liberal arts community that taken its own shape alongside Tech’s engineering schools.

Royster’s initiatives enabled the liberal arts and social sciences to grow alongside the exhaustive list of STEM programs that Tech has to offer, providing the college of liberal arts with the leadership it greatly needed to help it progress in a fast-paced world where academia and technology are constantly changing.

“I always hope for positive, whatever it is” Royster said when asked what she hopes people remember about her from her time as dean. “You can’t control the way that people think about you or even what they say about you, but my hope is that however people feel about whatever it is that they think I did here, that they think it was a good thing.”

Despite her successful terms as dean, the nine years she spent in the position were not without their challenges.

“Being dean anywhere is a challenging job,” Royster said, but “being a dean who has a commitment to a quality of excellence and scholarship while also having a deep desire to be supportive of her family complicates it even more. So yes, I had lots of complications. And it was a constant struggle to balance in the way that I want it to be balanced. I would have quit long ago if I hadn’t struck that balance in the way that was satisfying enough.”

Part of what makes the balance worth it to Royster are the people — the students, faculty and overall whole community at Tech.

“It’s always about the people to me — I like students,” said Royster. “The people have been my inspiration and what is clear is that none of the things I am most proud of are things I’ve done by myself.”

Despite officially stepping down from her position as the Dean of Ivan Allen, Royster still remains a member of the faculty. She will also continue to work onher books which will focus on of the research she is conducting.

Royster has also continued working on her current projects: one on mapping the terrain African American women throughout the nineteenth century and another on examining the memoirs, letters and autobiographies of women during the Civil War.

However, after nine years, what Royster leaves behind cannot be measured in ratings, awards or books and other publications. Her legacy is not just that of her own accomplishments, but the accomplishments of the people who served under her and the people she served herself.

“It has been a pleasure being here, surrounded by such wonderful people who are doing such incredibly good work, and just being proud of being a part of that community,” said Royster.

“Helping to strengthen the community, to build a sense of community, to encourage people to be confident and proud about what we do here” is the legacy Royster wishes to leave behind.

Once her projects are complete, Royster plans on becoming an emeritus faculty member. Even though her term as dean might be complete, her legacy continues to live through the students she has impacted with her leadership.

Moving to the United States was Rosario Marin’s worst nightmare come true.

She had looked forward to celebrating her quinceañera her whole life, but mere months before she turned fifteen, her family uprooted their lives in Mexico City and travelled across the border until they eventually settled down in California.

During the journey, all Marin did was lament over the idea of not having a traditional quinceañera until — finally — her parents agreed to return to Mexico for her birthday. Once Marin’s 15th birthday eventually arrived, the family travelled back to their home and commenced the festivities surrounding the young girl’s milestone.

It might have taken place in a small backyard filled with mud from the August rain, but to Marin it was perfect. It was not just a celebration of the young girl, but also one of her culture and heritage.

In a similar celebration of culture for Hispanic Heritage Month, Marin delivered an inspiring lecture in the Student Center ballroom on Sept. 18.

Marin discussed her career after President Bush appointed her as the 41st treasurer of the United States in 2001, when she became the first Latina immigrant to ever be given the position.

The lecture was full of unexpected anecdotes which both surprised and inspired the audience, as she shared the way in which she pushed herself to accomplish extraordinary feats, not just in the political arena, but also as an author and an advocate for those with disabilities.

Throughout her lecture, Marin did not present herself as a boring government official, but rather as a compassionate woman — as a daughter, sister, wife and mother.

“People want to know: what are your values? What do you believe in? How do you get up when you fall?” said Marin.

She dedicated all of her success to the trials and tribulations she faced throughout her life for strengthening her values. From the beginning, it seemed the cards were stacked against her, but she never let any obstacle skew her path to success.

When she first arrived in the U.S. and enrolled in school, Marin was required to take an IQ test, on which she scored an impressively low score of 27, whereas the average at the time was 100. Nonetheless, she realized that the test was working against her as it was written in English, a language that she had yet to master.

“I wasn’t going to let that define who I was,” said Marin, a lesson she would return to multiple times throughout her career.

That failure motivated her to study harder and, just three years later, Marin graduated from high school as one of the top 20 students in her class.

“Always do your most. Always do your best — and do it with gusto!” Marin exclaimed, with her perseverance serving as a clear indication of her success.

Marin shared another lesson she has worked hard to instill in herself and in her family, adocating for not just hard work but also just work.

“Always do the right thing, [even] if it kills you, do the right thing,” said Marin. “If you do the right thing, you will always be able to look people in the eyes.”

As a figure working in politics, Marin learned quickly how difficult it is to stay ethical and mature in situations that are out of one’s control. This value might seem simple to most, “but the most important [value] is the hardest.”

Another value Marin discussed focused on the “golden rule” that society had come to love — “treat others as you would like to be treated.” Instead, Marin dubbed a new rule called “Rosario Marin’s Platinum Rule.” This platinum rule advise one not to treat people as one wishes to be treated, but to instead “treat everyone very well and respectfully.”

Marin advocated that living by these three main values will enable everyone to achieve personal success and overcome their relative obstacles, regardless of their circumstances or challenges.

“Know you have everything within you and go through the world without fear,” she said.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said that “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us doesn’t matter compared to what lies inside us.” Marin credits Wendell for how she leads her life.

“Always know that whatever’s before you, however big the challenges are, or however difficult those obstacles are, you can overcome them all. You have everything within you to overcome those challenges.”