Who is Parker Petit?

The name Parker H. Petit has been recently leaving its mark around campus. The name is on the new science building on the corner of Decatur Street and Piedmont Avenue and has regularly shown up on the Georgia State website.

In March, Georgia State University dedicated its new state-of-the-art science center to Petit.

Pete has been a loyal friend to Georgia State for many years. He is a champion of higher education. We are deeply grateful for his support, which will build upon our mission of creating a premier urban research university," President Mark Becker said in a press release.

The press release adds that the building was named in "recognition of his leadership gift to Georgia State University."

Petit served as chairman and CEO of Matria Healthcare until it was sold in May 2008 to Inverness Medical Innovations.

Matria Healthcare was a subsidiary of Healthdyne, which Petit founded in 1970. Petit also served as chairman and CEO of Healthdyne after it became a publicly traded company in 1981.

Petit earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and his Master of Science degree in engineering mechanics at Georgia Tech. He earned his master of business administration degree at Georgia State in 1973.

Petit currently serves as chairman and CEO of MiMedx Group Inc. MiMedx Group Inc. is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of bio-material based products.

For Georgia Tech, he personally funded a professorial chair for Engineering in Medicine and endowed the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. For Georgia State, he contributed substantially to the funding for the new science center that now bears his name.

"I feel very grateful about what was made available to me, and I also feel strongly about giving back. I hope that facility is going to fill a very key role in Georgia State's future," said Petit.

As reported in the Signal, Petit also recently donated $1.5 million to the Georgia State football program, specifically for the new football practice complex. It was the largest donation ever made to an athletic program at Georgia State.

"However long I get to live, there won't be a day that I won't be personally, deeply in debt to Pete Petit," said Coach Bill Curry.

In honor of the donation, Petit will be performing the coin toss at the inaugural game on September 2nd at the Georgia Dome.

Petit was inducted into the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia in 1994 and into the Georgia State Business School Hall of Fame in 2007.

He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Research Alliance which is chartered by the state of Georgia to "promote high technology and scientific development."