THE FLATS – Culminating nearly a decade of planning and two-and-a-half years of construction, Georgia Tech officially opened the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.
Introducing the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center. 100,000+ square feet dedicated to elevating the performance of Georgia Tech Athletics.#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/jOxDAvkh5Q
— Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (@GTAthletics) May 14, 2026
Located in the northeast corner of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, the Fanning Center totals in excess of 100,000 square feet. It features state-of-the-art spaces dedicated to strength and conditioning, sports medicine and nutrition, as well as Georgia Tech’s first-ever sports science lab, that will benefit student-athletes across the Yellow Jackets’ 17 sports. It also includes expanded and enhanced meeting and office space that is exclusive to Tech football.
University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue, Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera, Tech vice president and director of athletics Ryan Alpert, student-athletes Henry Gibbs (men’s swimming and diving) and Alejandra Cruz (women’s tennis) and the facility’s namesake, Dr. Thomas A. Fanning, were featured speakers at Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Welcome to our crib 😉#StingEm 🐝 https://t.co/FM3zRSm12D pic.twitter.com/kKIV1Oxlgn
— Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (@GTAthletics) May 14, 2026
FANNING CENTER
Dr. Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony (Danny Karnik photos)
ABOUT THE FANNING CENTER
Overview
- Approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in April 2022
- Named in honor of Dr. Thomas A. Fanning in November 2023
- Construction began in 2024
- In excess of 100,000 square feet
- Includes:
- Georgia Tech’s first-ever sports science lab
- Strength and conditioning
- Sports medicine
- Nutrition
- Expanded and enhanced meeting and office space exclusive to Georgia Tech football
- Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM) – Atlanta-based
- Constructed by DPR Construction – Atlanta-based
- The facility’s design and development highlights Georgia Tech’s commitment to sustainability. In addition to energy-reducing strategies, steel from a portion of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field that was demolished to make room for the Fanning Center was repurposed into the new structure. Cross-laminated timber is featured throughout the facility, adding warm accents, reducing the carbon footprint and boosting student-athletes’ well-being
Equipment and Technology
Sports Science Lab
- Markerless motion capture cameras
- Force plates: three different capture areas
- Split belt treadmill with gait analysis
Sports Medicine/Athletic Training Room
- Hydrotherapy area
- Anti-gravity treadmill
- Humac norm isokinetic device, used for rehabilitation and testing for return to play
- Advanced modalities, including focused shockwave
Recovery Room
- Infrared light beds
- Hydromassage chairs
- Dry float beds
- Hyperbaric chamber
Strength and Conditioning
- 17,000-plus square feet
- 32 fully equipped racks (Georgia Tech’s previous primary weight room had 12)
- Every rack equipped with state of the-art Perch camera-based velocity tracking system (previous primary weight room had zero)
- Measures bar displacement and movement velocity in real time
- Provides coaches and student-athletes immediate feedback to enhance performance tracking, intent and efficiency
- Every rack equipped with HD monitor (previous primary weight room had limited visual presentation capabilities) – displays provide the following for enhanced athlete engagement and accountability:
- Real-time athlete feedback
- Leaderboards
- Performance metrics
- Training presentations
- 60-plus specialty bars/60-plus Olympic/power bars (double the bar capacity of previous primary weight room)
- 10 glute-ham developers (GHD) and reverse Hyper machines (previous primary weight room had limited equipment of this kind)
- 10 custom row machines (previous primary weight room had zero)
- Cardio loft with three treadmills, two curved treadmills and 10 cardio assault bikes (previous primary weight room had limited cardio options)
- 16 jammer arms integrated throughout the facility (previous primary weight room had limited multifunctional rack attachments)
Emory Healthcare Partnership
Georgia Tech athletics will maximize the state-of-the-art technology within the Fanning Center’s sports science lab and sports medicine areas due to its partnership with Emory Healthcare. The sports science lab is modeled after Emory’s Sports Performance and Research Center (SPARC), located at the Atlanta Falcons’ training facility in Flowery Branch, and the partnership allows Georgia Tech to utilize Emory’s world-class staff, practices and data analysis in the development and treatment of its student-athletes. Additionally, the partnership with Emory Healthcare grants Georgia Tech access to the Wu Tsai Performance Alliance and its worldwide data collection, analysis and collaboration.
Benefits include:
- Ability to create a “digital athlete” with mapping that analyzes muscle activity muscle-tendon dynamics, joint contact forces and asymmetry
- Addressing injury burden
- Optimizing athletes to reduce injury risk and improve performance
- Personalization of student-athletes and technology-informed modeling to guide specific interventions
- Programming for student-athletes in all aspects of the performance/health spectrum, including baseline testing, strength and conditioning, injury risk management, rehab programming and progression and return-to-play decision-making
ABOUT DR. THOMAS A. FANNING
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the naming of Georgia Tech’s Student-Athlete Performance Center in honor of Dr. Thomas A. Fanning on Nov. 14, 2023.
Fanning holds three degrees from Georgia Tech (B.S industrial management, M.S. industrial management, honorary Ph.D.) and was a visionary leader in the energy industry during his 43-year career with the Southern Company, which included serving as president and chief executive officer from 2010-23.
He has demonstrated deep appreciation and commitment to Georgia Tech through extensive involvement with the Institute, highlighted by service on the Georgia Tech Foundation Board of Trustees, the Georgia Tech Advisory Board, the Georgia Tech Athletic Association Board of Trustees, the Alexander-Tharpe Fund Board of Directors, the Scheller College of Business Advisory Board and two campaign steering committees, including Transforming Tomorrow: The Campaign for Georgia Tech , where he serves as co-chair. He has also provided philanthropic support for an endowed scholarship in the Scheller College of Business and for student-athlete scholarships and program support within Tech athletics.
In his 43 years with the Southern Company, Fanning held 15 different positions in eight different business units, including nearly 13 years as president/CEO. He also served on national energy boards, including the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the international advisory boards of the Atlantic Council and the American Energy Council.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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