Georgia Tech College of Management's inaugural Thomas R. Williams Distinguished Lecture on March 2 will feature Gary Shilling discussing "When We Will Get Out of This Mess?"

Shilling, president of the investment and economic consulting firm A. Gary Shilling & Co., will talk from 4:30 to 5:30 PM in LeCraw Auditorium of the Management building (800 West Peachtree Street NW). A reception with light refreshments will follow in the Thornton Atrium.

Gary Shilling & Co. manages individual and institutional accounts and publishes INSIGHT, a monthly report of economic forecasts and investment strategy. Shilling has been a Forbes magazine columnist since 1983 and writes the "Financial Strategy" column. A frequent contributor to the financial press, he appears frequently on radio and television business shows.

About Thomas R. Williams

The Williams lecture is named in honor of Thomas R. Williams, a 1950 graduate of Georgia Tech who died in 2002.

After graduation, Williams worked as an industrial engineer and then a management consultant before joining National City Bank of Cleveland in 1965. He became chairman of that bank in 1969, three years before being named president of First National Bank of Atlanta.

He guided First National from third place to first in metro Atlanta deposits, eventually helping arrange that bank's merger with Wachovia in 1985. He became chairman of the board of Wachovia, and then retired in 1987.

More than a talented executive, Williams was an important civic leader, volunteering for many cultural and educational organizations. He served as president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the United Negro College Fund, among many other activities.