Tired but proud, Cabrera explains Georgia Tech exit
In late October, adorned in a light blue blazer and golden helmet, Ángel Cabrera rode his e-bike onto the campus of Georgia Tech for one of the last times.
He’d been regularly making the trip for roughly seven years, when the former international student was named president of his alma mater. Numbers indicate — as his staff at the data-driven engineering school in Midtown Atlanta were eager to point out — his time leading the school was wildly successful.
Since beginning the role in 2019, GT’s enrollment grew by 55%, making it the largest student body in the state. It reached No. 2 nationally in federally sponsored research expenditures, the school said. The number of startups launching from GT during that time has more than tripled, according to the school.
Why, then, after achieving such favorable metrics, did he leave the school he’s lauded since coming from Spain in the 1990s to get his master’s and then doctorate?
On the verge of his departure to the nonprofit Aspen Institute, where he officially begins as president and CEO Sunday, Cabrera welcomed The Atlanta Journal-Constitution into his office to discuss his exit, his legacy and the difficulty of being a college president in 2026.
“This is really an awesome job, and on the other hand, these jobs are super, super intense. I’m tired,” Cabrera said from a conference desk in his office, half-packed cardboard boxes in the corner serving as a reminder of his imminent exit. “This stuff that happens at a college campus, to be surrounded by smart kids at a point in their lives when they’re changing, growing, it’s a thrill. It is an amazing job. It’s a beautiful job, thrilling job, exhausting as hell. All of that is true.”
As he pointed out, the average tenure of university presidents has been steadily decreasing. In 2006, the average was 8.5 years. By 2023, it dropped to 5.9 years, according to the American Council on Education.
Cabrera surpassed that mark, seemingly with large support from faculty, students and the University System of Georgia.
“At Georgia Tech, he has overseen tremendous growth, been an extraordinarily successful fundraiser and, perhaps most importantly, has been the most accessible and approachable president in Georgia Tech’s history,” said professor Annie Antón, who represents Tech on the USG’s Faculty Council.
Professor Dima Nazzal, chair of the Faculty Executive Board until this summer, said shared governance at the school was made stronger during Cabrera’s tenure. “He understood that shared governance is worth investing in, and he engaged with the Faculty Executive Board well beyond formal meetings,” Nazzal said. “That ongoing engagement built trust and shaped what we were able to accomplish together.”
Upon the announcement of Cabrera’s exit, USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue referred to him as a “constant, visible force” who always listened to stakeholders. “The Tech community likes to say, ‘We can do that,’ and Ángel has done it, which means we have our work cut out for us to maintain this momentum when he leaves,” Perdue said in a media release.
Monish Soniminde, president of the school’s Student Government Association, said Cabrera was active on campus and was viewed as approachable and engaged. “As a student, when you see your president walking around campus and asking you how you’re doing, it makes this large institution feel a bit more personal and like home,” said Soniminde, a fourth-year economics major.
The USG’s Board of Regents is searching for Cabrera’s replacement. Timothy Lieuwen, Tech’s executive vice president for research, will be the interim president.
Some of the most difficult aspects of university leadership are nothing new. Campuses have long been a hotbed for social and political movements, as Cabrera noted. But recent events, from athletics to White House politics, have made the job “more difficult than ever.”
“The athletics piece is super, super complex, super messy and a little helpless because no individual school can fix it,” he said, advocating for U.S. Congress to find a solution. “I’m not going to miss that.”
He characterized federal research funding cuts by the Trump administration as “very ill-timed” and “not great policy.” If the U.S. is concerned about China in the race for artificial intelligence, “you may want to invest more resources in research, not fewer,” he said.
Similarly, Cabrera does not see the wisdom in policies that have made it harder for international students to study in the U.S., arguing it hurts what he believes has long been a competitive advantage for the country.
“I am biased because I’m one of those kids who grew up in Spain, dreamed to come to the U.S. to a great American university,” he said. “If I were in charge, I would roll out a red carpet. Oh my gosh, you get into Harvard to do a Ph.D in molecular biology? Red carpet. We want you here. We don’t want you to go anywhere else.”
When Cabrera accepted the Georgia Tech job, he envisioned a tenure of seven to nine years. And when he thought of what he might do after, he thought of the Aspen Institute, which describes its mission as “driv(ing) change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the greatest challenges of our time.” So when Aspen called with the job offer, “I’m like, darn, you’re calling too soon,” he said. “And they’re like, ‘Sorry, take it or leave it.’”
“Leaders don’t want to leave when things are going well. It’s like, I’m on top of the world. Why would I leave?” he said. “But then when you think about it less emotionally, isn’t that the right time to transition? When you can hand over a place with momentum and strength onto an amazing leadership team?”