Academics Category
04.19.2012
The first football game played in Riddick Stadium, in the heart of NC State’s campus, took place in 1907. NC State beat Randolph-Macon, 20-0.
NC State had played football for years before that, either in Pullen Park or at the State Fairgrounds. But alumni and faculty members raised money to build the university its own stadium, complete with wooden bleachers and a grandstand.
In 1912, students voted to name the new stadium for Wallace Carl Riddick, who in addition to being NC State’s first football coach, was at various times a professor of civil engineering, dean of the School of Engineering and president of the university.
As any modern sports fan knows, stadiums are built to be replaced by bigger and fancier stadiums later. So, on this day in 1968, much of Riddick Stadium was demolished to make room for more parking on campus. Yes, parking.
The destruction was handled by The Rike Company of Winston-Salem for $18,000. The demolition was not without incident, as workers one day discovered what appeared to be a body in some of the rubble. It turned out to be a fake torso and legs, complete with blood-red paint, that was presumably placed there by some students, according to an account in Historical State, an archive maintained by NCSU Libraries.
University officials check out "the body" found in Riddick Stadium rubble
A new stadium to replace Riddick was built with funds raised by the Wolfpack Club and through the sale of bonds. The initial donations came from brothers Nick and Harry Carter, while the single largest donation came from A.E. Finley, according to an account in Alice Elizabeth Reagan’s North Carolina State University: A Narrative History.
And, thus, Carter-Finley Stadium was born, opening in time for the 1966 football season.
The demolition of Riddick was not completed for years, with the West Stands staying up until 2005 to make room for a building for mathematics and statistics.
04.10.2012
Elizabeth Ann Emery, an All-American swimmer for NC State in the early 1980s who went on to win a gold medal in the World University Games in 1983, died Thursday. She was 50.
Beth Emery was one of seven NC State swimmers to be named in 2002 to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 50th Anniversary team of the best female swimmers and divers in conference history.
Emery earned All-American honors every season from 1980-83, and won five ACC championships, in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle. She still owns three all-time top 10 marks at NC State. In 1983, Emery won the Willis Casey Award as the NC State student-athlete of the year.
Braden Holloway ‘01, the head coach of swimming and diving at NC State, says he sometimes mentions Emery and her accomplishments when he’s trying to help current Wolfpack swimmers appreciate the team’s history and tradition.
“She was one of the best swimmers to come through here,” Holloway says. “She was a vital piece of the success of the women’s program.”
After graduating from NC State in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture, Emery went on to earn a master’s degree from Ohio State University. She was finishing a doctorate in sports humanities from Ohio State.
Emery initially worked as a land development planner in North Carolina and California before returning home to Ohio. She worked at Mills-James Productions for more than 19 years, most recently as a producer and director.
Beth Emery at NC State
Emery stayed connected to swimming after leaving NC State, setting three Master’s swimming world records in 2002 and volunteering with the undergraduate and Master’s swimming programs at Ohio State. She was inducted into the Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.
Family will receive friends Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 508 Center Street, Ashland, Ohio. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Trinity Lutheran Church, reception to follow.
Memorial contributions may be made to NC State Swimming, Weisiger Brown Building, 2500 Warren Carroll Dr., Campus Box 8502, Raleigh, NC 27695; the Cat Welfare Association, 741 Wetmore Road, Columbus, Ohio, 43214; the Ashland YMCA, 207 Miller Street, Ashland, Ohio, 44805; or Ohio State Swimming, 1847 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
03.22.2012
NC State’s Khayrallah Program for Lebanese-American Studies is holding a premiere of a new film Wednesday, March 28, at the North Carolina Museum of History that tells the story of Lebanese immigration to North Carolina. Cedars in the Pines marks the first project in a series that the program, which NC State magazine highlighted in the Summer 2011 issue, is using to research, document, preserve and publicize the history of the state’s Lebanese-American community.
The film traces the origin of Lebanese immigration to the 1890s, when Lebanese immigrants arrived in America’s eastern and southern ports. It also focuses on Lebanon’s civil war, which started in 1975 and served as a catalyst for another wave of immigration that would occur over the next 35 years. Many of the 16,000 who came to North Carolina contributed to the state’s history and cultural life.
“The Lebanese community in North Carolina embodies a resilient and unique identity that is both Middle Eastern and Southern,” says Akram Khater, director of the Khayrallah Program at NC State University. “They cherish the history of their ancestors as a vibrant connection to the past even as they embrace and enrich their new homeland.”
The film is directed by Danica Cullinan, who graduated in 2008 from CHASS with a master’s degree, and it is a collaborative effort with the Khayrallah Program, NC State’s Department of History and Department of English’s Language and Life Project.
01.03.2012
John Widman ‘84, of Arden, N.C., has put his design skills to an interesting new use — building guitars.
At 50, Widman had worked for years at his commercial photography business, but he was not excited about going digital. “I wanted to do something that I was passionate about and I was ready for a change,” Widman says.
That change came in starting Widman Custom Electrics.
The first guitar Widman produced, a copy of a Fender Telecaster, turned out well. “There is nothing like a little success to fan the flames,” he says.
Widman has now produced 20 instruments, keeping only his Telecaster remake for himself. He describes the building process as unique for each instrument. “That is what a custom instrument is all about,” he says. “When a client orders an instrument, it is made to their specifications. The neck fits their hand, they choose the colors and the woods.”
Widman has also produced several electric banjos. The first banjo, an anniversary present to his wife, served as a prototype.
Widman enjoys the freedom and creativity involved with creating a new instrument. That includes inventing new parts, which allows for a lot of fun in the design process.
Widman’s guitars come in four different models from a variety of woods. One of his most interesting instruments came from an abandoned piano, parts of which he initially intended to use designing a coffee table.
“I wanted to salvage the sounding board,” he says. “It has made a very special guitar.”
– Jeannene Lang
12.08.2011
Chancellor Randy Woodson has been elected to a leadership position in the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
Woodson was elected secretary of the Council of Presidents, the membership group for university presidents and chancellors within the association. The position puts Woodson in line to eventually become chairman of the association’s board of directors.
Woodson’s election to a leadership position comes at a key time for the association, which will celebrate the 150th anniversary next year of President Lincoln signing the Morrill Act in 1862. The Morrill Act established the land-grant system of colleges.
06.13.2011
Dr. Fred Gould, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Entomology, was profiled in The News & Observer this weekend as the Tar Heel of the Week.
Gould was recently elected into the National Academy of Sciences. He is one nine current professors at NC State to be elected into the Academy, one of the world’s most important scientific societies. He is one of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates elected this year.
Gould studies the ecology and genetics of insect pests to improve food production and human and environmental health. One of his research projects involves genetically modifying mosquitoes to reduce their capacity to carry and spread dengue fever.
Anthony James, a molecular biologist at the University of California at Irvine, told The News & Observer that being elected to the National Academy of Sciences is the equivalent of being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame and the All-Star team at once. James told the newspaper that Gould is a deserving selection.
“He has an excellent analytical mind, and the kind of intensity you like that comes from really caring about what he’s doing,” James said. “And of course he has really great ideas.”
05.31.2011
Mary Tetro, the longest serving academic adviser on campus, is retiring after three decades at NC State.
The Bulletin had the news today of Tetro’s retirement from NC State. She served as assistant registrar from 1981 to 1984, academic coordinator with Academic Support Programs for Student Athletes from 1984 to 1994, and then joined the University Undesignated (First Year College) program, where she worked from 1994 to 2008. She has worked with OASIS, the Office of Advising Support Information and Services, since 2008.
05.13.2011
Sindhu Ravishankar, a senior majoring in biology and international studies, is getting ready to spend nine weeks in Cape Town to do some advanced research about the social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
It is, by any account, an amazing opportunity for an undergraduate student. And it may not have happened without the help of Dr. George T. Barthalmus.
Barthalmus, the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research at NC State, passed away this week. His colleagues and former students remembered Barthalmus, who taught biology and zoology for years before becoming an administrator, for his passion for creating research opportunities for undergraduate students.
Dr. Anita Flick, director of the Health Professions Advising Center at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said Ravishankar’s trip is an example of the impact Barthalmus had at NC State.
“He made it possible for her,” said Flick, who is a faculty mentor for Ravishankar’s project. “He was always the one who gave the right amount of encouragement.”
Barthalmus helped Ravishankar by offering her some early encouragement before her idea was fully formed, and then coming up with $6,000 to fund her project after being dazzled by Ravishankar’s proposal. Flick said she has seen research proposals by graduate students that were not as well done, and that the research is “beyond ambitious” for an undergraduate student.
“Dr. Barthalmus was very instrumental in providing so much encouragement to me,” Ravishankar said. “He transformed it from being an idea to being a reality.”
Ravishanker, a Caldwell Fellow from Cary, plans to conduct interviews with individuals and in focus groups to explore the basis for various social stigma in South Africa that prevent people with HIV/AIDS from seeking treatment or trying to hide that they are getting treatment.
“I’m trying to see what are the underlying causes of that social stigma, how that stigma comes about,” said Ravishankar, who will be working in partnership with the University of Cape Town.
Ravishanker said Barthalmus did more than arrange for most of the funding for her project. “He was extremely motivating,” she said. “He would tell me, ‘I know you’re going to do great things.’ He provided a lot of support, emotionally and financially.”
Dr. Janice Odom, who runs the Caldwell Program, said she frequently sent Caldwell Fellows to talk with Barthalmus about research projects.
“I just knew that they would be taken care of,” Odom said.
The Caldwell Fellows program, which is also providing some funding for Ravishankar’s project, is an intensive leadership-development scholarship program that was created by the Alumni Association to honor the legacy of Chancellor John T. Caldwell.
05.12.2011
(Photo by Roger Winstead)
Dr. George T. Barthalmus, who taught thousands of students as a longtime professor of zoology and biology at NC State and was a passionate advocate for research opportunities for undergraduate students, died last night.
Friends, colleagues and former students said no one embodied the ideal of NC State and its mission as a land-grant university to serve students from throughout the state better than Barthalmus.
As a teacher, he encouraged and supported students to do their best work. As an adminstrator, both at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and as the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, he worked with colleagues to create opportunities for students to get engaged with research.
“He was the epitome of everything from teacher to friend to mentor,” said Dr. Anita Flick ‘86, director of the Health Professions Advising Center at CALS and a former student of Barthalmus. “He bled this university about as much as anybody could.”
Flick said Barthalmus, who came to NC State in 1970 as an assistant professor of zoology, had the ability to convey complex information in introductory biology and zoology classes in a way that was clear and relevant to students.
“He gave me an opportunity as a student to grow and develop my own ideas, while also teaching me at the same time,” Flick said. “This is an unmentionable loss to this university.”
In a letter to CALS faculty and staff, Dean Johnny Wynne described Barthalmus as “an extraordinary teacher, scientist and colleague. He will be missed.”
Barthalmus became a full professor in 1984 and was named an NC State Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor in 1993. He won three University Outstanding Teaching Awards and the CALS Outstanding Academic Adviser Award.
In 1998, Barthalmus became associate dean and director of academic programs at CALS. Barthalmus retired in 2001, but later came back to the university as interim director of the University Honors Program and then director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. He served for five years on the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for the state of North Carolina.
Dr. Roger Callanan, assistant dean of undergraduate academic programs, said Barthalmus was an extraordinary advisor and friend to students. Barthalmus taught an estimated 16,000 students during his years at NC State.
“He lived his life so full,” Callanan said. “Every day he had a smile. Every day he had a project. He was one of those people who moved a mile a minute. You couldn’t help but be excited and dedicated in his presence. He just emanated that. He really represented the best of NC State.”
Dr. George T. Barthalmus in the classroom in 2001.
Barthalmus often talked about the importance of NC State remaining true to its mission as a land-grant university, particularly when it came to reaching out to students in rural areas who might not have the same high school academic record as students from urban areas with more resources.
“It would be a shame to see a North Carolina student interested in poultry science have to go to (the University of) Arkansas because he couldn’t get into NC State with an SAT score of 1,000,” Barthalmus said in a 2001 profile in NC State magazine. “I’m afraid - if we have fewer and fewer rural students - that curricula such as poultry science, food science, agronomy, soil science and crop science will fade away. These courses make NC State a land-grant university.”
Karl Smith ‘85, a Raleigh dentist, said Barthalmus was one of the best teachers he had at NC State. He recalled Barthalmus showing up for class with his motorcycle helmet, a big head of hair and his everpresent smile.
“I had him for vertebrate biology,” Smith said. “That can be really monotonous. You’re basically studying the innards of animals. But he would bring the animals to life that he was describing, and tell you why you were learning a particular thing. He would bring his courses to life.”
Lisa Brone ‘88, a physician in Boulder, Colorado, took an introductory zoology class with Barthalmus when she was a freshman at NC State. “He was very animated in the classroom,” she said. “He really enjoyed teaching. He wanted to keep the students awake. Tried to make learning interesting and fun. He was a great teacher.”
Dr. Catherine Gordon ‘86, director of the Bone Health Program at Children’s Hospital Boston and a medical professor at Harvard University, said Barthalmus opened her eyes as an undergraduate at NC State to the possibility of becoming a scientist and physician. She said Barthalmus continued to help after she left NC State.
“My important career achievements have his signature on them; looking back, almost every one is accompanied by a strong letter of support from Dr. B,” she said in an email.
Dr. W. Kent Guion ‘87, associate provost for multicultural affairs at Georgia Health Sciences University, spent three-and-a-half years working in Barthalmus’s lab. He said Barthalmus was never negative, and that being in the lab with him did not seem like work.
“I remember once spending an extra hour or so with Dr. B hunting down a snake that had managed to get out of its cage,” Guion said in an email. “It probably only would have taken 20 minutes to recapture but we spent most of the time laughing about the headlines that might appear in the newspaper if we were unsuccessful.”
Howard Cummings ‘75, an assistant district attorney in Wake County, got to know Barthalmus after Cummings left NC State. Cummings went fishing with Barthalmus on the Little Alligator River and goose hunting with him in Maryland.
“He always kept everybody entertained,” Cummings said. “He loved to laugh.”
Cummings said Barthalmus once helped his nephew, who was struggling to figure out what to do about graduate school. “George was more than willing to sit down and talk with him as a mentor,” Cumming said. “He really wanted students to excel.”
University administrators who worked with Barthalmus said he was a powerful advocate for students and undergraduate research.
“George thought the university was here to help everybody,” said Dr. John Ambrose, dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education Programs. “Anybody that came to him, he was willing to work with them. He reached out to any student who was interested in doing research.”
Dr. Ken Esbenshade, associate dean and director of academic programs at CALS, said Barthalmus had been helped by a mentor when he was a student and always looked for opportunities to serve in that role for students at NC State.
“He was student-centered in everything he did,” Esbenshade said.
Dr. Judy Day, who worked with Barthalmus as assistant director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, said Barthalmus helped students realize their potential. She said students would leave excited about new opportunities after meeting with Barthalmus.
“He believed in the abilities of students, the excitement of getting students engaged in learning,” Day said.
Day recalled the last email she received from Barthalmus, earlier this week. He was trying to see if there was any money in the budget for a student project.
“He was trying to get money for them to do research,” she said. “That was his passion.”
Barthalmus also wrote murder-mystery novels set on college campuses. The proceeds from his books supported the George T. and Marina T. Barthalmus Life Sciences Scholarship Endowment. Again, Barthalmus was trying to find a way to help students.
“George was a huge proponent of students,” Day said. “The entire university is going to miss his driving force.”
05.05.2011
NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson and Benny Suggs, executive director of the Alumni Association, present the 2011 Faculty Awards during a ceremony at the Park Alumni Center.
The Alumni Association honored 18 NC State professors this evening for their exemplary work as teachers, researchers and scholars.
NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson, Alumni Association President Judi Grainger, and Benny Suggs, executive director of the Alumni Association, presented the 2011 Faculty Awards during a ceremony and reception at the Park Alumni Center on Centennial Campus.
“These are faculty who encourage and inspire with enthusiasm and dedication,” Grainger said. “They ignite the curiosity of students, feed their thirst for knowledge and teach the value of cooperation and collaboration
“These are faculty who empower students to reach beyond rote learning, to think independently and expansively, and believe in themselves.”
Woodson described the faculty as “intellectual catalysts” and “the cornerstone of this university.”
Chad Jordan, undergraduate programs coordinator for the Department of Plant Biology, was one of four recipients of the Alumni Association Outstanding Teaching Award. He said the recognition had special meaning because students were involved in the selection process.
“That’s the highest honor a teacher can receive, when your students recognize you,” Jordan said. “That’s thrilling.”
Alexander Deiters, an associate professor of bio-organic chemistry, was one of three professors recognized with Alumni Association Outstanding Research Awards.
“It’s nice that NC State recognizes young professors and their research before they become established,” Deiters said. “That’s a nice touch. You don’t see that very often.”
The winners of the 2011 Faculty Awards are:
Alumni Association Distinguished Undergraduate Professors
- Medwick Byrd | Department of Forest Biomaterials | College of Natural Resources
- Cynthia L. Istook | Department of Textiles and Apparel, Technology and Management | College of Textiles
- Bong-Il Jin | Department of Graphic Design and Industrial Design | College of Design
- Russell E. King | E.P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering | College of Engineering
- James A. Knopp | Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Janet F. Spears | Department of Crop Science | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professors
- Hugh A. Devine | Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management | Department of Natural Resources
- John J. Seater | Department of Economics | Poole College of Management
Alumni Association Outstanding Research Awards
- Alexander Deiters | Department of Chemistry | College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
- Tony K. Stewart | Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Orlin D. Velev | Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | College of Engineering
Alumni Association Outstanding Extension and Outreach Awards
- John C. Begeny | Department of Psychology | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
- David Hinks | Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science | College of Textiles
- Lukasz M. Mazur | Business Development | Industrial Extension Service
Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Awards
- Kofi Boone | Department of Landscape Architecture | College of Design
- Christopher J. Crosbie | Department of English | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Chad V. Jordan | Department of Plant Biology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Dudley M. Marchi | Department of Foreign Languages and Literature | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
To view photos from the event, visit our Flickr page.
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