The Alumni Association is honoring 21 NC State professors for their excellent work in the classroom, the laboratory and the field. The professors will be recognized at a reception at the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center on May 3.
The winners of the 2012 Faculty Awards are:
Alumni Association Distinguished Undergraduate Professors
D. Barry Croom | Department of Agricultural and Extension Education | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Jeffrey A. Joines | Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science | College of Textiles
John R. Meyer | Department of Entomology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Craig M. Newmark | Department of Economics | College of Management
Maria Oliver-Hoyo | Department of Chemistry | College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
John K. Townsend | Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering | College of Engineering
Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professors
Y. Richard Kim | Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering
Hiller A. Spires | Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Counselor Education | College of Education
Alumni Association Outstanding Research Awards
Edward Bealmear Breitschwerdt | Department of Clinical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine
Jon-Paul Maria| Department of Material Science Engineering | College of Engineering
Ann Helen Ross| Department of Sociology and Anthropology | College Humanities and Social Sciences
Alumni Association Outstanding Extension and Outreach Awards
Jay F. Levine | Department of Population Health and Pathobiology | College of Veterinary Medicine
Donald E. Thrall | Department of Molecular Biomedical Science| College of Veterinary Medicine
Grady L. Miller |Department of Crop Science | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Awards
Jennifer L. Campbell | Department of Biology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Martha L. Crowley | Department of Sociology and Anthropology | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby | Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Counselor Education | College of Education
Michael D. Dickey | Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering | College of Engineering
Scott M. Ferguson | Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | College of Engineering
David W.W. Jones | Department of Agricultural and Extension Education | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Shevaun Neupert | Department of Psychology | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Clyde E. Chesney, a walk-on player who went on to earn an athletic scholarship and become the first African-American to start for NC State in football, died this week. He was 63.
Chesney, a Fayetteville, N.C., native who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at NC State, went on to a successful career as a university administrator. He retired in 2009 as the interim associate dean for extension at Tennessee State University.
Before that, Chesney served for 10 years as administrator of the Tennessee State University Cooperative Extension Program in Nashville. He was a 24-year veteran of the N.C. Cooperative Extension System, working as a district leader, natural resource specialist and 4-H specialist. He also worked as an assistant professor of recreation resources administration at NC State.
At NC State, Chesney excelled on the football field and in the classroom. He was on an academic scholarship when he walked on to the football team as a defensive player in the spring of 1969. He earned an athletic scholarship prior to the 1970 season and lettered at NC State from 1969-71. Chesney was selected to the 1971 ACC All-Academic Football Team. (Marcus Martin, a defensive back from Convington, Va., was the first African-American to play for NC State, coming off the bench in a game against South Carolina in 1968.)
Chesney earned a bachelor’s degree in conservation in 1972 and a master’s degree in recreation resources administration in 1975 before getting his doctorate in resource development at Michigan State University.
Chesney stayed connected to NC State, serving as president of the Black Alumni Society from 1987-89 and then on the board of directors of the Alumni Association.
Family will receive friends at 11 a.m. Monday at The Temple Church, 3810 Kings Lane, Nashville, Tennessee, 37218. Funeral services will follow at noon. Internment will be on Tuesday.
In lieu of flowers, charitable donations may be made to The Temple Church Endowment Fund or the NC 4-H Foundation (4-H Retirees Scholarships Fund).
The Alumni Association recognized some of NC State’s greatest stars this weekend, honoring 18 alumni and friends of the university for their professional and personal accomplishments and their continuing support of NC State, the Alumni Association and the Wolfpack Club.
“Their light, ignited by their NC State education and fueled by their own successes, reflects upon their alma mater, enhancing NC State’s reputation around the world,” Chancellor Randy Woodson said during the “Evening of Stars” at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary. “They unequivocally add value to an NC State degree.
“These are alumni who have made impacts around the globe; through television broadcasts and comprehensive websites, on Main Street and Wall Street; through rhyme and reason; in factories, laboratories, classrooms and boardrooms.”
The honorees at the 8th Annual NC State Evening of Stars were:
COLLEGE DISTINGUISHED AWARD RECIPIENTS
S. Elizabeth George ‘81 MS, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: As director of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Directorate for the U.S. Department of Defense, George is recognized as one of the nation’s leading authorities on chemical and biological warfare.
H. Connor Kennett Jr. ‘54, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Kennett was the longtime director of the poultry division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture before he retired in 1988. He was the first North Carolinian inducted into the National Poultry Hall of Fame.
David W. Evans ‘84, College of Design: Evans is an award-winning creative director, photographer and filmmaker who has worked for clients such as the National Geographic Society, Discovery Channel, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation.
Carl E. Harris ‘98 EDD, College of Education: A former superintendent of Durham (N.C.) Public Schools, Harris was named in 2010 as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. He also served as superintendent of the Franklin County (N.C.) Public School System.
Marshall D. Brain ‘89 MS, College of Engineering: Brain founded HowStuffWorks.com, an award-winning website that offers easy-to-understand explanations of how the world around us functions. Discovery Communications purchased the site for $250 million in 2007.
William H. “Bill” Dean ‘88, College of Engineering: Dean is president and CEO of M.C. Dean Inc., a company founded in 1949 by his grandfather. The company is the nation’s premier electrical design-build and systems integration firm, with 3,300 employees and clients that include Fortune I000 corporations, universities, high-tech companies and government agencies.
Robert R. Womack ‘59, College of Engineering: After working as a partner at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, Womack went on to serve as chairman, chief executive officer or president of four New York Stock Exchange companies.
Nora H. Shepard ‘05 MFA, College of Humanities and Social Sciences: Shepard is an award-winning poet who teaches creative writing and poetry at NC State. A longtime advocate of the arts, Shepard was the founding president of Arts Together, Raleigh’s only nonprofit multi-arts school.
Jon W. Bartley ‘69, Poole College of Management: Bartley is a professor of accounting at NC State who served as associate dean of the college from the time it was founded in 1993 until 1998, when he became dean. He served as dean until 2004, when he returned to the faculty.
Ed Leigh McMillan II ‘62, College of Natural Resources: McMillan is the managing trustee of the D.W. McMillan Trust and the D.W. McMillan Foundation, managing 40,000 acres of timber in Alabama and Florida, as well as the mineral rights and drilling sites for newly discovered oil reserves associated with the property.
David B. Montgomery, ‘68, ‘81 PhD, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences: Montgomery worked for 30 years as a plasma physicist at Becton, Dickinson and Company (now known as BD), developing new technology that resulted in 15 U.S. and five European patents.
F. Dale Hayes ‘78, College of Textiles: Hayes is vice president of global public relations for UPS, and was responsible for developing the company’s award-winning, memorable slogan about what “brown can do for you,” and redesigned its iconic brand mark to give UPS one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
Dr. David E. Anderson ‘88 BS, ‘90 DVM, College of Veterinary Medicine: Anderson is a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, where he is head of agriculture practices in the Department of Clinical Sciences. He is the founding director of the International Camelid Institute at The Ohio State University and the International Academy of Farm Animal Surgeons.
WOLFPACK CLUB AWARD
E.J. Poindexter ‘58, Ronnie Shavlick Award: Poindexter worked for more than 40 years for Barnhill Contracting Co., where he eventually became the company’s first vice president. Poindexter has been devoted to NC State athletics for more than 55 years, never taking a vacation that didn’t revolve around an NC State sporting event.
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARDS
Dennis G. Howard ‘67, Meritorious Service Award: Howard served for 14 years on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, serving on every board committee and providing leadership as the board’s president during a critical year of transition for the Alumni Association and its Caldwell Fellows program.
David S. Jolley ‘70 and Celia G. Jolley ‘83 MS, Meritorious Service Award: David, vice president of commercial lending at C&F Bank in Williamsburg, Va., was a founding member of the NC State Board of Visitors and has served on the NC State University Foundation and its endowment board. David and Celia, a retired educator, are members of the C.W. Dabney Lifetime Giving Society and the R.S. Pullen Society.
Ada B. Dalla Pozza, Award of Merit: As a NC State extension agent, faculty member, mentor and volunteer for more than 70 years, Ms. Ada (as she is known) provided leadership to improve the quality of life for families and helped create leadership institutes for rural women, many of whom became elected officials.
Daniel C. Gunter III ‘00, Outstanding Young Alumnus: Gunter, an associate attorney with DLA Piper, serves on the Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Council and is a member of the association’s board of directors as a representative of the Council on Athletics.
After a lifetime of accomplishments — building a successful lumber business, completing time in the military as a second lieutenant, being elected lieutenant governor of North Carolina — Robert “Bob” Jordan III ’54 told an NC State audience last week that, “This university has been the core of my success.”
As part of the “Amazing Alumni” series at D.H. Hill Library, Jordan spoke fondly of his time at NC State. Ned Cline, author of a new biography of Jordan, The Man from Mount Gilead, said the most difficult obstacle in writing the book was “getting [Bob] to talk about himself.”
Jordan said his favorite memories of NC State centered around his time with fraternity brothers at Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the leadership positions he held and the organizations he worked with.
Jordan talked about working as a student in D.H. Hill Library and his reaction to attending his first chemistry class, which was about five times the size of his whole high school graduating class in Mount Gilead. Jordan also talked about being in the ROTC — an experience he described as “the greatest thing that ever happened to [him].”
Jordan said he became very ill over Christmas break in his freshman year, which caused him to miss several weeks out of the following quarter (NC State was on a quarter sytem until 1954). He said he “had a time” keeping up with his classwork, but came on top in the end.
Jordan encouraged students to take advantage of professors, get involved and study hard to build the best academic experience. “I’m proud,” he said, “to be an NC State graduate.”
Dennis Byrd ‘69, the first conference player to be named All-ACC three times, will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame this weekend in South Bend, Ind.
Byrd was an All-American defensive lineman in 1966 and 1967, and is the fourth Wolfpack player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The North Carolina native died July 2010. He was a leader on NC State’s “White Shoes Defense,” which helped defeat third-ranked Houston in 1967 and held opponents to less than nine points per game that season.
The National Football Foundation nominates players for induction and enshrinement. “Dennis Byrd possessed a rare combination of size and agility that helped make history at NC State,” says Steve Hatchell, NFF’s president and CEO. “He played the game because he loved it, and there is nobody more deserving of a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame than Dennis Byrd.”
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
The Alumni Association will honor 18 NC State professors on Thursday for their outstanding work in the classroom, in the laboratory and in the field. We talked (via email) with some of the recipients about their work and the keys to being a successful professor.
Today we’re visiting with Hugh Devine, a professor in the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management Department. Devine is one of two faculty members honored this year as Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professors.
What is the key to being a successful teacher? To the extent I’ve had success, I would say at the graduate level the ability to display your passion for learning and experimentation. This is contagious, and when the entire group engages and contributes the results are amazing.
What gives you the greatest satisfaction as a professor? The sense of sharing the quest for knowledge with the graduate students. The process of hypothesizing, testing, evaluating and subsequently disseminating new information or techniques as a group can’t be matched. As the students progress and go on to establish their own programs the cycle is complete and that is delightful.
The Wolfpack is going green in their baseball game this evening with the Maryland Terrapins.
Recycling bins will be placed throughout Doak Field and volunteers will do a sweep of the stadium after the game to sort any waste left behind. Coca-Cola is giving out koozies made of recycled materials for the first two hundred people through the gates for the 6:30 p.m. game.
They are still looking for volunteers, who will receive NC State t-shirts, gift cards from Zoe’s Kitchen and/or Harris-Teeter and items from University Dining. Email wrrstudent@ncsu.edu to volunteer.
The Alumni Association will honor 18 NC State professors on May 5 for their outstanding work in the classroom, in the laboratory and in the field. We talked (via email) with some of the recipients about their work and the keys to being a successful professor.
Today we’re visiting with Medwick Byrd, an assistant professor in forest biomaterials and the undergraduate coordinator for the Paper Science and Engineering program. Byrd is one of six faculty members recognized this year as Alumni Association Distinguished Undergraduate Professors.
What is the key to being a successful teacher? You have to respect your students, while at the same time setting high expectations for them. Most of all, however, is that you have to WANT to be in the classroom, and you have to let your joy of teaching permeate everything that you do in the classroom and out of it.
What gives you the greatest satisfaction as a professor? Two things, actually. Being around students every day and being exposed to their infectious energy and zest for life keeps me feeling vibrant. The second thing is knowing that, every day, I have the opportunity to have a direct and positive influence on a young person’s life.
Are there any particular professors or teachers who inspired you to become a teacher? I am actually a product of the program that I now teach in … and even back then, 30 years ago, it was evident that the pulp and paper faculty truly cared about my success and truly wanted me to learn this amazing discipline. Their attention and care, in the middle of a huge campus, really made big impression on me.
There’s a certain symmetry to Samuel Mace’s connection - and that of his family - to NC State.
Mace ‘61, of Delaware, spoke to us about his family’s unique history with NC State when he returned to campus last week for the 50th Anniversary Reunion of the Class of 1961.
Mace also talked about his time as a student at NC State and his work for the Pinetum, which was then the student journal at the College of Forestry.
Finally, Mace talked about the unique cover on the Pinetum.
Clyde E. Chesney, a walk-on player who went on to earn an athletic scholarship and become the first African-American to start for NC State in football, died this week. He was 63.
The Alumni Association recognized some of NC State’s greatest stars this weekend, honoring 18 alumni and friends of the university for their professional and personal accomplishments and their continuing support of NC State, the Alumni Association and the Wolfpack Club.
COLLEGE DISTINGUISHED AWARD RECIPIENTS
After a lifetime of accomplishments — building a successful lumber business, completing time in the military as a second lieutenant, being elected lieutenant governor of North Carolina — Robert “Bob” Jordan III ’54 told an NC State audience last week that, “This university has been the core of my success.”
three times, will be enshrined in the 
The Alumni Association will honor 18 NC State professors on Thursday for their outstanding work in the classroom, in the laboratory and in the field. We talked (via email) with some of the recipients about their work and the keys to being a successful professor.
The Wolfpack is going green in their baseball game this evening with the Maryland Terrapins.
The Alumni Association will honor 18 NC State professors on May 5 for their outstanding work in the classroom, in the laboratory and in the field. We talked (via email) with some of the recipients about their work and the keys to being a successful professor.
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