The Catalytic Convergence
Ten years from now—when the students, faculty and staff of NC State’s College of Engineering consider their college’s remarkable ascent; when legislators measure the phenomenal impact the college continues to have on the state’s economy and standard of living; when corporations make important decisions to strategically invest with the college for its pipeline of talent, research prowess, and outreach success—this will be considered the moment in time when the college soared to seize its fullest potential. The propellers are these:
- The college’s new Dean, Louis Martin-Vega, arrived in the summer of 2006. Martin-Vega brings to the college an infectious enthusiasm for engineering and its primacy as society’s problem-solving force, a deep appreciation of the college’s rich history and the advantages it already possesses, and a sharp vision for the limitless future of this place and its people.
- A Board of Directors for the NC State Engineering Foundation that shares the Dean’s vision and is committed to making sure the college achieves that vision through enhanced relationships with donors, alumni, friends, corporations, and decisionmakers.
- The continuing escalation in the talents and abilities possessed by students and faculty, two groups that inspire one another to achieve greatness in the realms of scholarship, research, outreach and innovation that constitute engineering at NC State.
- The tipping point is the college’s transition to Centennial Campus, a national model for seeding technological innovation through the convergence of university research, industry and government all within state-of-the-art facilities. Perhaps no other university setting nationwide so effectively encourages basic research to achieve real-world application.
To take fullest advantage of this moment and achieve our ambitious goals, additional support to build the college’s endowment will be required from the college’s stakeholders—the College of Engineering at NC State currently lags behind many of its peers in total endowment. In higher education, nothing is more important to the future than endowments, the building blocks for both institutional stability and innovation.
This is as true for public colleges as for private. Taxpayer funding now accounts for only 41% of the university’s expenditures. Endowment provides flexibility where state funding falls short, and allows the college to take advantage of emerging opportunities.
We invite you to honor the private philanthropy and public investment that have lifted the college to its current position, become a catalyst for the college, and participate in our shared, unlimited future.
Content on this site is provided by the NC State Engineering Foundation, Inc.