May 10, 2002

NC State Honors Five Faculty with Holladay Medals

The North Carolina State University Board of Trustees has awarded the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence to five faculty members in recognition of their outstanding careers at NC State.

This year's honorees are Drs. Ellis B. Cowling of Raleigh, University Distinguished Professor at Large; Robert F. Davis of Raleigh, professor of materials science and engineering; John M. Riddle of Raleigh, alumni distinguished professor of history; John G. Vandenbergh of Raleigh, professor of zoology; and George H. Wahl Jr. of Raleigh, professor of chemistry.

The Holladay Medal is the highest honor bestowed on a faculty member by the trustees and the university. The medals will be presented during the university's Honors Baccalaureate and Celebration of Academic Excellence, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 16, in Stewart Theatre, Talley Student Center.

The featured speaker at the Honors Baccalaureate will be Dr. James Comer, the Maurice Falk professor of child psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center. Founder and director of the Comer School of Development project and associate dean of the Yale Medical School, he will also receive an honorary degree from NC State during commencement on May 18.

The Holladay Medal is named for Col. Alexander Quarles Holladay, the university's first president. It recognizes the contributions of faculty members in teaching, research and service. Winners receive a medal and a framed certificate, and their names are inscribed on a plaque in the NC State Faculty Senate chambers.

Dr. Ellis B. Cowling has had a distinguished career of 37 years as a scientist and teacher at NC State. His contributions in research and his public policy activities have been recognized by many state and national awards and honors, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and subsequently to its governing council; the Barrington Memorial Award for Biological Research; Society of American Foresters; and the Distinguished Citizen Award of the National Park Service. He is also a recipient of the Sigma Xi Research Award and the Oliver Max Gardner Award of the Consolidated University of North Carolina for "contributions to the welfare of the human race." Cowling has also been a leading voice in encouraging the university to redefine its outreach responsibilities to the state of North Carolina for the new century.

For nearly 30 years, Dr. Robert Davis has been a member of the faculty and has served NC State as a devoted teacher, a nationally and internationally renowned investigator and a founding member and the only director of the Materials Research Center. He has more than 500 peer-reviewed publications and has given more than 150 invited presentations around the world. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Ceramic Society. He has won many awards for his research activities, including the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Extension; Collegiate Inventor of the Year for 1999; and the Fulrath Award for Outstanding Research.

In his 37 years at NC State, Dr. John Riddle has had a distinguished career as a scholar, teacher and program administrator. The author of 49 different refereed articles and books in the field of historical pharmacology, he has presented more than 50 learned lectures at national and international meetings. Twice named Alumni Distinguished Professor for both teaching and research, he has been recognized for his outstanding scholarship through the awarding of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, the Danforth Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He received the Urdang International Medal from the American Institute for the History of Pharmacy, and was named a member of the International Academy for the History of Pharmacy in 1991.

Dr. John Vandenbergh, in his 25 years NC State, has made significant contributions in research, teaching and service. He led the effort to fund, design and construct the Biological Resources Facility and the Yates Mill Pond Historic Site. He is a founding member of the W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology and has made significant contributions to our understanding of the physiology of puberty through his discovery of the "Vandenbergh Effect" in the maturation of animals. He has also made major contributions to National Science Policy through his service on committees of the National Research Council/National Academies of Sciences. He co-authored the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, "which has become the international standard for laboratory animal husbandry, and a report on "Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health: Does Sex Matter," endorsed by the Society for Women's Health Research.

Dr. George H. Wahl Jr. has given 38 years of outstanding service in teaching, research and outreach to the university, its faculty and its students. Professor Wahl distinguished himself early in his career as a chemist through his research and publications, for which he was honored by a number of university and national awards. His love of students has been richly reflected over the years in his very popular introductory and advanced chemistry courses and his sincere commitment to student mentoring and advising. His research has been recognized with the Sigma Xi Research Award and his teaching excellence by election to the Academy of Outstanding Teachers. He was appointed to the National ACS Chemical Safety Committee and edited three editions of the national standard, "Safety in the Academic Chemistry Laboratory." During his long tenure at NC State, he was twice elected by his colleagues to serve in the Faculty Senate. In 1997, Wahl became the first Chair of the Faculty of the University to be popularly elected by the general faculty, and served a two-year term in that capacity.

Media Contacts: Dr. John Wall, 919/515-4162 or john_wall@ncsu.edu.
Paul K. Mueller, News Services, 919/515-3470 or paul_k_mueller@ncsu.edu.

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