NC State Engineering
Spring 2009 Online Magazine

Foundation Spotlight

Staying close and giving back

Through his membership in the Dean’s Circle, Steven Craig is among the young alumni helping the College prosper.

Steven Craig has been involved with the College of Engineering, one way or another, since he was in high school. He’s been a research assistant, undergraduate student, graduate student and volunteer.

He recently added another title: Dean’s Circle donor.

Craig, 29, is among the youngest members of the Dean’s Circle, a fast-growing cadre of dedicated supporters who make up the College’s leadership giving society. Members contribute at least $1,000 to the College each year, support that provides scholarships to help NC State recruit top students.

In a tough economy, that support is even more important to the College.

“Students might not realize it,” Craig said, “but they’re relying on people like the Dean’s Circle donors to help the College of Engineering get through this.”

Dean’s Circle giving has been increasing. In 2007-08, the number of members grew from 112 to 149, an increase of 33 percent. College officials expect a similar increase in 2008-09 as potential supporters learn more about the College’s top-flight research and education programs and its growing international reputation.

“It’s a competitive environment out there for engineering talent, so having attractive scholarship packages available makes it more likely that NC State will land the top students,” said David Mainella, associate executive director of development and alumni relations for the College. “Becoming a Dean’s Circle member is one of the best investments a supporter can make.”

NC State has been part of Craig’s life for more than 15 years. As a high school student growing up in Cary, he knew he wanted to study engineering but was wary of attending college so close to home. But when a high school advisor helped him land a job in NC State’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, he took it.

The work wasn’t thrilling — he conducted tests on silicon wafers and other microelectronic devices that NC State was developing.

“It was mundane routine work that the Ph.D.s doing their dissertations didn’t have to do,” he said, laughing. “They had me to do it.”

But, he said, conducting research at such a young age helped him prepare for his college engineering courses.

“When you go in as a freshman knowing what the end product will be, it’s a lot easier to do the coursework,” he said.

While in college, he took an internship with Carolina Power & Light (which became Progress Energy) in downtown Raleigh. The job quickly blossomed into a position that sometimes required 30 hours of work per week, so when he had the opportunity in December 2000 to graduate early and take a full-time job with the company, he took it. He was eventually promoted and transferred to Wilmington, where he moved up through the ranks.

Then, in 2007, Craig attended a “Meet the Dean” event featuring Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega, the new dean of engineering at NC State. Craig hadn’t been involved much with NC State since his graduation in 2000, but just getting the invitation signaled renewed interest by the school. He was impressed with Martin-Vega’s presentation and his vision for NC State becoming the top public engineering college in the nation.

“There was something different about how Dr. Martin-Vega came across, and what his mission was and what his focus was,” Craig said.

So, later that year, Craig became a Dean’s Circle member. He’s also giving back by making presentations to students and helping out the E-Council, the college’s student leadership group.

“There are a lot of ways to give,” Craig said. “If your finances aren’t going to allow you to give at a certain level today, then get in front of these students. You start to remember what brought you to NC State in the first place.”

Craig has since returned to Raleigh and now works as a shift supervisor for Progress Energy. His involvement with NC State reached a new level in January when he started taking classes toward a master’s degree in renewable energy.

The degree is being developed as part of NC State’s new FREEDM Systems Center, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center working on ways to turn the nation’s power grid into an “Internet for Energy.”

Craig says the center is another way that NC State is building excitement around its engineering programs. That excitement is generating many opportunities for top students and researchers, he said, but those opportunities come with a price.

Through his membership in the Dean’s Circle, he said, “I can help a couple students pay for a semester.”