20th Annual College of Engineering Welcome Event

Thursday, August 20
4:45 p.m.

Keynote Speaker:

Edward P. Fitts
BSIE ‘61

A native of Littleton, Ed Fitts is the former president and CEO of Dopaco Inc., a company he founded in 1979. He began his career with Sonoco Products Company, where he served 18 years, eventually becoming vice president of paperboard packaging. In 1979 he purchased Sonoco’s folding carton operation in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and renamed the business unit Dopaco. He attributes much of his success to the foundation he received at NC State, where he earned his bachelor of science in industrial engineering in 1961.

Ed and his wife Deb are members of NC State’s Alexander Quarles Holladay Lifetime Giving Society, which includes the University’s most generous supporters.

In 2005, a transformational gift ensured that NC State’s Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) became the first endowed academic department in the history of the University of North Carolina system. Ed developed an associated business plan for the department to support its advance to the top echelon.

Support over the years for industrial and systems engineering has also included the establishment of seven endowments: Edward P. Fitts Scholarship, Edward P. Fitts Distinguished Professorship, A. Doug Allison Distinguished Professorship, Clifton A. Anderson Distinguished Professorship, Dopaco Inc. Distinguished Professorship, Edgar S. Woolard Distinguished Professorship, and the Edward P. Fitts Fellowship Endowment. In addition to their support through all of these efforts, the Fittses have made many other gifts to funds supporting teaching, learning, research, and more.

Their remarkable leadership culminated in a historic gift to the College of Engineering. Together with Ed and Peggy Woolard, they have led the way for the college’s newest building, Fitts-Woolard Hall, which was completed on Aug. 3. This new building will enrich learning opportunities, catalyze innovation, and transform engineering throughout North Carolina and beyond. And it will be a tangible demonstration of the Fittses’ broad legacy of philanthropy for years to come.

Ed has also given generously of his time to his alma mater. He organized and served for over 10 years as chair of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Advisory Board and served on the board of directors for the NC State Engineering Foundation 2003-11.

He is the recipient of the university’s highest non-academic award, the Watauga Medal, as well as the Industrial and Systems Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award and the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award. Ed is a lifetime member of the NC State Alumni Association.