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Alumnus makes $1.5 million planned gift for scholarships, fellowships

A North Carolina State University engineering alumnus and his wife have made a planned gift of about $1.5 million for scholarships and fellowships in the College of Engineering.

The estate gift from Gordon and Louise Smith will provide funding for both undergraduate and graduate students. Gordon Smith graduated from NC State in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with an aeronautical option.

“We are very grateful to Gordon and Louise Smith for this generous gift in support of the College and its students,” said Dr. Louis A. Martin Vega, dean of the College of Engineering. “This endowment will help NC State continue to attract the brightest and most energetic students who will become the leaders of tomorrow.”

The Gordon L. and Louise B. Smith Scholarship will fund multiple scholarships for students throughout the College of Engineering, while the Harry L. Brown Memorial Scholarship in Textile Engineering will be awarded to a textile engineering student.

The Brown scholarship is named in honor of Louise Smith’s father, an NC State textile manufacturing alumnus who was president of his class and starred in basketball and baseball for the University. All of the scholarships will be awarded to graduates of North Carolina high schools.

Two Gordon L. and Louise B. Smith Fellowship awards will be available, one for a graduate student in aerospace engineering, and another for a graduate student in any engineering discipline.

Gordon Smith grew up in High Point, NC. After graduating from NC State, he began a long and successful career with Pratt & Whitney, which designs, manufactures and services aircraft engines. Smith worked in a number of positions and locations during his 32 years with the company, eventually rising to vice president of commercial engine sales in North and South America before retiring in 1992.

The Smiths made their gift so future students could have the same opportunities.

“NC State gave me so much that allowed me to really reach my dreams, and we wanted to make the same thing available to the younger students coming along,” Gordon Smith said. “They have big dreams, too, and we want to help those students achieve them.”