Gift from alumnus creates two engineering professorships at NC State

S. Frank Culberson, a chemical engineering alumnus, and his wife, Doris, have pledged $1 million over five years to establish two professorships in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University.

The gift will be supplemented by contributions from the state’s Distinguished Professorship Endowment Trust Fund, bringing the total donation to $1.5 million. One professorship will help recruit or retain a senior faculty member, while the second could be filled by another established professor or a rising star in the field.

“Frank and Doris Culberson have made a wonderful gift to this College, and we appreciate their longstanding support of our people and programs,” said Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering at NC State. “These professorship endowments continue to move the College forward by helping us recruit and retain some of the world’s finest engineering researchers and educators.”

Frank Culberson, a native of Siler City, NC, is chairman and a director of Rimkus Consulting Group, a 400-person forensic consulting and engineering firm headquartered in Houston, Texas. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from NC State in 1960 and received his MBA from the University of Houston in 1966. In 1987, he joined Rimkus, which investigates energy and construction accidents and disputes; residential and commercial problems; product failures, including major equipment and machinery; motor vehicle and marine accidents; and industrial fires and explosions.

“My NC State engineering education contributed a great deal to where I am today,” Frank Culberson said. “We like to support things that are worthwhile, and this is a worthy program in which to be involved.”

Frank Culberson also serves as president of the NC State Engineering Foundation, which works with alumni, friends and corporate partners to secure private financial support for the College. He has participated in various speaking engagements at NC State, including the dedication of Engineering Building I on Centennial Campus in 2005 and the commencement program for the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2007, and was named a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus by the College in 2002.  Doris Culberson, a native of Liberty, NC, earned a bachelor’s degree in English and education with a Texas Teaching Certificate from the University of Houston, and later taught at a Houston-area high school.

The couple previously endowed the S. Frank and Doris Culberson Academic Enhancement Fund in Chemical Engineering. Frank Culberson said the couple wanted to create professorships with their most recent gift because outstanding faculty can boost the College’s reputation and create new opportunities for students.

“World-class faculty members not only bring their own research projects to an institution, they also open doors and serve as outstanding mentors and role models for their students,” he said. “Endowed professorships are instrumental for moving the College and the Department forward.”