Welcome Back, Wolfpack!
To NC State Faculty, Staff and Students,
This is my favorite time of year! Yes, it is still hot, but the return of over 34,000 students makes it feel like spring. It is a great time to be part of the Wolfpack family, as excitement of NC State’s 125th birthday continues.
In celebrating this milestone, recall the transformations of summer – Talley revealing itself a little more every day, the Hunt Library coming to life on Centennial Campus and the newly renovated Sullivan Hall – and look forward to fall’s time-honored traditions – Wolfpack Welcome Week, Convocation and Homecoming. New this year, we will close down Hillsborough Street August 18th for Packapolooza, which promises to be a festive celebration to start the semester.
We have a number of new faces greeting the Class of 2016. Dr. Mike Mullen joined the Wolfpack family as Vice Chancellor and Dean of the new Division of Academic and Student Affairs. Later this Fall, Dr. Richard Linton will arrive from Ohio State University as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Dr. Mary Watzin will join us from the University of Vermont as the Dean of the College of Natural Resources. Please join me in welcoming these tremendous leaders to NC State!
We celebrated another tremendous year in fund raising at NC State with alumni and friends committing more than $110 million to the university, a 4% increase over last year’s historic high. It is great to see this tremendous commitment and to know that these funds will be available to help ensure our future as a leading public research university.
The summer included a very exciting run by the Wolfpack Baseball team in the NCAA tournament, which capped off a very strong year in intercollegiate athletics. Athletic Director Debbie Yow has overseen the largest two-year improvement in Director’s Cup rankings in ACC history, moving from 89th to 37th place. The “Pack is Back” and is a force to be reckoned with in the ACC. Don’t miss NC State’s football debut in Atlanta against Tennessee August 31.
Our students have been hard at work this summer. Three students traveled to Hollywood in June to take home the Best Picture award at the Campus Movie Fest. Others traveled around the world, continued their studies or impacted communities across the United States through internships at non-profits, government agencies and global companies like IBM and Disney.
The faculty and staff have been extraordinarily busy this summer. From research to teaching to leading students on study trips abroad to the preparation of grant proposals to the advising of graduate students, faculty continue to lead NC State forward. In addition, our tremendous staff have been taking care of the university – planning events, closing out the fiscal year, preparing the budget, keeping the campus clean and safe and improving facilities and spaces. Without them, NC State simply could not function, and because of them, we were recently recognized as the 10th best College or University to work for by Business Research Guide.
As for me, I have been busy with legislative matters, alumni and donor visits, meetings on campus and around the state and a brief international trip to Israel as part of a delegation of University Presidents to learn more about the innovative culture that leads the world in start-up companies per capita.
For those who have been away this summer, welcome back. For those new to NC State, we are proud you have joined our family. Finally, for those of us who have been here this summer, welcome to the 2012-2013 academic year. It promises to be an exciting 125th anniversary for NC State.
Randy Woodson
Chancellor
NC State University
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