College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Once home of the world’s largest manufacturer of sheets and towels, Kannapolis, N.C., suffered economic devastation when the town’s traditional textile industry bottomed out in the late 20th century. Hope for recovery seemed unlikely. Then David H. Murdock returned to town with a vision. With the transformative goal of revitalizing Kannapolis and establishing the former mill town as a hotbed of nutrition-related scientific research, Murdock, owner of Dole Food Company, Inc., and former owner of Kannapolis-based Cannon Mills, launched the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) in collaboration with universities across the state.

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Come Spring 2009, you will not have to strain to hear the golf claps ’round campus and on the greens of the new Arnold Palmer-designed golf course on Centennial Campus. NC State’s men’s and women’s varsity golf teams and coaches will no doubt cheer for their new, permanent home at the PGA-sanctioned Lonnie Poole Golf Course. But they won’t be the only ones applauding. The course also will serve as an ongoing research site for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ number-one ranked turfgrass program as well as living laboratory for the College of Natural Resources’ nationally recognized PGA Professional Golf Management program.

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Whether it’s dealing with a drought, managing animal agriculture issues or educating the public and the agricultural industry about food safety and processing, the programs sponsored by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service have benefited from the Campaign for Counties, a comprehensive fund-raising effort that aims to establish private support for local NC State Cooperative Extension centers in every NC county and the Qualla Boundary of the Cherokee Nation.

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Ruby C. McSwain and Bobby Wilder, two longtime volunteers and dedicated friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum, expressed their love for nature’s beauty and the university with generous contributions of both time and money, helping raise the roof of the Arboretum’s fund-raising campaign.

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Since its inception in 2005, the Family and Consumer Sciences Foundation has attracted more than $750,000 in new funding… Landscapes of Opportunity has resulted in land and cash gifts totaling in excess of $82.4 million for endowed professorships, internships, scholarships and enhancement funds… CALS donors have created more than 120 new student endowments and annual awards, supporting undergraduates and graduate students throughout the College… Ray E. Hollowell, Jr. has committed to the establishment of the first fully funded named chair at NC State University. The $2.5 million endowment will create the Ray E. Hollowell, Sr., Distinguished Professorship… William (Bill) White’s gift of more than $4 million will include funding for research at LaPaz, the first sturgeon/caviar production facility in North Carolina… Chris Collins and John McNeill of Southern Vines, LLC, the Cline Family Vineyards of California and the Jacuzzi Family from Sonoma, Italy, partnered to give a $17.1 million conservation easement gift that benefits the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Little Tennessee Land Trust.

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