September 23, 2005

NC State Announces $1 Billion Fund-Raising Campaign

North Carolina State University Chancellor James L. Oblinger and Board of Trustees Chairman Wendell Murphy today launched the largest universitywide comprehensive fund-raising campaign — Achieve! The Campaign for NC State — announcing a goal of $1 billion. NC State is one of fewer than 50 universities in the nation to undertake a campaign of $1 billion or more.

As a part of campaign kick-off festivities, Oblinger also announced one of the largest gifts ever given to the university, a $20 million gift from the R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation to establish the Randall B. Terry Jr. Companion Animal Medical Center, named the late High Point businessman and philanthropist.

The chancellor also announced that Edward P. Fitts, a 1961 engineering alumnus and CEO of Dopaco, has pledged $10 million to endow the Department of Industrial Engineering. This commitment is the largest gift ever received by the College of Engineering from an individual donor and the largest endowed gift to academics in NC State University’s history.

Since the quiet phase of the campaign began in July 2001, the university has raised almost $800 million, roughly 80 percent of the goal. The campaign will continue until June 2008.

“At NC State, we expect to be innovative in all that we do — in teaching and learning, in research, and in extension and engagement,” Oblinger said. “We must never be satisfied with yesterday’s accomplishments. Achieve! The Campaign for NC State will strengthen our tradition of innovation.”

Private gifts raised during the campaign will enable NC State to:

• Provide scholarships and fellowships to remain affordable and accessible to deserving undergraduate, graduate, and professional students ($192 million)
• Hire, retain, and support faculty members of distinction who teach, create, and discover ($ 78 million)
• Fund research that will lead to new knowledge, new industries, a strong economy, and an improved quality of life for all North Carolinians ($275 million)
• Assure unrestricted flexible fundings that will enable leaders at NC State to meet challenges and seize promising opportunities($ 37 million)
• Build and improve facilities to inspire and support a talented and diverse campus community ($330 million)
• Provide additional programs and outreach support that educate students and serve the people of North Carolina and beyond ($88 million)

“NC State is a community of achievers,” Oblinger said to an audience of donors, students, university employees, community members and other supporters gathered at McKimmon Center. “Private gifts given during this campaign will help solidify NC State’s reputation as a national center for learning, with award-winning faculty, groundbreaking research, unique economic development partnerships, and a diverse learning environment that creates globally ready leaders well-equipped to succeed in the world.”

“While some benefits of this campaign will be immediate, this fund-raising campaign will help ensure the future of NC State,” said Bob Jordan, former lieutenant governor and member of the Campaign Executive Committee. “We have established ourselves among the nation’s best public universities. By accomplishing our goals in this campaign, NC State can aspire to even higher levels of distinction.”

The university’s 10 colleges, the NCSU Libraries, the Alumni Association and Arts NC State have all established goals within the six parameters of the campaign.

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Larry Nielsen told the audience, “NC State makes a broad contribution to the quality of life in North Carolina. Our undergraduate and graduate students are bright, talented and continue to earn competitive national recognition. Our faculty are dedicated to a broad range of scholarship that is relevant today and for the future.”

NC State has a tradition of listening to the needs of the people of the state and nation, and responding with relevant, real-world solutions. For example, the university’s contributions to the state’s economy include the creation of more than 50 spin-off companies and 13,000 jobs, as well as more than 500 patents. The university is ranked 17th in the nation for launching start-up companies, and sixth among public universities based on the strength of its patent portfolio.

The university is the fifth-best overall value among the nation’s public universities, second in total state and local research funding among national research universities, seventh among national research universities in industry-funded research, 12th among national research universities in non-federal funded research, and 30th nationally in total expenditures for research and development.