October 5, 2005

Jordan Family Gives $1.5 Million to NC State University

Former N.C. Lt. Gov. Robert B. Jordan III, Jack P. Jordan, Genie Jordan Ussery and Robert B. Jordan IV – the Jordan family – have given North Carolina State University a $1.5 million gift that will benefit the NC State College of Natural Resources.

The money will establish endowments in the North Carolina Forestry Foundation – $400,000 for the creation of the Jordan Family Graduate Fellowship in Natural Resource Innovation and $125,000 to the Jordan Family Undergraduate Honors Program. Additionally, $1 million of the gift will establish an endowed professorship in natural resource innovation.

The gift will provide academic support funding for the College of Natural Resources as well as financial support for exceptional graduate and undergraduate students working with the Jordan professor. This is the first funded program at NC State structured to provide a named professor with graduate and undergraduate students specifically recruited to work with and enhance the professor’s area of expertise.

“The unique nature of this gift will allow the college to focus a continuum of scholarship on specific natural resource issues in ways that will yield relevant value to the natural resource community,” asserts college dean J.B. Jett. “The Jordan family has long been an important part of this college, and we greatly appreciate this recent gift and all the other support they have given us over the years.”

“The Jordan family’s gift recognizes what makes NC State a great university – its people,” said Chancellor James L. Oblinger. “This gift will support the excellence of our faculty, as well as our undergraduate students and our graduate students. We appreciate all the Jordan family has done and continues to do for NC State. This gift is a reminder of their deep dedication to the mission of the university, their confidence in what we do, and their generosity. It will continue the great momentum we have built toward our $1 billion Achieve campaign goal.”

Four members of the Jordan family are NC State College of Natural Resources alumni:

• Robert B. Jordan III (forestry 1954) is the president of Jordan Lumber and Supply Company in Mt. Gilead, N.C. In addition to serving as lieutenant governor, he has served on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, is currently a member of the NC State Board of Trustees, and is the recipient of NC State’s highest non-academic honor, the Watauga Medal.
• Jack Jordan (wood technology 1963) is executive vice president and secretary of Jordan Lumber, served as chairman of the university’s Endowment Board, and is a former member of both the NC State Board of Trustees and the UNC Board of Governors. He is also a Watauga Medal recipient.
• Genie Jordan Ussery (recreation and park administration 1975) was instrumental in the early development of the women’s sports program at NC State, was the first captain of the varsity women’s basketball team and the first woman to score a basket in competition in Reynolds Coliseum. She also served on NC State Board of Visitors, the Alumni Association Board of Directors and the Arts NC State Board.
• Robert B. Jordan IV (wood science & technology 1984) is vice president and treasurer of Jordan Lumber and is a current board member of the NC Forestry Foundation, Inc.

“NC State and the College of Natural Resources have played a huge role in our lives,” says Jack Jordan. “We’re proud to have at least one graduate from each of the college’s departments. But the college is not just a part of our past. Every week someone at Jordan Lumber is in touch with someone in the college. They have been invaluable to the success of our company. This is our way of giving back.”