Message from the Dean

It’s amazing how time flies! It seems like we were just welcoming more than 3,000 new graduate students to NC State at our fall orientation, and already the semester is coming to a close.

A lot has been happening in the Graduate School over the past year, and one of the significant changes involves this magazine. You may have received a print copy of the Graduate School’s Think Magazine over the past couple of years. But now we’ve decided to join other NC State units in developing a digital magazine that will make our content available to a wider audience, especially to our international alumni and friends. This transition to a digital publication not only allows us to more efficiently use our resources and be more environmentally sustainable, but importantly it also gives us more flexibility to share additional resources – videos, photo galleries and even audio – with our audience. Our plan is to publish the digital magazine each fall. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions on this new format and ideas for future stories.

Our graduate students are doing amazing things in many different areas and in many different ways. In the current issue, you’ll meet some remarkable graduate students who are making a difference in the state and throughout the globe. You will read about a student who spent her summer supporting a rural North Carolina community and a recent graduate who shares her love of computing with rural high school and middle school students where access to computers and instruction can be a challenge. You’ll also learn about a group of graduate students who are using gaming strategies to enhance learning in high school statistics classes.

Dean Emeritus Bob Sowell and his wife, Suester, recognize the accomplishments of NC State graduate students and have continued their long-standing commitment to graduate education through a new endowment that provides funds for student conference travel. We are hoping to build this endowment, with your help, to afford even more opportunities for students to take part in this important component of their graduate education.

We have a lot to celebrate this year! Many of you, especially alumni from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Textiles, will likely remember Peggy Olive, our long-time liaison who celebrated her 50th work anniversary with the Graduate School this year. Read more about our “Peggypalooza” celebration of this incredible milestone. Additionally, as we start 2019 you’ll begin to hear about a major milestone for the Graduate School; we’ll recognize the 125th anniversary of graduate student success. The first graduate degree was an M.S. in chemistry, awarded at commencement on June 20, 1894, to Frank Theophilus Meacham. Meacham was also one of the first students to enroll as an undergrad at NC State, and, after completing his bachelor’s degree, he entered the new master’s program and completed it in one year. He went on to become superintendent of a U.S. Department of Agriculture research station near Statesville.

We never know where our graduate alumni will land and what impact you will have, but we know you are capable of great things by applying NC State’s Think and Do approach to your endeavors. We hope this magazine gives you a sense of what today’s graduate students are achieving and how the Graduate School is working diligently to provide leadership and resources in developing the next cohort of leaders.

Peter Harries
Interim Dean, The Graduate School