IMPACT REPORT
On behalf of all of us at CALS, thank you for your support. In Fiscal Year 2024, you’ve contributed more than $58 million to support CALS students, faculty, research and Extension efforts.
As a result, CALS is on the front lines of future-proofing the food supply and advancing technologies that revolutionize how healthy food nourishes our communities.
Thanks to generous donors like you, we awarded 950 scholarships last year to develop tomorrow’s workforce and students received hands-on training in data science, artificial intelligence and more to address emerging agricultural challenges, like shrinking farmland.
Through your support, we delivered more than 26,000 Extension education programs last year statewide, and over 180,000 youth gained employability and career-readiness skills through North Carolina 4-H and FFA.
Additionally, Extension personnel have been instrumental in helping Western North Carolina’s counties recover and rebuild their farms, communities and livelihoods. Our Extension teams will continue assessing needs and finding ways to revitalize our communities and our farms.
Philanthropy isn’t just about giving; it’s about empowering the next generation, driving resiliency and innovation, and championing agriculture and life sciences. Philanthropy brings us together as a community, and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of the ‘Pack with you.
Here’s to an extraordinary New Year, and as always — Go ‘Pack!
$295,336,167
Total Endowment Value as of FY24
878
Total Number of Endowments Benefiting CALS
52
Total Number of Endowments Benefiting Graduate Students
7,922
Total Number of Gifts in FY24
$58,149,453
Total Donations Received in FY24
BECAUSE OF YOUR SUPPORT
#1 On College/ Unit Donation Leaderboard
1,670 Total Donors to CALS
468 Alumni Donors
38% Increase in Giving From 2019 >
$254,816 Outright Gifts on Day of Giving
$6.8M+ Total Amount Raised for CALS
$46.6M+ NC State Total Amount Raised
Alumna Beth Pugh Farrell on getting involved, giving back and staying connected.
Beth Farrell, the granddaughter of dairy and burley tobacco farmers who were closely connected to their local Extension office, had a relationship with NC State long before she became an undergraduate student in the late 1990s. Her dad instilled in her that college was necessary, and that she would have to find a way to pay for it.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/beth-farrell-impact
“The number of people who invested in me through scholarships and encouragement helped me find the right path at NC State and eventually steered me to the animal science program.”
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
26,000+ Extension Educational Programs Provided Statewide $2.1B Extension’s Annual Economic Impact on North Carolina 1,000+ NC State Extension Personnel 102 Local and Statewide Extension Centers
27:1
Economic Return on Annual Government Investments
188,255 Total Number of Youth Participated in 4-H Activities
NC State’s Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center Turns 60
Six decades ago, philanthropist Betsy Penn envisioned a place where young people from Rockingham County and throughout North Carolina could come to enjoy the outdoors and learn about nature. She constructed a facility on nearly 200 acres of forests, lakes, streams and fields outside Reidsville in Rockingham County and donated it to the state of North Carolina in 1964 in honor of her late husband, Jefferson Penn.
Now known as the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Educational Center, the facility – operated by NC State University –provides research-based educational experiences that develop the life skills necessary for youth to become productive members of society.
State Senate Leader Phil Berger, Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center Director Stacy Burns, CALS Dean Garey Fox, and North Carolina Rep. Reece Pyrtle with certificates presented to the center to commemorate the 60th anniversary.
“Camp has the power to change somebody. It’s immersive. It’s experiential. You’re living it, so you have to be brave in a variety of ways. These are real things that create self-efficacy, that can be referred back to for the rest of your life.”
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/betsy-jeff-penn-impact
Stacy Burns, Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center Director
CALS Alumni Power Career
Success for Students
When NC State University undergraduate Sarah Bailey and alumna Nicole Youngblood first met at N.C. Cooperative Extension’s Johnston County Center, it seemed like destiny.
Bailey, from Mooresville, North Carolina, enrolled at NC State through a dual enrollment community college program and is now majoring in soil science with a minor in extension education.
Transferred credits gave her an academic edge. However, she needed to gain the networking skills to get her plugged into CALS and pursue her career interests.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/cass-impact
“CASS helped me blossom and meet so many people, and now I feel well-connected after my first year. Nicole invited me to several events, and networking built my confidence.”
Sarah Bailey, NC State student
Above: CALS alumna Nicole Youngblood (left) and undergraduate Sarah Bailey (right).
598 CALS Students Who Received Scholarships in FY24
917
Total Awards Made
$1.9M+ Scholarship Funds Awarded in FY24
3,811 Students in CALS
Hardworking Heroine
As an undergraduate, Callie Lewis Bryan challenged herself to try for scholarships she felt were a stretch. She received a full ride scholarship, funded by a gift from Dan Warren and was the first recipient of the Jarvis Warren Family Animal Industry Scholarship Endowment, named in honor of Dan’s father.
“It wasn’t anything like a grand gesture. It was an email, and I was at work and I called my mom, crying, to tell her I actually received a fullride scholarship from NC State. It was amazing! And it was a privately donated scholarship from CALS.”
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/lewis-bryan-impact
“I called my mom, crying, to tell her I actually received a full-ride scholarship from NC State...and it was a privately donated scholarship from CALS.”
Callie Lewis Bryan and her grandfather show off their NC State class rings at a campus ceremony. He graduated in 1969 and she graduated in 2022.
A Decade of Opening Doors
Since Joe and Debbie Gordon launched the Farm-to-Philanthropy Program in 2014, more than 700 students have gained access to NC State and CALS through the spring admissions program. In that time, the endowment has also provided a full-ride scholarship to four students. The goal for the Gordons’ initial $3 million gift was to expand access to NC State for qualified students and provide financial support to help some students graduate with limited debt. The Gordons hope to see the program and endowment grow so more students, particularly those from rural communities, have the opportunity to join the CALS community.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/openingdoors
“If
people can give at whatever level they’re comfortable, the numbers don’t seem so hard to achieve. The more people that participate and give, the more good can come from the program and the more students have a chance to be able to graduate debt free.”
Debbie Gordon
CHAMPIONING AGRICULTURE
CALS Departments and Programs Represented
Poultry Science Celebrates 100 Years at NC State
NC State University is celebrating a century of poultry research and collaboration with an eye on the next 100 years of the Prestage Department of Poultry Science.
Ongoing work to establish a future-proof food supply, prepare graduates for indemand jobs and advance research on sustainable production took center stage at a recent gathering at the Park Alumni Center to mark the milestone anniversary.
Today North Carolina is the nation’s top poultry state, driving exports and job growth. The state houses both operations from large companies and small producers that are a staple of many communities. More than 32,000 small egg producers, located in almost every county, collectively produce over 500,000 eggs daily, helping support local communities.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/pdps-100-impact
“The department has never been afraid to experiment with new technologies and to push boundaries. We’ve needed a lot of help from our industry partners, sister universities and public agencies.”
Frank
Siewerdt, Prestage department head < Poultry Science at NC State University (circa 1920 to 1949). Courtesy of University Archives Photograph Collection
Garey Fox, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, listens during a conversation at the 100 Years of Poultry Science event.
“I hope we can continue to provide opportunities for students to become prepared in ways that are important to them to live the life that they want to live,and in a way that their head and their heart can come together.”
Celebrating 100 years of Crop and Soil Sciences
The NC State University Department of Crop and Soil Sciences has a rich 100year history of growing agricultural and environmental sciences in North Carolina and around the globe, but the department has never rested on its laurels. Its focus has been, and will remain, on the future.
Professor Bob Patterson, who was a student in the 1950s and joined the faculty in the 1960s, hopes that a common thread from the department’s earliest days will carry forward.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/css-100-impact
Bob Patterson with his students,1970s > Photo courtesy of Crop Science, A Harvest of 100 Years, P.H. Harvey.
Bob Patterson, CALS Tailgate 2024.
DRIVING RESILIENCY THROUGH INNOVATION
NC State Breaks Ground on New Apiculture Research Facility
The future for bees — and the food supply — is brighter with the recent groundbreaking of NC State University’s new 5,000-square-foot apiculture research facility. With bees’ health and well-being under threat from a myriad of factors, ranging from mites and disease to climate and weather, it couldn’t come at a better time.
University officials, state legislators, members of the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association (NCSBA) and bee enthusiasts from the greater Raleigh area and beyond gathered on Oct. 3 at NC State’s Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory to celebrate the milestone.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/apiculture-impact
‘Next Wave’ Genome Editing Technology at NC State
Jude Samulski calls genome editing “the next wave of technology to feed the world.”
Samulski contributed $3 million to create the Roberts and Mikhail Distinguished Chair in Plant Genome Editing, an endowed position that will serve as director of the Genome Editing Center for Sustainable Agriculture (GEC) at NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Endowing the distinguished chair is a first step in recruiting a team of genome-editing experts to conduct vital plant sciences research that will help future-proof our food supply.
“The
possibilities are endless. If you can think about it or imagine it, you can probably make it happen.”
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/samulski-impact
59 Intellectual Property Disclosures
50 Patents Filed
28 Patents Issued
1,186 Peer-reviewed Research Publications
$121.6M+ Grants Awarded
Biochemistry major Hali Harwood has taken her research to the next level with support from the new Harold Swaisgood Biochemistry Mentorship Fund.
Hali Harwood’s passion for insect-eating plants led her to biochemistry.
In looking for a meaningful way to apply her skills, Harwood, who recently earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State University, eventually chose cancer research.
Harwood is the first recipient of the Harold Swaisgood Biochemistry Mentorship Fund.
CALS alumni Mary and Mark Sliwkowski, both of whom have professional backgrounds in biochemistry, established the fund, which provides a generous stipend to students for 15 months of research.
Mark was recognized as a CALS Outstanding Alumnus in 2008 and Mary was recognized as a CALS Outstanding Alumna in 2023.
“I feel so honored and fortunate … People believe in my ability to do challenging things.”
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/illuminating-science-impact
Professor’s Legacy to Continue Through Endowed Professorship
Hopeful for increased crop yields and advancement of the state’s agricultural economy, the Corn Growers Association of North Carolina and NC State University are equally committed to the agronomy industry’s future.
This partnership is united through the research of Ronnie Heiniger, an NC State professor of corn production and management and the state’s sole corn Extension specialist since 1994. And the new Ronnie W. Heiniger Distinguished Chair in Corn Extension Agronomy in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences will continue Heiniger’s research and Extension efforts following his retirement in 2025.
The Corn Growers Association of North Carolina presented an initial pledge for the new endowed professorship during an event last year.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/heiniger-impact
AI for Agriculture
The N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative is leading efforts aimed at helping producers put artificial intelligence to work for increased yields, efficiency and sustainability.
Two new tools will propel its work in AI for agriculture forward: A robot named BenchBot 3.0 has taken its place on an empty field
adjacent to the Plant Sciences Building on NC State’s Centennial Campus.
It’s just one of the data-gathering devices that will be tied into the power of N.C. PSI’s newly acquired supercomputer, the NVIDIA Grace Hopper 200, to create AI for agricultural applications.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/ai-ag-impact
Planting the Future
NC State University graduate student
Weilong He, with support from the Trolinder graduate student endowment, is focused on creating high-tech solutions that can help breeders save time and identify problems faster.
As a graduate research assistant in the Automation and Robotics Lab in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, He has spent his first year at
NC State exploring how to use machine learning algorithms in tandem with drone images to assess crop leaves.
“I love the process of solving a problem,” says He, who earned his undergraduate degree in electronic information technology. “I like that you work on the problem many times and try almost every solution until you find the best way to solve the problem.”
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/trolinder-impact
Startup Incubator and Seed2Grow Program
This spring the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative celebrated the opening of a startup company incubator in NC State University’s Plant Sciences Building and the launch of its Seed2Grow entrepreneurship program.
Seed2Grow helps entrepreneurs bring NC State plant sciences discoveries into the marketplace to advance agriculture in North Carolina and beyond.
The incubator provides entrepreneurs from two companies with office and laboratory space.
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/incubator-impact
New Collaborations on AI and Machine Learning
CALS IT and the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative’s Makerspace are collaborating with Lenovo to advance improvements in sensor data collection and artificial intelligence innovations. Lenovo, headquartered in RTP, is a global leader in laptops, workstations, servers, data storage, and supercomputers.
Jevon Smith, CALS Research Computing Manager, notes, “As we explore new and unique ways to enhance the agronomic success of our stakeholders, partnering with industry leaders like Lenovo serves as a force multiplier. Their profound expertise greatly enhances our capabilities.”
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/lenovo-impact
2024 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner
Startup Success Formula: ‘Jump In and Do It’
2024 CALS Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Dallas Barnes on 50 Years in the Ag and Food Industry.
Transforming from scientist to entrepreneur was a family affair for 2024 CALS Distinguished Alumni Award winner Giles Shih.
For the founder and strategic advisor of Big Ripple Innovations and cofounder of BioResource International Inc. (BRI), curiosity, ingenuity, family and science came together at NC State University to launch his successful international business career.
“It took a couple decades from incubating those early laboratory concepts at NC State’s Centennial Campus into ultimately developing a very good business that was able to bring innovation to the animal health and nutrition space,” Shih says.
“It took a couple decades from incubating ... into ultimately developing a very good business that was able to bring innovation...”
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/shih-impact
As an undergraduate entering NC State in the mid-1970s, 2024 CALS Distinguished Alumni Award winner Dallas Barnes wasn’t sure what his purpose was.
Coming from a long line of peanut and ag industry business leaders, Barnes started taking courses in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
“While at NC State, I took some time to really think about what I was called to do, and though I didn’t fully understand it at the time, I know now I was called to be in this business,” he said.
“If you can spend a good 80% of your time in what you’re called to do, you’ll have a successful, fulfilling life.”
Continue reading this story at: go.ncsu.edu/barnes-impact
Distinguished Alumni Award Winner
