Campus Recognized for Event, Hospitality Efforts

Chancellor James Oblinger accepted the Thad Eure Jr.Memorial Award on behalf of the university.

The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau presented its most prestigious award to NC State University at the bureau's annual awards luncheon on Monday, Sept. 8.

Chancellor James Oblinger accepted the Thad Eure Jr. Memorial Award on behalf of the university. The award recognizes an individual or group who has made significant contributions to Wake County's hospitality industry.

For more than a decade NC State has partnered with the city of Raleigh and the convention and visitors bureau to bring prestigious high school, amateur and college sporting events, as well as national and international meetings and conventions, to the area.

NC State has worked with the bureau and other committees to submit successful bids to host NCAA basketball tournaments, including men's first- and second-round games in 2004 and 2008, and the women's east regional in 2002 and women's first- and second-round games in 2007. NC State has also been the host for six consecutive NCAA College Cups, which are equivalent to the Final Four of college soccer.

Campus deans, faculty members and administrators have also assisted the bureau in connecting with state, regional, national and international partners to bring several conferences, conventions and meetings to the area.

Past winners of the award include Dr. Larry Wheeler, director at the N.C. Museum of Art; Orage Quarles, publisher of the News and Observer; and Mike Patterson, chairman of the Raleigh Convention Center steering committee.

The award is named for the late Thad Eure Jr., a businessman and community leader who owned the Angus Barn and launched many other successful local restaurants.