Faculty and Staff Notes

Rufty Leads Sustainability Effort

Dr. Tom Rufty has been named the first Bayer CropScience Professor of Sustainable Development, NC State announced Jan. 22. The position is made possible by a $1 million endowment created by Bayer CropScience.
Rufty is co-director of the Center for Turfgrass Environmental Research and Education and a professor of environmental plant physiology in the Department of Crop Science. His research focuses on resource acquisition by plants and plant communities, and plant responses to environmental stress.

Employees Will and Angela Brockelsby's new baby, Adam, has already mastered the Wolfpack sign, despite being wrapped in Carolina blue. He was born Christmas day. Will works in information technology; Angela is in the College of Design. We're guessing Adam will be class of '31.

Grabow Leads Study on Irrigation Technologies

The Town of Cary has partnered with NC State for a study on the effectiveness of new irrigation technologies. Dr. Garry Grabow, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering, will lead the study. Grabow hopes to solicit help from 24 Cary residents, who would be divided into four groups for the study, which is expected to last 18 months.

Harmon Vacation House Honored 

The Taylor House, an award-winning sustainable vacation home in the Bahamas designed by architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, has been included on a list of “the most influential and inspiring houses built during the past decade.”

The Wall Street Journal recently asked celebrated green architect Michelle Kaufman of Oakland, Calif., to compile a list of what she felt were the best houses built during the housing boom, which WSJ considered officially over by the end of 2008.

Grant Funds Second Life Presence 

The Ernst & Young Foundation has awarded $400,000 to the College of Management to support development of a Second Life presence for the college’s Department of Accounting.

The award is part of the foundation’s competitive University Fund Grant program. An additional $100,000 has been committed to the college’s accounting department by Ernst & Young employees who are NC State alumni and will also be used for the Second Life project. This combined gift of $500,000 represents the largest single gift to date to the accounting department.

Second Life is a virtual global community that is used for distance communications, collaboration, education and entertainment. Several College of Management faculty members have been developing the college’s island in Second Life over the past year, using the virtual land as a meeting space for classroom instruction, student team projects and research meetings.

Management Welcomes New Advisory Board Members

The College of Management welcomed nine new members to its Board of Advisors at the board's quarterly meeting on Jan. 23. The meeting also marked the start of Jeff Stocks' term as chairman of the board. Stocks is president and chief executive officer of Manpower in North Carolina, based in Raleigh. Dean Ira R. Weiss thanked David Morgan, chief banking officer of Capital Bank and outgoing chairman of the board, for his leadership over the past year.  Morgan will continue to serve as a member of the board.

New members of the Board of Advisors are:

• Jeffrey G. Brock, Strategic Accounts - East Coast team leader, GE Capital Americas – Franchise Finance
• Rob Cones, senior vice president and controller, Lenovo
• John Cox, senior vice president of Global Manufacturing and Operations, Biogen Idec
• James M. Field, president, Worldwide Commercial and Consumer Equipment Division, John Deere
• Rodney Gaddy, vice president of Corporate Services, Progress Energy
• Jack Glasure, chief marketing officer, French/West/Vaughan
• Pete Sodini, chairman and chief executive officer, The Pantry, Inc.
• William F. Troxler, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Troxler Electronic Laboratories Inc.
• Dennis Wicker, former Lt. Governor for North Carolina and partner, SZD Wicker law firm

Weiss also thanked the seven outgoing members of the board for their years of service to the college. Retiring from the board are:

• Joan Busko, director, Mills Family Foundation
• D. McQueen Campbell, III, broker
• Mike Condrey, managing director, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
• John Morrison, vice president, Advanced Energy Corporation
• Dede Ramoneda, vice president and chief information officer, Progress Energy
• Kenneth Reece, senior vice president, Corporate Financial Services, First Tennessee
• Karl von Guten, Von Guten Consulting