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NC State wins C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Award




Graham Spanier, (left)  president of The Pennsylvania State
University, presents the 2010 C. Peter Magrath University
Community Engagement Award to James Zuiches (center left)
and Jay Levine (right) of North Carolina State University and 
JP McCann of the Sturgeon City Project. 


“The Riverworks project is a model example of how universities can work with a city to transform an entire community. Its impact will be felt for generations to come,” said Daniel M. Fogel, president of the University of Vermont and chair of the A۰P۰L۰U Board of Directors. “Public universities, like NC State and the other four regional winners, exemplify the spirit and vision of university engagement.”

North Carolina State was chosen from a pool of regional winners that included Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Lincoln University (MO), University of Idaho, and West Virginia University. 

Established in 2006, the Magrath Award recognizes the outreach and engagement partnerships of four-year public universities. It is presented annually during the A۰P۰L۰U Annual Meeting, which is currently underway at Hyatt Regency Dallas. The award is named for C. Peter Magrath, who served as president of the association from 1992-2005. Made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Magrath Award includes $20,000 and a glass sculpture.

Creating New Green Space
A joint City of Jacksonville and North Carolina State University effort kick-started the recovery of the bay’s degraded ecosystem. A large scale effort was launched to improve water quality including decommissioning the wastewater plant, reducing local run-off, and removal of an old dock leaching hazardous creosote by-products. Wetlands were reestablished and oysters were deployed to serve as a living water filter. The NC State faculty and the College of Design organized community charrettes and student “design studios” and students presented alternative visions for reuse to the city council.

Sturgeon City is now a 26-acre community green space frequented by residents for walks and picnic lunches and by school groups for hands-on science learning. The Wilson Bay ecosystem has improved and is once again used for recreational boating and fishing. The wetlands have become a haven for waterfowl and other coastal wildlife.

A broadened partnership−including three universities, two community colleges, Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, the New River Foundation, numerous local businesses and local residents−now supports the site which has become a major recreational, learning and local economic development asset for the city and county. The site also supports university-led applied research, graduate training and the transfer of aquaculture technologies to the business community.

The 2010 national award judges were: Graham Spanier, president of The Pennsylvania State University; John V. Byrne, president emeritus at Oregon State University and member of the 2000 Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities; Debra Friedman, vice president and dean of public programs at Arizona State University; Melvin N. Johnson, president of Tennessee State University; and Kirk Schulz, president of Kansas State University.


NC State Wins Top Outreach Award - C. Peter Magrath Award

NC State University Economist Receives UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Public Service


Michael L. Walden, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Economics at North Carolina State University, received the Award for Excellence in Public Service from the Board of Governors of multi-campus University of North Carolina.

Board of Governors Honors Walden