Home > The Vision

Many paths led to the creation of North Carolina State University. Paths leading to solution-driven education.

Paths leading to an economic engine. Paths leading to a university that would serve the people of this state and beyond through teaching, research and engagement.

Paths leading to partnerships and a place on which people could rely to help them meet challenges.

These paths continue to lead to NC State University today and in ways that are even greater than our founders could have imagined.

With nearly 34,000 students and 8,000 faculty and staff, NC State is a leading land-grant university known locally and globally for its leadership in research, discovery and the technical disciplines.

We value and look for opportunities to create new knowledge and deliver it into the hands of the people and organizations that need it. Our students and faculty are reaching across disciplines to consider new ways of doing things.

At the intersection of our strengths and disciplines, we are discovering that the possibilities are endless.

As the environment in which we live has changed, the reach of NC State's service and impact has expanded beyond our borders and across the globe, challenging us to be locally responsive to the needs of our state while globally engaged in solving the grand challenges facing our global community.

This means driving student success, providing a rich and engaging experience for our students that prepares them for life after graduation.

It means having a global presence and perspective to create opportunities and increase understanding and diversity.

It means driving the state's economy by bringing critical thinking skills and disciplined-based knowledge to all sectors of society through education, dynamic discoveries and solutions to real-world problems.

It means being part of a place – a community – that connects us all, no matter what path led us here or where we are going.

As we begin a new era at NC State, we are charting a new path – one that will take us to a destination of achievement and excellence we have not seen before.

Locally responsive, globally engaged. That is what we are at NC State. It is what we have always been, and it is what we will be as we chart a new path to excellence.

I look forward to traveling this new path with you.

Randy Woodson
Chancellor
NC State University