Mary Pipines Easley, First Lady of North Carolina, joined the NC State faculty as a senior lecturer in the School of Public and International Affairs. Easley teaches public policy courses in the College of Humanities and Social Science and intellectual property law for the College of Management.

In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Easley coordinates the Millennium Seminars, which bring speakers from diverse backgrounds and professions, including business, academia, the sciences, the arts, and philanthropy, to NC State to share their unique perspective of state and national events in a global context.

Easley is a lawyer with extensive experience in the courtroom and the classroom. She received her bachelor’s degree in politics from Wake Forest University, in 1972, where she graduated magna cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She was also a member of the Fideles Society. She received her Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest School of Law in 1975.

After law school, Easley served as assistant district attorney in New Hanover and Pender counties for 10 years. From 1984 to 1992, she maintained her own practice in the areas of civil and criminal law.

Easley recently completed a teaching appointment at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham where she taught Appellate Advocacy, Trial Advocacy and Criminal Trial Practice. She also managed the Criminal Law Externship program. She has lectured on numerous topics related to trial advocacy at North Carolina universities, has been a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and has taught continuing legal education courses within the state.

As First Lady of North Carolina, three of Easley’s main initiatives are teacher recruitment and retention, reducing underage drinking, and infant immunization, especially for the newest North Carolinians with English as their second language.