Media Contacts:
Dr. Steve Margolis, 919/515-3274
Dr. Andrew Taylor, 919/515-8618
Chad Austin, News Services, 919/515-3470

June 14, 2004

Grant Establishes Program in Economics, Political Science at NC State

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A new $511,500 grant from the John William Pope Foundation will help North Carolina State University’s Department of Economics and Department of Political Science and Public Administration develop programs that explore the relationships between economics and politics in free societies.

The grant, which covers a five-year period, will help create new undergraduate courses in economics and political science and fund research in both departments. The departments will collaborate on two programs – an annual lecture series and a “Law, Economics, and Politics Group,” comprised of students from both departments who are interested in careers in law, politics and public policy. The new programs will begin in the fall 2004 semester.

Dr. Stephen Margolis, professor and head of the economics department, and Dr. Andrew Taylor, associate professor of political science, will oversee the implementation of the grant’s programs.

“The programs established by this grant will allow us to look at economic and political freedoms and the role institutions play in enhancing or inhibiting those freedoms,” Taylor said. “The grant will augment opportunities for undergraduate students and expose them to a whole array of new ideas.”

“The gift from the Pope Foundation creates important opportunities for our students and faculty,” Margolis said. “It will also foster continuing collaboration between the Department of Economics and the Department of Political Science and Public Administration.”

The John William Pope Foundation is a private grant-making foundation founded in 1986. The Pope Foundation is supported by the family of John W. Pope and its family-owned retail company, Variety Wholesalers Inc.

On Friday, June 11, Art Pope, President of Variety Wholesalers Inc. and of the Pope Foundation, delivered the first installment of the grant, a check for $228,000, to Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “One of the primary goals of the Pope Foundation is to provide valuable opportunities to improve higher education in our great state,” Pope said. “We look forward to working with North Carolina State University, its staff and its students.”

Art Pope is a former four-term representative in the N.C. General Assembly. John W. Pope is a former member of the board of trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

- austin -