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March 16, 2005

Engineering Building Renamed in Honor of Former Chancellor Monteith

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The North Carolina State University Board of Trustees has voted to name the Engineering Graduate Research Center (EGRC) on Centennial Campus for former Chancellor Larry K. Monteith. The building will become the Larry K. Monteith Engineering Research Center.

A native of Bryson City, N.C., Monteith had a 41-year career associated with NC State. He was the university’s 11th chancellor, serving from 1989-1998. He also was dean of engineering from 1978-89.

When he was named interim chancellor in 1989, he pledged to enhance NC State’s academic reputation as a premier research institution.

During Monteith’s tenure, NC State earned a chapter of the elite Phi Beta Kappa honor society, and the six-year graduation rates for students improved from 59 percent to 67 percent, while the rates for student-athletes improved from 59 percent to 73 percent. The university strengthened its financial base by increasing its endowment from $42.7 million to $200 million, completing a $230 million fund-raising campaign, and launching a $120 million campaign to raise funds for student scholarships and fellowships. Monteith also helped create the Park Scholars program and the William R. Kenan Jr. Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science.

Growth exploded on the university’s Centennial Campus during Monteith’s tenure, with eight new buildings valued then at $120 million, including the $45.5 million Engineering Graduate Research Center.

First as dean and later as chancellor, Monteith led efforts to move NC State toward broad use of distance education and to wire the campus for computer-based administrative services and use of computers in academic programs.

“Throughout his career, Larry Monteith’s leadership style was characterized by a commitment to excellence,” said Chancellor James L. Oblinger. “He developed clear priorities, set the direction, and led the university with enthusiasm and integrity. There should be no doubt that he played a pivotal role in the success NC State enjoys today.”

“From the initial concept for the Engineering Graduate Research Center in 1979, to the passing of the bond referendum in 1993, to the grand-opening celebration in 1997, Larry Monteith championed the cause of making this unique center become a reality,” said Nino A. Masnari, dean of the College of Engineering. “Having the building bear his name is a fitting tribute to his impact on engineering education and on the history of NC State University.”

“Larry Monteith not only was a leader at NC State, but he was a leader for all of North Carolina,” said William C. Friday, president emeritus of the University of North Carolina system and an alumnus of NC State. “He was a visionary who helped bring Centennial Campus to life, and he was part of a group that helped give shape to the concept of the Research Triangle. But maybe the best thing you can say about Larry is that he was devoted to the students of NC State and took a genuine interest in their success.”

Other milestones during Monteith’s years as chancellor include the establishment of the College of Management and of the First Year College, which is geared to ensuring the success of new students. The NCSU Libraries jumped nearly halfway to the top among the 108 national research libraries. Funding for research increased significantly during his eight years as chancellor, rising from $170 million to nearly $300 million. Patents awarded to NC State researchers increased nearly fivefold.

Completed in 1996, the 138,000-square-foot EGRC houses some of the most sophisticated research facilities on Centennial Campus. A complex of two buildings, the EGRC features a wide range of state-of-the-art technology, from special “clean-rooms” for creating and analyzing nanoscale microelectronic devices to the adjoining Constructed Facilities Laboratory, which contains some of the largest testing equipment in the nation.

Together these two buildings provide research, education and demonstration facilities for the College of Engineering to use for basic research and in developing partnerships with industry and government. Among the many components in the main laboratory building are the Center for Advanced Electronic Materials Processing, Analytical Instrumentation Facility, Biomedical Microsensors Laboratory, Power Semiconductor Research Center, Microelectronics Systems Laboratory, manufacturing clean rooms and teleconference rooms.

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