Media Contact:
Dr. Larry Blanton, 919/513-4074
Mick Kulikowski, News Services, 919/515-3470

May 11, 2005

Honors Baccalaureate Celebrates NC State’s Finest Faculty, Students

Outstanding achievement by North Carolina State University students and faculty will be recognized at the University Honors Baccalaureate and Celebration of Academic Excellence, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 12, in the McKimmon Center.

The Honors Baccalaureate is free and open to the public, and media coverage is welcomed.

The NC State Board of Trustees will award Alexander Quarles Holladay Medals of Excellence to five faculty members whose careers exemplify the highest standards of excellence in teaching, research and service. Honored this year are Drs. C. Frank Abrams, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, biomedical engineering and director of graduate programs for biomedical engineering; Sarah Burke Berenson, professor of mathematics education and director of the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education; Fred R. DeJarnette, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of the North Carolina Space Consortium; Thom J. Hodgson, James T. Ryan Professor and Distinguished University Professor of Industrial Engineering and director of the Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering Institute; and Bruce S. Weir, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Statistics and Genetics. The Holladay Medal is the highest award given by the Board of Trustees and the university, and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement in support of NC State’s mission.

Among the faculty awardees to be recognized are Dr. Joseph DeSimone, who was named to the National Academy of Engineering and named Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences; Dr. Carol Hall, who was named to the National Academy of Engineering; Dr. Trudy Mackay, who was named Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences; and Dr. Paul Tesar, recipient of the Board of Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Also honored at the baccalaureate will be NC State students who have won Goldwater, Mitchell, National Science Foundation, Phi Kappa Phi and other nationally competitive fellowships and scholarships.

- 30 -