N.C. State welcomes its new leader, Dr. Jim Woodward
On June 16 members of the N.C. State University community gathered to welcome Dr. James H. Woodward, interim chancellor. Woodward, chancellor emeritus of UNC-Charlotte and a former NCSU faculty member, began work June 9 following his appointment by UNC system President Erskine Bowles to replace resigned Chancellor James Oblinger.
Jim Ceresnak, N.C. State student body president, led the welcoming event at the Talley Student Center, where a standing-room-only crowd had gathered to greet the university’s new leader.
Lenny Barton, executive director of the NCSU Alumni Association, greeted Woodward on behalf of the university’s 178,000 living alumni. Barton noted that this past year, N.C. State had received 18,000 applications for freshman admission, 12,000 of which were from North Carolina students. “More students from North Carolina applied to N.C. State than to any other college in the state,” Barton said, “so we are fulfilling our mission as a land-grant university to serve the citizens of this state.”
Dr. Jeffrey Braden, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, welcomed Woodward on behalf of N.C. State’s faculty. “You couldn’t ask for a better community in which to serve,” Braden told Woodward. “You have only to ask; we stand ready to help.”
Taking the podium, the new chancellor then told the crowd, “ I arrive fired with enthusiasm. My commitment is to carry out this role as all of you want.”
Woodward said, in terms of the university’s value to the future of North Carolina, “This is the most important institution in this state,” adding that the array of programs offered here are the programs the state will need.
Addressing students in the audience, he said, “This institution has an extraordinarily rich history,” calling N.C. State the place to come to be prepared to serve the needs of the state, country and world.
“The reason you chose to come here is still in place,” he said.
To the faculty, he promised “to do my utmost to provide an environment that you will be proud to come to work in every day.” He reminded them that theirs is “a high calling, when you think about the impact of the work you do” and the ripple effect on students’ families, children and grandchildren.
“You measure the impact of your work on people’s lives,” Woodward said.
Woodward then joined the group at the student center in singing the N.C. State Alma Mater and learned to do the “howling wolf hand.”
But before he left the stage, Woodward had one last presentation. Holding up a photo of his Cairn terrier puppy, he laughingly said, “She looks just like a baby wolf, so Mattie Pearl Woodward is now the N.C. State mascot.”
That announcement reflected the fondness for N.C. State that Woodward brings to his new post, along with years of pertinent experience.
While chancellor at UNC-Charlotte (1989-2005), he oversaw the expansion of the school to more than 19,000 students, the awarding of the school’s first doctoral degrees and its historically largest fund-raising campaign. During his tenure he also chaired the UNC system’s Information Technology Strategy Network Infrastructure Assessment Task Force, and he served as a member on the UNC Tomorrow Commission and the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission.
Woodward, an aerospace engineer, worked from 1969 to 1989 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he was dean of engineering and senior vice president of academic affairs. From 1968 to 1969, he taught at N.C. State as assistant professor in the Engineering Mechanics Department of the College of Engineering. Woodward received his 1967 Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his 1973 MBA from UAB.
“N.C. State is in good hands,” Ceresnak said, adjourning the event that occurred on a day of severe weather and flash flooding in Raleigh.
“Don’t let the rain outside fool you,” he said. “The sun is shining on N.C. State.”
—Terri Leith
Jim Ceresnak, N.C. State student body president, led the welcoming event at the Talley Student Center, where a standing-room-only crowd had gathered to greet the university’s new leader.
Jim Woodward
Dr. Jeffrey Braden, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, welcomed Woodward on behalf of N.C. State’s faculty. “You couldn’t ask for a better community in which to serve,” Braden told Woodward. “You have only to ask; we stand ready to help.”
Taking the podium, the new chancellor then told the crowd, “ I arrive fired with enthusiasm. My commitment is to carry out this role as all of you want.”
Woodward said, in terms of the university’s value to the future of North Carolina, “This is the most important institution in this state,” adding that the array of programs offered here are the programs the state will need.
Addressing students in the audience, he said, “This institution has an extraordinarily rich history,” calling N.C. State the place to come to be prepared to serve the needs of the state, country and world.
“The reason you chose to come here is still in place,” he said.
To the faculty, he promised “to do my utmost to provide an environment that you will be proud to come to work in every day.” He reminded them that theirs is “a high calling, when you think about the impact of the work you do” and the ripple effect on students’ families, children and grandchildren.
“You measure the impact of your work on people’s lives,” Woodward said.
Woodward then joined the group at the student center in singing the N.C. State Alma Mater and learned to do the “howling wolf hand.”
But before he left the stage, Woodward had one last presentation. Holding up a photo of his Cairn terrier puppy, he laughingly said, “She looks just like a baby wolf, so Mattie Pearl Woodward is now the N.C. State mascot.”
That announcement reflected the fondness for N.C. State that Woodward brings to his new post, along with years of pertinent experience.
While chancellor at UNC-Charlotte (1989-2005), he oversaw the expansion of the school to more than 19,000 students, the awarding of the school’s first doctoral degrees and its historically largest fund-raising campaign. During his tenure he also chaired the UNC system’s Information Technology Strategy Network Infrastructure Assessment Task Force, and he served as a member on the UNC Tomorrow Commission and the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission.
Woodward, an aerospace engineer, worked from 1969 to 1989 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he was dean of engineering and senior vice president of academic affairs. From 1968 to 1969, he taught at N.C. State as assistant professor in the Engineering Mechanics Department of the College of Engineering. Woodward received his 1967 Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his 1973 MBA from UAB.
“N.C. State is in good hands,” Ceresnak said, adjourning the event that occurred on a day of severe weather and flash flooding in Raleigh.
“Don’t let the rain outside fool you,” he said. “The sun is shining on N.C. State.”
—Terri Leith