CALS alumnus and wife create ROTC scholarship endowment
On Aug.10, Maj. Gen. (USAF Ret.) Tim Peppe and Col. (USAF Ret.) R.J. Peppe, established the Tim and R.J. Peppe Military Leadership Scholars Endowment. Created in a memorandum of understanding between the Peppes and the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation Inc., the endowment will join the family of Gen. Hugh Shelton Leadership awards at N.C. State University.
The new endowment will be used to provide scholarships for undergraduate students who are contracting non-ROTC Scholarship cadets/midshipmen in any service ROTC program at N.C. State. In addition to a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a minimum score of 90 percent in each event of their service physical fitness tests, awardees must display leadership experience and potential, personal character and integrity, orientation toward community service, commitment to personal growth and commitment to physical fitness and wellness, along with an interest in the opportunities available at the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center.
Tim Peppe is a 1970 graduate of N.C. State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in food science. He also holds a master’s degree from Webster University. After a 33-year military career, from which he retired in 2004 as a major general in the U.S. Air Force, he became a corporate lead executive for the global security company Northrup Grumman Corp. He is a former recipient of the CALS Outstanding Alumnus Award, as well as the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College’s Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences Department. In 2010, he created a scholarship endowment in the department, the Dr. Isadore and Cynthia Peppe Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences Scholarship, in honor of his parents.
R.J. Peppe retired from the Air Force in 2006 after a 24-year career. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from William Woods University and Golden Gate University, respectively. The Peppes reside in Wallace.
Those joining the Peppes at the signing ceremony included Dr. Mike Davis, director of the Shelton Leadership Center; Lt. Commander Randall E. Wheeler, NCSU professor of military science, representing the Army ROTC Wolfpack Battalion; Lt. Col. Christopher P. Froeschner, commander, 595th Air Force ROTC Cadet Wing; and Dr. Christopher Daubert, head of the CALS FBNS Department.
Davis presided at the event at the CALS Advancement Office on the N.C. State campus. “It’s amazing to have such alumni that support us and give back to their university in a meaningful way,” he said. “The Shelton program seeks to infuse leadership development in an interdisciplinary sense across campus. This endowment will provide opportunities for that continued leadership development.”
Army ROTC’s Wheeler told the Peppes, “It’s a wonderful thing to see former graduates come back, give and motivate a younger generation to aspire to higher goals by helping to alleviate the financial burden of their education. I hope the cadets will reach up to the example you set.”
Froeschner of Air Force ROTC also thanked the Peppes for their “inspiration to cadets and continued support, so we can continue on this legacy.” He added that a significant percentage of the cadets are walk-ons and don’t have support, so “I’m excited to announce this to our cadets when they return to campus.”
Daubert, representing Tim Peppe’s alma mater department, said, “Through this new endowment and your previous endowment in our department, you continue to give our students opportunities to become leaders and professionals.”
In response, Tim Peppe told the group, “It’s a great honor to be here and to be associated with Gen. Shelton and his program. I owe where I am to this school, and it’s an honor for us to pay back to it. We know times are tough [for students]. Life has been good to us, so we wanted to pay back the school and give somebody a couple of bucks when they need it the most.”—Terri Leith
