North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University Seal

North Carolina State University is an institution of higher learning located in Raleigh, North Carolina. North Carolina State University was founded and designated as the state's first land-grant institution by the General Assembly in 1887 as the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.

NCSU is currently led by chancellor James Oblinger, who became the school's 13th chief executive in January 2005. The previous head, Marye Anne Fox, departed in July 2004 to lead the University of California, San Diego.

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Academics

With historical strengths in agriculture, engineering, and textiles, it is perhaps most widely recognized as one of the three anchors of North Carolina's Research Triangle, together with Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With almost 30,000 students, it is also the largest university in the University of North Carolina System and in the state of North Carolina. The NCSU Library, ranked 32nd out of 113 North American research libraries, includes 3,210,612 print volumes and 51,209 print and electronic serial subscriptions.

Notable current faculty include aquatic botanist JoAnn Burkholder, chemist Mike Whangbo, linguist Walt Wolfram, computer engineer Donald Bitzer, entomologist George Kennedy, science-fiction author John Kessel, and Renaissance English literature scholars M. Thomas Hester and R. V. Young, the co-founders and editors of the John Donne Journal.

Demographics

Campus area: 2,110 acres (8.5 km²)
Average incoming SAT: 1234
Student-faculty ratio: 25:1
Male:female ratio: 3:2
Total students: 29,637
African American: 8%
Asian American: 5%
Caucasian: 84%
Hispanic: 2%
Native American: 0.5%

Athletics

Athletic teams at NC State are known as the Wolfpack. NC State participates in the NCAA's Division I-A in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Gymnastics, however, competes in the EAGL, East Atlantic Gymnastics League, because not enough ACC teams participate in gymnastics. Chuck Amato, the head football coach, led the Wolfpack to four bowl games while at NC State. The men's basketball team has made four consecutive trips and a recent Sweet sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament under the guidance of coach Herb Sendek. Coach Kay Yow, head coach of the women's basketball program and member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, has led the Wolfpack Women to more than 600 wins and approaches 700 for her career.

For the Fall of 1999 the Wolfpack men's basketball program opened play in the RBC Center. This new arena is located next to Carter-Finley Stadium, where the football team plays its games. These two facilities are located roughly three miles to the west of the edge of NCSU's main campus. Volleyball, women's basketball, wrestling, and gymnastics are all still hosted in historic Reynolds Coliseum. Completed in the 1950s, Reynolds was once the heart of NC State, hosting many University sports. The baseball team plays its games out of Doak Field, at the very edge of the main campus. The University completed the J.W. Isenhouser Tennis Complex in early 2005. Both men's and women's tennis compete out of this facility. Other sports supported at NC State are cheerleading, cross country, dance, golf, rifle, soccer, swimming & diving, and track & field.

Campus

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Holladay Hall, the first building built on NCSU's campus in 1889, now houses the Chancellor's Office.

Architecturally, NCSU is known for its distinctive red brick buildings and the "belltower." Due to oversupply, odd brick statues dot the landscape, a large section of campus is paved over with brick (University Plaza, a.k.a. "the brickyard"), and most sidewalks are also made with brick. These sidewalks are also dotted with white brick mosaics.

Other hotspots on campus include the Free Expression Tunnel, one of three pedestrian tunnels underneath the railroad tracks bisecting the main campus. This particular tunnel is the site of sanctioned graffiti; anyone may paint there, and it is often the place for announcements, birthday messages, and unique art.

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The upper portion of the historic Court of North Carolilna below the 1911 Building, named for the first class of students to ban systematic hazing of underclassmen.

The Court of North Carolina, on the northeast side of campus, is surrounded by the 1911 Building; the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in Tompkins, Caldwell, Winston Halls and Poe Hall; Page Hall, home to College of Engineering offices; and Leazar Hall, location of the Computer Science Teaching Labs. The Court is frequently referred to in conversation as the "Court of the Carolinas," despite its official name being labelled on a stone and metal plaque at its east end. It was once home to 100 trees (one for every county in North Carolina), but damage caused by Hurricane Fran in 1996 reduced the number significantly, including the destruction of a particularly old and large tree which was some 12 feet in diameter. Some replanting has occurred, but the Court's former appearance is far from being restored.

NC State's main campus is augmented by the modern 1,334 acre (5.4 km²) mixed-use Centennial Campus. This campus is home to university, corporate, and government research, in addition to classrooms and non-student residences. The College of Textiles is based on this campus, and long-term plans have the majority of the College of Engineering relocating to the new campus. The offices of Red Hat and the Raleigh branch of the National Weather Service are also on the Centennial Campus. Located on outlying property belonging to the university are NCSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, Carter-Finley Stadium (football), the RBC Center (men's basketball), and numerous agricultural research and extension facilities throughout the state of North Caroliina.

The Centennial Campus is North Carolina State University's vision of the campus of the future—a "technopolis" of university, corporate and government R&D facilities and business incubators, with an exciting town center, executive conference center and hotel, upscale housing, and recreational amenities.

This 1,334 acre (5.4 km²) site, adjacent to NC State's main campus, is quickly emerging as the Research Triangle Area's fastest growing development. There's no other campus or research park like it in the country.

Centennial Campus is proving to be the logical choice for businesses and government agencies requiring R&D facilities near research faculty and graduate students who can supplement project teams on a just-in-time basis.

The campus is now home to more than 100 large and small companies, government agencies and NC State units.