North Carolina State University - Alumni

Alumni

NC State has 156,297 living alumni with 61% of alumni living in North Carolina. There are 100 alumni clubs in North Carolina and another 42 states also have active clubs. In addition to alumni, the university employs 2,040 faculty and 5,843 staff. A number of NC State alumni and faculty have made significant contributions in the fields of government, military, science, academia, business, arts, and athletics, among others.

John Edwards, former U.S. Senator and two time presidential candidate, James B. Hunt Jr., 4-term Governor of North Carolina and Robert Gibbs, Former White House Press Secretary, are among the most notable alumni with involvement in politics. Combining science and politics, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri is the elected chief of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an organization that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. Abdurrahim El-Keib is the interim prime minister of Libya. Alumnus Munir Ahmad Khan also would gain an international recognition for his work in reactor quantum physics and later guided the scientific research in nuclear weapons for Pakistan's atomic bomb programs.

Several alumni hold or have held top positions at large companies. These include: Caterpillar Inc. (James W. Owens), Thomasville Furniture Industries (Nancy Webster), DuPont (Ed Woolard), SAS Institute (James Goodnight), Andy Albright businessman, entrepreneur and President and CEO of National Agents Alliance, Citrix Systems (Mark Templeton) and MurFam Enterprises (Wendell Murphy). Donald Bitzer, the father of Plasma Television and Emmy Award winner currently sits on the faculty of NC State.

Over 50 NC State alumni have achieved the rank of Brigadier General or higher in the United States Military. The first four star officer at NCSU, General Maxwell R. Thurman, a former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. Hugh Shelton, now retired, was a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a four star general. General Dan McNeill currently commands the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. General William C. Lee is often referred to as the "Father of the U.S. Airborne."

Some alumni have become national academic leaders. Albert Carnesale was the chancellor of UCLA from 1997 to 2006 after a 23 year tenure at Harvard University. Bill Friday served as president of the University of North Carolina system for 30 years. William Brantley Aycock served as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1957 until 1964.

Several NC State students later became professional athletes. Bill Cowher coached 15 seasons with the Steelers including the Super Bowl XL championship team and he currently is a studio analyst for The NFL Today. Over 130 NC State alumni play or have played in the NFL. Notable former players include Torry Holt, Roman Gabriel, Ted Brown, Dick Christy, Haywood Jeffires, Dr. Jerry Punch, Jim Ritcher, Koren Robinson and Dewayne Washington. Notable current players include Adrian Wilson of the Arizona Cardinals, Jerricho Cotchery of the New York Jets, No. 1 pick Mario Williams and Anthony Hill who play for the Houston Texans, Tank Tyler of the Carolina Panthers, Stephen Tulloch of the Detroit Lions, Philip Rivers who plays for the San Diego Chargers and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. Another 41 alumni have played for the NBA including hall of famer David Thompson and players Tom Gugliotta, Kenny Carr, Spud Webb, Cedric Simmons, Julius Hodge, J.J. Hickson, Josh Powell, and Thurl Bailey. Former players Nate McMillan and Vinny Del Negro are current NBA head coaches.

Actor and Comedian Zach Galifianakis also attended NC State University.

Scotty McCreery (Country Singer & Winner of American Idol season 10) currently attends NC State University.