Board of Visitors
The Board of Visitors serves NC State University by providing advice to the Chancellor, and through the Chancellor, to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Visitors is composed of thirty members. Currently, eleven of the members are also members of the advisory boards of colleges and schools at NC State. The Chancellor makes the remaining appointments. The Board of Visitors has the following functions:
- assists the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees in ensuring that NC State University's relative standing among the premier universities in America is maintained and enhanced,
- serves as advocates for NC State University in achieving its educational purposes and accomplishments,
- and brings visibility and contacts to the campus from distant areas.
The next Board of Visitors meeting will be held on Friday, March 28, 2008.
Members
Jack P. Cozort, Chair
Jack L. Cozort is Of Counsel with the law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice in its Raleigh Office, specializing in Government Relations, Regulatory Law, and Appellate Litigation. He earned his B.A. degree in Politics from NC State in 1972 and J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1975. He is a 12-year veteran of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and former Director of the NC Administrative Office of the Courts. He served as Counsel to Governor James B. Hunt from 1977 until 1985 and also served as Associate Attorney General in the NC Department of Justice. Judge Cozort is also a member of the Board of Visitors of the Wake Forest University School of Law. (Term 2008)
Vacant, Vice Chair
Sepideh (Sepi) S. Asefnia
Sepi Asefnia, PE, is Owner and President of SEPI Engineering Group, Inc. (SEPI) in Raleigh, NC. Her firm, founded in 2001, specializes in Roadway and Structure Design; Transportation Planning; Traffic Engineering and Operations; Water Resources; Permitting/Natural Resources; Wetland Stream Mitigation; Site/Civil Design; Surveying, and Construction Management. SEPI currently employs 40 individuals working in North and South Carolina. Ms. Asefnia holds a bachelor’s degree in both Civil and Agricultural Engineering from NC State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in eight states. Prior to forming her own firm, she spent over 16 years in the field of transportation engineering design and management of which she worked approximately 12 years with the North Carolina Department of Transportation in Highway Design and Traffic Engineering. Her current day-to-day responsibilities include managing firm’s projects in North and South Carolina, financial and administrative management, and business development.
Ms. Asefnia is very active in the community and is serving on the Executive Board for Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW); past president of Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS); and Board of Directors for the American Council of Engineering Companies of North Carolina (ACEC/NC); Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and NC State University Board of Visitors. She was inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women in the category of Science and Technology and serves on the Board Advisory Council of the Women’s Center of Wake County. (Term 2008)
Larry D. Barbour
Larry D. Barbour is President and CEO of North State Bank in Raleigh. He earned a B.A. from NC State in 1971 and completed advanced studies at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Banking. Mr. Barbour is a member of the NC State Foundation and is a member and past president of the Dean's Advisory Board for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is also a member and former officer of the Wake County Chapter of the American Institute of Banking and the Center for Health Education. (Term 2006)
Jim Beck
Jim Beck is the President of J. Beck & Company, which provides financial and strategic advisory services to its clients, particularly focused on commercial financing. Mr. Beck is known as a banking entrepreneur, having founded Capital Bank in 1997. He is a 1974 graduate of NC State, with a B.S. in Zoology. Mr. Beck has previously served as Chairman of the College of Management Board of Advisors and has been a Board member since 1997. He currently serves on the Board of Visitors of the University. (Term 2006)
Richard Bryant
Richard Bryant graduated from NC State in 1981 with a B.A. in Business Management. He formed Capital Investment Counsel and Capital Investment Group Inc., a securities brokerage and advisory firm in 1984. Mr. Bryant received NC State's Alumni Association's Young Alumnus Award in 2001 and the Outstanding Alumnus Award from NC State's College of Management in 1997. He serves on the Board of Directors for Arts NC State, the Advisory Board for the College of Management, and is a lifetime member of the Wolfpack Club. Mr. Bryant also represents NC State on the Microelectronics Center of the North Carolina Endowment Fund Board and as a Volunteer Leader for the Campaign for NC State Students, as well as on the Park Scholarships Selection Committee and the NC State Foundation Board. (Term 2006)
Tommy Bunn
Jessie Thomas Bunn (Tommy) is Manager of Government Affairs and Assistant to the General Manager for Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation. The Cooperative is grower-owned and grower-governed and markets leaf tobacco and tobacco products in domestic and international markets. He graduated from NC State in 1966 with a degree in Agricultural Business-Crop Science. He is currently Vice Chairman and Committee Chairman of the Golden Leaf Foundation which provides grants to economically distressed rural areas of North Carolina. He is also Co-Chair of the Secretary of Agricultures and the U.S. Trade Representatives Technical Advisory Committee on Tobacco Trade Policy (ATAC) and has served on a number of other boards and committees.
Charles D. Case
Charles Case is a partner in the law firm of Hunton and Williams; he leads the Raleigh firm's Environmental Team. He earned his undergraduate degree in Physics from NC State and his law degree from Harvard Law School. His practice has encompassed activities in environmental, health and safety protection, including permitting, remediation of contaminated properties, brownfield protections, rulemaking, lobbying, and compliance and corporate compliance. Mr. Case taught at Campbell University Law School and served as a hearing officer for the Occupational Safety and Health Review Board of North Carolina. He has served as chairman of the Wake County Zoning Board of Adjustment and as a member of the Hazardous Waste Study Commission of the North Carolina General Assembly. He currently serves as Chair of the Environmental and Natural Resources Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. (Term 2006)
H.D. Cornelius
H.D. Cornelius has been instrumental in strengthening and establishing a closer working relationship with the swine area of NC State's College of Veterinary Medicine. In 1993 he was awarded the Watauga Metal, recognizing his distinguished service on behalf of the University and the College of Veterinary Medicine. He has served as President of the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Foundation and currently serves as a member of the board. He has just recently been named Board Emeritus of the North Carolina College of Veterinary Medical Foundation. Mr. Cornelius served as President of the NC Pork Council and as a member of the NC Farm Bureau. He has been very active with 4-H leadership and with the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem. After retiring from the hog business, Mr. Cornelius continues to serve his community as a volunteer for many organizations. (Term 2006)
William A. Culpepper
William H. Culpepper is a native of Nash County, NC and is the Founder, President and CEO of SePRO Corporation, a leading specialty agrichemical company with offices in Carmel, IN and research facilities in Whitakers, NC. Prior to the formation of SePRO Corporation in 1994, he spent more than 25 years with Eli Lilly and DowElanco in a variety of sales, marketing and management roles. Mr. Culpepper is a co-founder and board member of several leading industry organizations including Responsible Industry for Sound Environment (RISE), the Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing the specialty chemical industry; the RISE Aquatic Working Group; the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation; and he is a board member of Crop Life America, another Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing the agrichemical industry. In addition to industry associations, Mr. Culpepper also serves on various community development boards including the BioCrossroads Advisory Board. BioCrossroads is a privately funded organization that is dedicated to fully leveraging Indiana's existing world-class life science assets. Mr. Culpepper graduated from NC State in 1966 with a B.S. in Agronomy. He is a member of the NC State Campaign Steering Committee promoting the Achieve! Campaign and was named CALS Outstanding Alumnus for 2005. (Term 2008)
Richard A. Curtis
Richard A. Curtis is a founding editor and designer of USA TODAY. A 1972 graduate of NC State’s School of Design, he has twice been a Hearst Visiting Professional in graphics and design at UNC-Chapel Hill. He has been a lecturer at many universities and an adjunct faculty member of the University of Maryland School of Journalism. In 1993, he was named a distinguished alumnus of the School of Design. In 1997, Mr. Curtis was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame. He is co-founder of the Society of Newspaper Design (1978). He is also the founder, and for several years was editor, of the Society's quarterly journal, DESIGN. He is an independent information design consultant. He has edited and collaborated on several books, and his work has been noted in periodicals and books, most recently in "Information Architects" and "1000 - Richard Saul Wurman's Who's Really Who." (Term 2008)
James Davis
James Davis graduated from NC State in 1958 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He is also a graduate of the Harvard University Advanced Management Program. Mr. Davis retired as a Senior Vice President for Carolina Power and Light Company (now Progress Energy). Prior to joining Carolina Power and Light, Mr. Davis served as a reserve officer in the U.S. Air Force and became a test engineer in the Experimental Engineering Department of Pratt and Whitney Aircraft. Mr. Davis has served as the President of the Board for the NC State Engineering Foundation. In 1998, Mr. Davis was named as one of the College of Engineering's Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award winners. (Term 2006)
David Fox
David Fox, an Olympic Gold Medalist in swimming, received a B.A. in Civil Engineering from NC State University in 1994. While a swimmer for NC State, he won seven ACC titles, one NCAA title, and was the recipient of the Alumni Association Athletic Trophy in 1993. Following his swimming career, Mr. Fox attended UNC-Chapel Hill where he earned a Master’s in Business Administration in 1999 and served as the assistant swimming coach for the varsity swimming team for three years. Following business school, he spent 6 years in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs & Co., in Philadelphia, PA where he was a Vice President. In January 2006, Mr. Fox was named Regional Manager of the firm’s Atlanta office, responsible for a 10 state territory in the Southeast, including North Carolina. (Term 2008)
J. Lewis Hardy, Jr.
J. Lewis Hardy serves as President of the Licensing Resource Group, Inc. (LRG), a trademark management company servicing colleges, universities, and special athletic properties nationwide. Prior to LRG, Mr. Hardy was instrumental in several of Champion Products' marketing and brand management campaigns in the athletic, bookstore, and corporate divisions while serving as an executive with the company for eighteen years. He also worked for the Colgate/Palmolive Sports Division, which owned twenty-one sports-oriented companies. During his career, Lewis has worked with the NBA, NFL, MLB, NCAA, USOC, NHL, ASA and many recreational organizations in developing their uniforms, marketing programs and brands. He holds both a B.A. degree in Business Management (1975) and a B.S. degree in Textile Technology (1977) from NC State University. (Term 2006)
Pamela G. Jones
Pamela G. Jones is a graduate of NC State University, class of 1978. She has a B.S. degree in Textile Science with a minor in Sales and Marketing. Presently Ms. Jones is Vice President of Sales, Southeast Division, for Knoll, Inc. During her tenure at Knoll, she has worked with high profile Fortune 500 companies on workplace issues. Prior to joining Knoll, Ms. Jones worked with Anderson Hosiery in Sales and Sales Management. Her passion is design and the impact that it has on the personal and professional lives of individuals. She currently serves on the boards of the Architecture School for the University of Tennessee and the Board of the Architectural School of the University of Virginia. (Term 2008)
Ken Maxwell
Ken Maxwell received his B.S. from NC State in Agriculture Education in 1984; he then went on to earn his Executive MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business in 1998. Mr. Maxwell spent eleven years of his career in international business and six years in business management and consulting. He joined Progress Energy's economic development department in 2002 and was recently named Community Relations Manager for Progress Energy's Western Region. Mr. Maxwell serves on the Advisory Committee for Biotechnology in Western North Carolina and numerous community and civic organizations. He is a long time member of the NC State Alumni Association and Wolfpack Club. He has been actively involved in the Caldwell Fellows and Park scholarship programs. (Term 2008)
Calvin McNeill
Calvin McNeill is currently Senior Director, Global Clinical Safety, at Daiichi Medical Research in Montvale, NJ. He has also held positions in pharmaceutical medicine at Takeda Global Research and Development, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and American Home Products. He served ten years as a U.S. Army physician. A 1976 NC State graduate with a B.S. degree in Biology, McNeill received his M.D. degree in 1980 from the UNC School of Medicine at Chapel Hill. He did postgraduate training in diagnostic radiology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. In 1999, he received the NC State University Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. His affiliations include the Radiological Society of North America, the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, National Medical Association, and life member of Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. In addition, he has served on the NC State University Alumni Board of Directors and the NC State Athletics Council and is a member of the Chancellor's Circle, NC State University. (Term 2008)
Darrell V. Menscer
Darrell V. Menscer is retired from PSI Energy, Inc. of Plainfield, IN and Carolina Power and Light Company (now Progress Energy). At PSI Energy, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer. At CP&L, he started as a junior engineer, and his last position was as Senior Vice President for Power Supply. He has served NC State in several volunteer capacities, most recently as Co-Chair of the Campaign for NC State Students. He earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from NC State in 1960. (Term 2008)
Dell Murphy
Dell Murphy is Founder and President of Murphy Family Ventures LLC, a management company that provides professional services to its clients, particularly focused on swine production and real estate development. His latest venture has been in the portable storage industry where he is an owner of 1-800-PACKRAT franchise stores. Mr. Murphy attended Appalachian State University and is a 1990 graduate from NC State University with a degree in Swine Management. He currently serves on the NC Wildlife Commission, the Wolfpack Club Board, and has recently been appointed to serve on the NC Ag and Life Science Research Foundation Board.
Susan Rabon
Susan Rabon graduated Summa Cum Laude from NC State with a B.A. in Political Science. Ms. Rabon received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. In 1993, she joined the staff of the Attorney General’s Office in Raleigh as Special Counsel and in 1994 became Deputy Attorney General for Administration, where she oversaw the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice. In 2001, Ms. Rabon moved to the Governor’s Office with incoming Governor Michael F. Easley. As Senior Assistant for Administration she serves as one of the Governor’s top three advisors and oversees the day-to-day administrative operations of the Governor’s Office. She provides the Governor with advice in many areas of state government, particularly in the areas of budget, personnel and technology. (Term 2008)
Jo Anne Sanford
Jo Anne Sanford has led the North Carolina Utilities Commission as its Chair for eight of the ten years she has served on the Commission, holding appointments by both Governors Hunt and Easley. She is a nationally recognized expert in matters concerning regulated utilities and serves on a number of state and national boards, including the boards of directors of the federal Universal Service Administrative Company and the North Carolina State Employees Credit Union. A 1972 graduate of NC State (Political Science) and a 1975 graduate of the UNC-CH School of Law, she is a former Special Deputy Attorney General in the North Carolina Department of Justice. Ms. Sanford is a recipient of the Wake County YWCA 1998 Academy of Women designation, the 1999 Distinguished Women of North Carolina award for government service, and the 2003 Outstanding Government and Public Sector Attorney Award from the Bar Association's Government and Public Sector Section. (Term 2008)
C. Edward Scott, III
C. Edward Scott is a consultant and lobbyist specializing in the areas of environmental management, engineering, energy management, technical management, and strategic planning and public policy. He formerly served with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Company, moving up from the position as a junior engineer in 1965 to his final position as a Vice President of Environmental Affairs and Support Services. Mr. Scott is a 1965 graduate of NC State with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also attended the UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School Executive Program. Mr. Scott served on the Board of Directors with the Better Business Bureau of Western NC and the NC Citizens for Business and Industry. Mr. Scott is a fellow, and was formerly national director for, the National Society of Professional Engineers. (Term 2006)
Leon K. (Kirk) Semke
Kirk Semke retired in 1996 after thirty-three years in the pulp and paper industry, mostly at Riegelwood, NC. During that time, he was employed in a variety of management positions, first with Riegel Paper Corporation and then with Federal Paper Board Company. At his retirement, he held the position of Corporate Vice President of Manufacturing Technology and was located in Montvale, NC. In 1958, Dr. Semke earned a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Washington. He was awarded a Master of Science degree in 1960 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1963 by the Institute of Paper Chemistry, Appleton WI. He has served as a director of the NC State Pulp and Paper Foundation from 1990 through 1994 and from 2001 through 2005, and chaired the Foundation's External Affairs Committee from 1992 through 1998. Dr. Semke has been appointed to professor and to dean search committees for the College of Natural Resources. He was inducted into the Wallace Carl Riddick Society in 2004. (Term 2006)
E. Norris Tolson
Norris Tolson is Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Revenue. He previously served as Volunteer Chairman of the Hurricane Floyd Relief Fund, as North Carolina Secretary of Transportation (1998 to 1999), as Secretary of Commerce (1997 to 1998) and a State Representative in the North Carolina General Assembly (1995-1997). Prior to his service with the state, he worked for eighteen years with E.I. DuPont Company, where he managed various research, marketing, and sales assignments within DuPont's agrichemical division. As Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Tolson focused on ensuring that North Carolina workers receive the training and education they need to get the jobs they want. As Secretary of Transportation, he worked to reorganize the department to create a citizen-friendly atmosphere stressing open processes, public accountability, and decentralized decision-making. Secretary Tolson is a 1962 NC State graduate in Crop Science and Agribusiness and is a former President of the Student Body. (Term 2008)
C. E. (Ed) Vick, Jr.
Ed Vick is one of the founders of Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., a Raleigh-based engineering, planning, and environment consulting firm. As President from 1972 to 1992 and Chairman from 1992-2000, Mr. Vick directed the expansion of Kimley-Horn's services, which include aviation, environmental services, intelligent transportation systems, land development, transit, transportation, and water resources. Mr. Vick is a graduate of NC State University, where he received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Civil Engineering. In 1991, he was named the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus by the engineering faculty of NC State. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of NC State's Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science, and on the Directors of the NC State Alumni Association. (Term 2008)
Stephen (Steve) P. Zelnak
Steve Zelnak is Chairman and CEO of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. He is a graduate of Georgia Tech and received his M.B.A. from University of Alabama. Mr. Zelnak is completing a three-year term on the College of Management Board of Advisors. He has been active in many community organizations and is well known in Raleigh area business circles. He formerly was Chair of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry (NCCBI), past Chairman of the NC Department of Community Colleges Foundation, and is on the President's Advisory Committee at Georgia Tech. (Term 2008)
Contacting the Board of Visitors
Kevin Howell
Assistant to the Chancellor for External Affairs
Diane Baker
External Affairs, Assistant
NC State University
A Holladay Hall/ Campus Box 7001
Raleigh, NC 27695
Phone: (919) 515-9340
Fax: (919) 831-3545