Science Saves a Town

Dr. Mary Ann Lila looks over a newly painted mural of fruits and vegetables on the dome of the David H. Murdock Core Laboratory.

Once home to the world's largest manufacturer of sheets and towels, Kannapolis, N.C., suffered economic devastation when the town's traditional textile industry bottomed out in the late 20th century. By the time Pillowtex Corporation closed its doors in the summer of 2003, laying off more than 7,000 workers, hope for recovery seemed unlikely. Then David H. Murdock returned to town with a vision.

Murdock had owned Pillowtex in the 1980s, when the company – then thriving – was known as Cannon Mills. Now as the owner of Dole Food Company, Murdock believes he can help restore the town's economic vitality by placing it at the heart of the food science revolution.

The result is the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), a 350- acre R&D community now under construction that will restore the town's economic vitality and lead to breakthrough discoveries related to nutrition, health and wellness, and nutritionally advanced fruits and vegetables.

"The Research Campus will be a thriving scientific community where the best minds will shape the way we understand nutrition and its relationship to disease," Murdock says.

It's an amazing turnaround. Already, many private-sector companies have announced plans to open offices on the research campus, providing new jobs to retrained textile workers and some of the country's top scientists and engineers in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries.

Murdock is helping to underwrite much of this research by donating $2 million to NC State to fund three new faculty positions – the David H. Murdock Distinguished Professorships. These and other researchers from NC State are moving into a new research facility, the Plants for Human Health Institute, on the Kannapolis campus.

Under the leadership of Dr. Mary Ann Lila, an internationally known scientist recruited from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, they will work to develop plants that contain bioactive compounds that prevent and treat disease, then focus on ways to produce these plants commercially.

By harnessing the economic power of science, educators and business leaders are working together to restore a failing community and improve the health of its citizens.

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