2022 – Dewayne and Adama Washington
Dewayne and Adama met while they were students at NC State and credit the university’s extraordinary community, especially the small but tight-knit group of Black students who were enrolled at that time, with providing a strong sense of home for them on campus. As a result of that bond with the university and their ongoing desire to build community, the Washingtons have given to numerous funds benefiting NC State’s current and future students, faculty and staff — including a $1 million gift made during the university’s recent Think and Do the Extraordinary Campaign that will greatly impact NC State Athletics and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Washingtons have also given to NC State of their time and talents. Dewayne is serving a second term on the university’s Board of Trustees and has previously been a member of the Board of Visitors, the Alumni Association Board of Directors and the NC State University Foundation Board of Directors. Adama has served on the CHASS Dean’s Board and the Chancellor’s African American Community Advisory Council, and she was a founding committee member of the Wolfpack Women in Philanthropy and Wolfpack Women: Strengthening the Pack initiatives. She is also a lecturer in NC State’s School of Social Work.

2020 – Steven D. Schuster
The foundation board recognized the late Steven D. “Steve” Schuster posthumously with the 2020 Jerry and Elizabeth Godwin Red Torch Award. An alumnus of the College of Design and a prominent architect who changed the entire development narrative for center-city Raleigh, Schuster passed away in 2019; his wife, Mary Anne Howard, accepted the award.

Schuster graduated from NC State in 1973 with a bachelor’s of environmental design in architecture from the College of Design. He later became an adjunct faculty member with the college, as well as a committed volunteer to it and the university as a whole, sharing with Howard a legacy of involvement. Schuster served on the the Campaign Cabinet, the Design Leaders Council, the NC State University Foundation Board, the College of Design Publications Committee and the College of Design Architecture Advisory Board.

2019 – Jerry Jackson
Jerry Jackson served on the NC State University’s Foundation Board from 2010 through 2017, including as its chair. He served for nearly two decades on the Friends of Arts NC State Board. Jerry is a member and former chair of the JC Raulston Arboretum Board of Advisers, and he and Nina served as the honorary co-chair of the arboretum gala.

The Jacksons’ philanthropic support over 36 years includes establishment of an endowment to provide students with study abroad scholarships. In addition, they have been financial supporters of the Wolfpack Club, Student Emergency Fund, Our Three Winners Fund, Employee Dependent’s Tuition Scholarship and Military and Veteran Services, among other areas. One of their most recent investments is the establishment of the Jackson Family Distinguished Professorship in Biomedical Engineering

2018 – Cassius Williams
Cassius Williams has served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, including as president, the Friends of the Library Board and the Wolfpack Club Board of Directors, and he continues to serve on the Centennial Authority, the board that oversees PNC Arena. Among his contributions to alumni leadership, Williams played a key role in the return of the Homecoming Parade and other traditions that bring together the Wolfpack community.

Williams and his wife Mamie have supported scholarships for student-athletes, as well as athletics facilities. Their financial support also has included the Lalla Hodges Sidbury Memorial Scholarship; the Gene Eisen Outstanding Career Award Endowment; the new Chancellor’s Residence fund; the Alumni Association Campaign for Excellence; the Caldwell Fellows Program; NCSU Libraries; and more.

2017 – Kathryn Council
Council earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She then worked for several years in Student Affairs at NC State, earning a master’s degree in statistics from the university in 1974. Currently, Council serves on the university’s Board of Visitors and on the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board, which she previously chaired. Her past board service includes terms on the NC State University Foundation Board, the Poole College of Management Advisory Board and the Achieve! Campaign Steering Committee.

Council and her husband, Herb, provide generous philanthropic support across the university as members of the William Joseph Peele and R. Stanhope Pullen giving societies. The Councils have also established a planned gift that will create the Council Merit Scholarship. The fund will support students enrolled in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences who also have demonstrated skills and interest in mathematics or the physical sciences.

2016 – Steve Zelnak
Steve Zelnak has previously served on the university’s Board of Visitors, NC State University Foundation Board, the Development Board and the College of Sciences Foundation Board of Directors. He was recognized as the Poole College’s Person of the Year in 2010 and has served on the college’s Advisory Board since 2001.

Steve and Judy Zelnak established the Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Dean’s Chair in the Poole College of Management in 2014, the university’s first named dean’s chair. In 2007, the couple established the Zelnak Term Professorship, also in the Poole College. The Zelnaks are generous members of NC State’s Charles William Dabney Lifetime Giving Society, the R. Stanhope Pullen Society and the Chancellor’s Circle.

2015 – Richard K. Bryant 
Richard Bryant has volunteered for and supported many programs at the university over the past 20 years, including service on the Board of Visitors from 2002 through 2011 and on the NC State University Foundation Board from 1995 through 1999. He has served on the boards of the NC State Investment Fund and NC State Endowment, and as co-chair of the Achieve! Campaign Steering Committee for ARTS NC State and co-chair of the Frank Thompson Hall Renovation Project. He currently serves on the NC Textile Foundation Investment Committee. A passionate advocate for the performing and visual arts at the university, Bryant is a founding member and former chair of Friends of ARTS NC State. He was honored in 2009 with the Bowers Medal of Arts for this support. He is a founding member of the State Club, a lifetime member of the Wolfpack Club and a 30-year member of the NC State Alumni Association.

Bryant and his wife, Suzy, are generous members of the university’s Chancellor’s Circle and W.H. Page Lifetime Giving Society, supporting the Poole College of Management, athletics, arts programs, the marching and varsity bands programs, and other music enhancement efforts.

2014 – Eugene “Gene” Langley, Jr.
Eugene “Gene” Langley, Jr. is former chair of the NC State University Foundation and former president of the NC State Alumni Association. In addition to these prestigious leadership roles, Gene has served NC State as a member of the Investment Fund Board of Directors, the steering committee for the Alumni Association Campaign for Excellence, Coalition 2000, the Park Scholars Selection Committee, and the search committee for the associate vice chancellor for alumni relations and executive director of the Alumni Association. He is a founding member of the State Club, a charter partner of the Lonnie Poole Golf Course, and a Wolfpack Club member and supporter.

Gene, a member of the C. W. Dabney Lifetime Giving Society, and his wife, Vicky, have generously provided support for the Alumni Association, athletics, the golf course, ARTS NC State, the Gregg Museum, Caldwell Scholarships, the College of Engineering, and the J.C. Raulston Arboretum.

2013 – Raymond A. Bryan, Jr.
Ray Bryan, Jr. is former director of the NC State Engineering Foundation Board, and past president of the Wolfpack Club and the Development Board. He has served as a member of the NC State University Foundation Board, Coalition 2000, and the College of Engineering Advisory Council and Dean’s Cabinet. He and the Bryan Family Foundation have established an endowed scholarship as well as a student experience endowment and two enhancement endowments in the College of Engineering. Bryan also established the Raymond A. Bryan, Jr. Jazz Endowment.

2012 – Paul Michaels
Paul Michaels is a founding partner of Michaels & Michaels law firm in Raleigh. In 1992 he joined the Friends of the Gregg Board of Advisors and served as the board’s president before becoming president of the Friends of the ARTS, first chair of the Friends of the ARTS Board of Advisors, and ARTS NC STATE’s campaign co-chair for the Frank Thompson Hall Renovation Campaign. Michaels also served on the NC State Foundation Board for eight years and was former chair of the board.

2011 – Burley Mitchell
Former chief justice of the NC State Supreme Court, Burley has contributed significant resources and expertise to NC State. He has served on the Graduate School Advisory Board, the CHASS Dean’s Advisory Board, the Board of Visitors, the NC State University Foundation Board and was chair of the Alumni Association Board. In 2005 he became a member the NC State Board of Trustees where he served until he was elected to the UNC Board of Governors.

2010 – Jean Kilgore
A generous donor to NC State, Jean established the Jean F. Kilgore Scholarship to help students who ordinarily wouldn’t be able to attend the university. She has served as a member and former chair of the CHASS Dean’s Advisory Board as well as the NC State University Foundation Board. She is also a former executive committee member for the Campaign for NC State Students.

2009 – Lonnie C. Poole
With a $40 million donation to NC State, including a gift of $37 million to endow and name the Poole College of Management, Lonnie has given the university the largest gift in its history. He has served on several boards at NC State including the CHASS Dean’s Advisory Board, the NC State Engineering Foundation and the Board of Trustees Endowment Fund Board. He is also the former chair of the NC State University Foundation.

2008 – Peter Coker
A former NC State basketball player, Peter served as director of the NC State Foundation for seven years. He was also a Volunteer Leader for the Campaign for NC State Students and is the former chair of the NC State Investment Fund Board.

2008 – F. Dale Hayes
Dale served 10 years on the NC State University Foundation and led the board as chair for three years. He is also the former chair of the NC Textiles Foundation and served on the Achieve! Campaign Steering Committee and the Endowment Fund Board.