North Carolina State University

The North Carolina General Assembly founded NC State on March 7, 1887, as a land-grant college under the name North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, or "North Carolina A&M" for short. In the segregated system, it was open only to white students. As a land-grant college, North Carolina A&M would provide a liberal and practical education while focusing on military tactics, agriculture, and the mechanical arts without excluding classical studies. Since its founding, the university has maintained these objectives while building on them.

After opening in 1889, North Carolina A&M saw its enrollment fluctuate and its mandate expand. In 1917, it changed its name to North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering—or "North Carolina State" for short.

During the Great Depression, the North Carolina state government, under Governor O. Max Gardner, administratively combined the University of North Carolina, the Woman's College (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), and NC State. This conglomeration became the University of North Carolina in 1931.

In 1937, Blake R. Van Leer joined as dean and started the graduate program for engineering, among numerous other programs. In 1942, Van Leer successfully encouraged NC State's first women to pursue an engineering degree, 4-5 women would enroll and the first women graduated in 1941. One of his students, Katharine Stinson, became the Federal Aviation Administration's first female engineer. Following World War II, the university grew and developed. The G.I. Bill enabled thousands of veterans to attend college, and enrollment shot past the 5,000 mark in 1947.

State College created new academic programs, including the School of Architecture and Landscape Design in 1947 (renamed as the School of Design in 1948), the School of Education in 1948, and the School of Forestry in 1950. In the summer of 1956, following the US Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated public education was unconstitutional, North Carolina State College enrolled its first African-American undergraduates, Ed Carson, Manuel Crockett, Irwin Holmes, and Walter Holmes. In 1962, State College officials desired to change the institution's name to North Carolina State University. Consolidated university administrators approved a change to the University of North Carolina at Raleigh, frustrating many students and alumni who protested the change with letter writing campaigns. In 1963, State College officially became North Carolina State of the University of North Carolina. Students, faculty, and alumni continued to express dissatisfaction with this name; however, after two additional years of protest, the name was changed to the current official name, North Carolina State University at Raleigh. However, by longstanding convention, the "at Raleigh" portion is omitted even in official documents such as diplomas, and in practice the institution's name is simply "North Carolina State University"; "NC State University" is also accepted on first reference in news stories. Indeed, school officials have long discouraged using "at Raleigh" except when absolutely necessary, as the full name implies that there is another branch of the university elsewhere in the state.

In 1966, single-year enrollment reached 10,000. In the 1970s, enrollment surpassed 19,000 and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences was added.

Celebrating its centennial in 1987, NC State reorganized its internal structure, renaming all its schools to colleges (e.g. School of Engineering to the College of Engineering). Also in this year, it gained 700 acres (2.8 km2) of land that was developed as Centennial Campus. Since then, NC State has focused on developing its new Centennial Campus. It has invested more than $620 million in facilities and infrastructure at the new campus, with 62 acres (0.3 km2) of space being constructed. Sixty-one private and government agency partners are on Centennial Campus.

NC State has almost 8,000 employees, nearly 38,000 students, a $1.495 billion annual budget, and a $2.2 billion endowment. It is the largest university in the state and one of the anchors of North Carolina's Research Triangle, together with Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

NC Research Campus

NC State is one of eight universities with a presence at the North Carolina Research Campus, a 340-acre biotechnology hub in Kannapolis, NC The university operates the Plants for Human Health Institute (PHHI), a research and education organization devoted to research involving food crops, like fruits and vegetables, and the potential health-promoting properties they convey when consumed. NC State's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences staffs the institute with faculty from the departments of horticultural science; food, bioprocessing and nutrition sciences; plant and microbial biology; genetics; and agricultural and resource economics.

PHHI has both research and Cooperative Extension components. Mary Ann Lila is director of the Plants for Human Health Institute. As of February 2024, PHHI is home to around 11 faculty and 70 staff at the NC Research Campus.

NC State began operations in Kannapolis in 2007 as the Fruit and Vegetable Science Institute. The university was one of the first organizations to join the fledgling biotech hub that would become the NC Research Campus. The university's program was renamed the Plants for Human Health Institute when the NC Research Campus was officially dedicated on October 20, 2008, in order "to more accurately reflect the groundbreaking research approach the institute will take. Institute research will focus on identifying and making available to consumers bioactive compounds in plants that prevent and treat disease."

Academic divisions

As of the 2018–2019 school year, NC State had the following colleges and academic departments: