News Release
Billy Ray Hall to Give Fall Commencement Address at NC State
Media Contact(s)
Mick Kulikowski, News Services, (919) 515-8387
Nov. 16, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Billy Ray Hall, founding president of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, will give the commencement address and receive an honorary degree during North Carolina State University's fall commencement on Wednesday, Dec. 19, at the RBC Center in Raleigh. Commencement ceremonies begin at 9 a.m.
Arlinda F. Locklear, a pioneering litigator in Native American law; Arthur Tab Williams Jr., cofounder of WilcoHess; and Gianfranco Zaccai, cofounder, president and CEO of Continuum, a design consulting firm, will also receive honorary degrees on behalf of NC State from Chancellor James Oblinger.
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| Billy Ray Hall |
Hall served four N.C. governors in ascending levels of policy positions, ranging from policy director to departmental deputy secretary. He also served as chief economist for the Office of State Planning. Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. tapped Hall for duty as director of the redevelopment and disaster recovery effort for North Carolina after hurricanes Fran and Floyd.
Hall has served on numerous economic development boards, including the N.C. Rural Internet Access Authority, the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, the N.C. Foundation for Soil & Water Conservation Districts, e-NC Authority, and the Golden LEAF Long-term Economic Advancement Foundation. He is currently a member of the Kerr-Tar Regional Economic Development Corporation Board. Hall also chaired the N.C. Rural Development Council and served as executive director of the N.C. Commission on Jobs and Economic Growth. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
The first Native American woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, Locklear has represented tribes throughout the country in federal and state courts on treaty claims to water and land, taxation disputes with states and local authorities, reservation boundary issues, and federal recognition of tribes.
An enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Locklear has represented tribes in the U.S. Supreme Court, twice serving as lead counsel. In 1984, Locklear successfully challenged the state of South Dakota's authority to prosecute a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe for on-reservation conduct in Solem v. Bartlett. In 1985, she represented the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin in Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida, in which she formulated and argued the theory adopted by the Supreme Court, holding that tribes have a federal common law right to sue for possession of tribal land taken in violation of federal law. She will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Williams was appointed sales supervisor for the Winston-Salem Tobacco Market in 1955. In 1957, he joined Taylor Oil Company, later branching off with his wife, Elizabeth, to form A. T. Williams Oil Company in 1963. That company later grew to become Wilco Travel and Fuel Plazas, comprising 120 gas stations and convenience stores and 21 Wilco travel centers in four states. By the late 1990s, Wilco was the largest independent gasoline retailer in North Carolina. In 2001, Williams sold half of his company to a long-time supplier, Amerada Hess Corp.
Williams has been active in giving back to his community and to his alma mater - NC State. He has served on the boards of the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce; Winston-Salem Business Inc.; The Winston-Salem Foundation; BB&T; Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center; NC State Alumni Association; Senior Services; Hospice and Palliative Care Center; The Salvation Army; and Forsyth County Day School, which he also helped to establish. He also established, in 1996, a trust fund that contributes annual gifts to support three scholarships at NC State. He and his wife opened the Elizabeth and Tab Williams Adult Day Care Center of Senior Services, which assists seniors with Alzheimer's disease and other chronic health problems and provides respite for their family members. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Zaccai has pioneered using design research to identify compelling opportunities for innovation and accelerate product time to market. His firm, Continuum, has played a key role in the development of breakthrough products in industries producing high volume consumer goods and bio-medical devices, exemplified in work on the Swiffer and Thermacare product lines for Proctor & Gamble. He is dedicated to exploring the power of design in relation to developing nations, engaging in development projects in Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, India and Chile, and is working on the $100 laptop project for the Media Lab at MIT.
Zaccai serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Design Management Institute in Boston and on the board of advisors to the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. He is also a visiting lecturer at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Arts degree.
For more information about NC State's fall 2007 commencement activities, visit www.ncsu.edu/registrar/graduation/index.html.
- kulikowski -