Rivers to Deliver Spring Commencement Address at NC State

Philip Rivers, a record-setting passer at NC State and current starting quarterback for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, will deliver NC State’s commencement address on Saturday, May 12, at PNC Arena in Raleigh. The ceremony will begin at 9 a.m.

During the ceremony, Chancellor Randy Woodson will confer honorary degrees on behalf of NC State to Robert B. Jordan III, former N.C. lieutenant governor and NC State alumnus, and David H. Murdock, chairman of Dole Food Company Inc.

The 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, Rivers started all 51 games at quarterback for the Wolfpack over his four-year career. He capped off his career with a stellar senior season in which he became the first quarterback in ACC history, and only the seventh in NCAA history, to throw for 3,000 yards in three different seasons. Currently, Rivers is the Chargers’ all-time leader for career completion percentage (63.5 percent) and passer rating (95.5).

Off the field, Rivers was named one of three finalists for the prestigious Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for his work with the Rivers of Hope Foundation. Rivers and his wife, Tiffany, launched the foundation in 2010 to help unwanted, abandoned and orphaned children find permanent loving homes. The Rivers of Hope Foundation has raised more than $650,000 through football camps and a 5K fun run, and Rivers personally contributes 100 percent of his off-the-field revenue to the foundation.

Robert B. Jordan III is a business and civic leader who has worked to improve education and economic opportunity throughout a career spanning more than half a century. In 1954 Jordan graduated with honors from NC State with a degree in forestry, and then served two years in the U.S. Army. In 1961 he became one of the youngest members of the UNC Board of Trustees, where he was instrumental in expanding the system and forming the Board of Governors and the 16-campus system. In 1976 Jordan was elected to the N.C. Senate, where he served four consecutive terms. He served as lieutenant governor from 1985 to 1989, using the strength of the office to lead efforts to improve access to education. Jordan has served on the State Board of Education, State Board of Community Colleges, Southern Regional Education Board, board of directors of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center and the Board of Trustees for UNC-Charlotte and NC State. He has received numerous awards and honors for his service to the state, including the North Carolina Farm Bureau Distinguished Service Award, North Carolina Award for Public Service, Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Honorary Doctor of Humanities from Methodist College, Beal Award and Watauga Medal. He will receive an Honorary Doctor of Sciences degree.

David H. Murdock is the chairman and major shareholder of Dole Food Company Inc., a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables. He is also chairman, chief executive and owner of Castle & Cooke Inc., a private company. Murdock is an advocate of eating healthy to live a longer, more vital life. In 2010 he published The Dole Nutrition Handbook, What to Eat and How to Live For a Longer, Healthier Life, which featured information from leading scientific and nutrition experts on healthy lifestyle, diet and exercise regimens. In North Carolina, Murdock is known and respected for his development of the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, a high-tech life science research center dedicated to the betterment of the world’s health and nutrition.  Murdock has been a Regent’s Professor of Creativity in Business at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management. He is the recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Pepperdine University and honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Hawaii Loa College. He will receive an Honorary Doctor of Sciences degree.

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