NC State Celebrates a Record-Breaking Fundraising Year

The 2025 fiscal year at NC State started as one of change — and ended as one for the record books.

The year, which began on July 1, 2024 and concluded June 30, 2025, saw the retirement of former chancellor Randy Woodson, the return of Chancellor Kevin Howell to his alma mater and $366,767,487 raised in new gifts and commitments. This fundraising total is the highest in NC State history.

At a time when higher education institutions face decreases in federal funding, NC State’s alumni and friends have stepped forward to invest in the university’s continued success in 2025 and beyond.

“What a remarkable moment for NC State — and what an incredible vote of confidence in our future,” said Howell. “Our work is meaningful: Together, we are elevating our state, strengthening our economy and changing lives. Private support enhances all we do, and I am so grateful to our Wolfpack community for their generosity.”

The theme of the year was transformation: how NC State evolved under Woodson’s tenure, with help from an expanding culture of philanthropy, and the importance of sustaining momentum to keep meeting students’ and the state’s needs in the future. This was exemplified in the Celebrating Transformation fundraising initiative, which honored both the outgoing and incoming chancellor and included the creation of the Chancellor’s Transformational Endowment. Gifts to this endowment serve as a powerful investment in NC State’s future and provide Howell and subsequent leaders with sustained, flexible funds to respond to new challenges and opportunities.

“Our record-breaking year represents something truly special: thousands of people who believe in this university, believe in the value we provide to the state, believe in the impact of our research and believe in the power of NC State education,” said Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Brian Sischo. 

Other philanthropic highlights include:

• The Lampe family built on their roots and named a department: A $20 million commitment from Ross W. Lampe Jr. ’77 — the second largest in College of Engineering history — named the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. The family has been formative to engineering at NC State for four generations. 
• The Wilson family expanded their legacy: A $10 million commitment from the family, led by Elizabeth Creswell “Cres” Wilson Calabrese ’89 and Frederick “Rick” E. Wilson III ’87, brings the Centennial Scholarship program in the Wilson College of Textiles up to 40 fully endowed scholarships and also supports the Athletic Director’s Enhancement Fund.
• Past Board of Trustees Chair Ed Weisiger Jr. helped launch the Celebrating Transformation campaign: Weisiger ’82 and his wife Betsy Fleming were among the first to support Celebrating Transformation with their gifts to Woodson Hall.
• Three-time alumnus Dr. James Owens celebrated transformation across campus: Former Board of Trustees chair Owens and his wife, Kathrine, supported the Celebrating Transformation initiative with gifts to Woodson Hall, their long-standing Nellie Maude Matthews Owens Scholarships and the new Owens International Economics Endowment at the Poole College of Management. 
• Sir Mohamed Mansour ’68 expanded opportunities for international students and global engagement: Once an international student himself, Mansour created opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students through the International Student Support Fund, the Mansour International Graduate Fellowship Fund and the Mansour Global Engagement Award, which is housed in the Wilson College of Textiles.
• The Park Scholarships program entered a new partnership to enhance donors’ impact: The Stamps Scholars Program provides a 1:1 match to new endowment income and current-use gifts to Park as the merit-based scholarship celebrates 30 years of making a difference at NC State — and far beyond.
• A new gift named the director position at the Peter A. Pappas Real Estate Development Program: The Howard C. and Margaret G. Bissell Directorship honors Bissell’s relationship with Pappas and capped off an exciting year of donor support for the program, which prepares future real estate leaders to plan, build and design the North Carolina of the future.

While these gifts enhance opportunities across the university, the impact of each — from the molecular discovery fueled at Woodson Hall to the myriad ways scholarship support helps students lead and serve — will extend far beyond the footprint of campus to benefit people throughout North Carolina, the nation and world.

Fundraising success like that seen in the 2025 fiscal year requires gifts of all sizes, as annual gifts work hand-in-hand with endowments and naming gifts to supplement state resources and create new opportunities. In fact, gifts under $1,000 totaled more than $4.3 million for students, research and programs across the university. 

This impact is exemplified by two key NC State initiatives: the Pantry Bowl and Day of Giving.

• Powered by donors making gifts of at least $5, NC State won its third straight Pantry Bowl, a fundraising competition with UNC-Chapel Hill that fosters awareness about food insecurity. Last year’s bowl raised $94,000 for Feed the Pack Food Pantry from 1,520 gifts last year — an average of $60 per gift (which can purchase around 60 bags of fresh spinach for patrons).

• Since 2019, NC State Day of Giving has shown how gifts of all sizes and to hundreds of different areas across campus add up to create a major impact. For 2025’s Day of Giving, 10,898 donors made 18,565 gifts totaling nearly $50.6 million. The average gift made via the Day of Giving website was $135.

Private support has become increasingly important in higher education, and NC State’s year highlights how state funding goes hand-in-hand with fundraising success. The newest home for the molecular sciences, Woodson Hall, is one of the many university initiatives and projects that benefits from generous state appropriations and, in turn,  inspires dedicated donor support, including naming gifts from alumni Timothy Humphrey ’96 and Cathy Sigal ’76.  

The North Carolina legislature has also invested to expand the College of Engineering by 40% through the Engineering NC’s Future Initiative. In response to this increase in visibility and momentum — and understanding of the vital role NC State plays in educating the state’s future workforce — the college also enjoyed its best fundraising year to date. 

As NC State looks ahead to fiscal year 2026, undoubtedly there will be more change on the horizon, particularly as federal funding remains in flux for faculty research. Because of this, private support remains essential.

“The generosity of the Wolfpack strengthens everything we do,” said Sischo. “I am so grateful for thousands of people, corporations and organizations who understand that investing in NC State is investing in the future.”

This post was originally published in Giving News.