NC State Leaders Recognized on ‘Power 100’ List
The chancellor, a dean, two directors and more than 40 alumni were featured on Business North Carolina's annual list.
Chancellor Randy Woodson was one of several NC State University leaders named to Business North Carolina‘s “Power List 2024.” According to the magazine, the list includes “the state’s most influential leaders who are making a significant impact in their industries and the broader community.”
Woodson has been featured among North Carolina’s top leaders annually since the magazine’s inaugural power list recognition. Profiled in the education section of this year’s issue, Business North Carolina notes that “Woodson, 67, has led North Carolina’s largest university based on enrollment — about 38,000 students — since 2010 and has a contract through June 2025. He has helped raise NC State’s national research profile. It’s a lead university for two National Science Foundation Engineering Research Centers and one Manufacturing USA Institute, plus a partner in six others.”
Woodson said the person he admires the most is his wife, Susan, because she is “creative and lives in the moment.” When asked about the best advice he has received, he quoted a former boss and mentor: “Focus on the job at hand, and don’t focus on future opportunities. They will come if you do your current job really well.”
Garey Fox, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was included among the top agricultural leaders in the state. He became dean of CALS in August 2023, following in the footsteps of his mentor and friend, Richard Linton. In his profile, Business North Carolina wrote that Fox “helps spotlight his students’ mission to feed a growing population despite urban expansion taking farmland. The college and U.S. Department of Agriculture broke ground on a 51,296-square-foot plant improvement laboratory, allowing scientists to research improvements to maize, soybean, wheat, cotton and peanuts.”
Phillip Mintz, executive director of NC State University Industry Expansion Solutions, was included among the state’s top leaders in the manufacturing industry. His office serves as an extension service, offering technical training support for manufacturers big and small. Mintz and his team help new manufacturing businesses coming to North Carolina transition to operating here. He said one of his proudest career accomplishments was winning the NC State Industrial Systems Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022.
Athletic Director Boo Corrigan was featured in the Arts, Sports and Entertainment section for his leadership managing the university’s 23-team athletics department, in addition to his role as chair of the College Football Playoff selection committee. Under Corrigan’s leadership, NC State won five ACC Championships in 2024, including titles in men’s swimming and diving, women’s cross-country, wrestling, men’s basketball and gymnastics. This was the most ACC Championships of any athletic program in 2024.
NC State alumni across public, private and nonprofit sectors also made a strong showing on this year’s list. More than 40 graduates were recognized, including three-time alumnus and SAS Institute CEO Jim Goodnight, NC Farm Bureau President Shawn Harding, State Employees’ Credit Union CEO Leigh Brady and North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association CEO Lynn Minges, among other statewide leaders. View the full list here.
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