Bolstering the College’s ‘Ecosystem’

Matt (‘94) and Soogi Hong are not new to the giving scene at Poole College. In spring 2018, they established an endowment to support student scholarships in honor of Matt’s late mother, Jean Hong. Soon after, they established another endowment in the name of Matt’s father, Don Hong, to support a teaching excellence award for faculty.

So when Dean Frank Buckless and Brian Clark, Poole College executive director of philanthropy, stopped in Atlanta to catch up with Matt, a new giving opportunity was soon to follow.

“I maintain an ongoing dialogue with Brian and Frank to keep a pulse on what’s happening at the university, the college’s areas of need, and how we can continue to grow, improve and impact society,” Matt Hong says. “They mentioned a desire to continue to support faculty research within the college, which led to this newest gift.”

The Hongs’ newest commitment will provide Poole College with funding to create a “Term Professorship” award for a highly productive, mid-career faculty member. This award will provide the faculty member with funding to support their research during the summer months.

“We have supported student scholarship and teaching already, so to create a gift that supports research allows us to impact another area of the college’s ecosystem.”
–Matt Hong (’94)

“We have supported student scholarship and teaching already, so to create a gift that supports research allows us to impact another area of the college’s ecosystem,” Matt Hong says.

“This fantastic gift from Matt and Soogi provides us with a tool for rewarding and retaining our most productive mid-career faculty,” says Richard Warr, associate dean for faculty and research. “These are the faculty who are phenomenal in the classroom and who create cutting-edge research and thought leadership to advance the college’s goals of student success and impactful research.”

The gift fills a gap in the college’s “toolbox,” Warr explains. 

 “This gift is an important step in providing additional support for these faculty who represent the heart of the business school.”
–Richard Warr

“We’re typically able to provide support for our new faculty, as well as our distinguished professors who tend to be senior; but the mid-career faculty are often overlooked,” Warr continues. “This gift is an important step in providing additional support for these faculty who represent the heart of the business school.”

Matt Hong’s giving to Poole College has grown with his appreciation of the school – first as an alumnus himself and later as a Poole parent. Hong’s son, Landon, is a senior studying business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship.

“If we can make an immediate impact while we’re here to see it, we want to.”
–Soogi Hong

“It has been a priority in our family to foster giving,” says Soogi Hong. “And as Landon prepares to transition from Poole student to NC State alum, it was a great time to express our appreciation for all that Poole College has meant to multiple Hongs.”

“If the Wolfpack Men’s Basketball mantra is ‘why not us,’ then I would say our family’s giving mantra is, ‘why wait?,” Matt Hong adds. “If we can make an immediate impact while we’re here to see it, we want to.”

To learn more about supporting Poole College, please contact the Poole Development and External Relations Team.