NC State Poole College honors nearly 850 graduates at May 7 ceremony

The NC State Poole College of Management faculty and staff joined thousands of family members and friends to recognize the academic success of 843 graduates at the college’s commencement ceremony at PNC Arena on May 7.

For the Hurst family, it was the second graduation ceremony that Phil Hurst attended as a graduate with one of his children. In 2013, he and his son Jonathan received their bachelor's degrees. This time, he received his MBA, and daughter Anna received her bachelor's degree in business administration. 

College-wide, the commencement ceremony marked the graduation of three individuals receiving doctoral degrees in economics; 228 who received master’s degrees in accounting, business management, economics, global luxury management, or innovation management; and 612 who received bachelor’s degrees in accounting, business administration or economics. Photos from the college's pre-commencement reception at the University Club and the commencement ceremony are available on the Poole College Flickr account. 

Poole College's ceremony immediately followed the university’s commencement ceremony, at which all NC State graduates were recognized and heard from the university commencement speaker, Admiral Michelle Howard, vice chief of naval operations in the U.S. Navy. Howard received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letter degree from NC State, along with Dr. Jean J. Schensul, founding director and senior scientist with the institute for Community Research. In addition, Dr. Lawrence J. Wheeler, director of the North Carolina Museum of Art, received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

At Poole College, the tradition is for a student speaker, selected from among candidates in the undergraduate degree programs, to deliver a commencement address to his or her peers.

This year’s Poole College student commencement speaker was Suzanne Emily Phillips, from Advance, N.C. She graduated as a valedictorian with a major in business administration and concentrations in marketing and information technology. Her reflections on her undergraduate years at Poole College included tips for future students to help them “maneuver through this new and foreign experience called college.” She also offered “Top 5 Tips for Happy Traveling” for her fellow graduates as they all launch their careers. (Read her brief commencement address.)

Phillips is continuing her education through a Poole College summer study abroad program in Argentina, followed by an internship and then a return to campus this fall for Poole College’s one-year dual degree Master in Global Luxury Management program offered in collaboration with Skema. 

Poole College also honors one exceptional undergraduate student from each graduating class with the Poole College Board of Advisors Outstanding Student Award. Criteria for the award include demonstrated leadership and engagement and participation in personal and professional growth experiences while at NC State. This year, 31 students were nominated by faculty for the award, and the following 20 were selected as finalists.

Receiving the 2016 award was Lindsay Alyssa Clouse, from Charlotte, N.C. Clause graduated summa cum laude, receiving a bachelor of science degree in accounting with a concentration in financial analysis. In addition to her academic accomplishments, Clouse was heavily involved in many student organizations, including serving as president of the Poole Council and vice president of Beta Alpha Psi. She completed internships at Red Ventures and Elliott Davis Decosimo and will be interning with Deloitte this summer. Clouse returns to NC State this fall, to enter the college’s Master of Accounting program.

Following is the list of finalists for Poole College’s Outstanding Student Award

• Matthew Thomas Anderson
• Kristy Asrun Brader
• Ryan J. Burke
• Lindsay Alyssa Clouse
• Ethan Carl Chlebowski
• Daniel Clark Coggins
• Zachary A. Goodman
• Kathryn Leigh King
• Casey N. Knosby
• Chatherine Anne Konieczny
• Amanda J. McCrackan
• Jake Paul Nickola
• Suzanne Emily Phillips
• Pierre Quantin
• Ernie V. Robinson, III
• Sadie J. Rockefeller
• Gabrielle A. Roseboro
• Cody Leighton Snyder
• Sarah Catherine Stephens
• Lukas Wagner

Also recognized in the college’s commencement program are undergraduate students who received special recognition in the college's commencement program: 17 university valedictorians (Highest Ranking Scholars), five Park Scholars, 42 University Scholars, three University Honors Program participants, two John T. Caldwell Fellows; 14 Alexander Hamilton Scholars; five Economic Honors Program participants; 10 International Business Dual-degree Scholars, and eight Skema/NC State Poole College Dual-degree Scholars.

Commencement is also a time to recognize faculty who are retiring and those who have received university recognition in the past academic year. Following are this year’s Poole College faculty retirees and university honorees.

NC State 2015-16 Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching Nominee: Paul W. Mulvey, professor of human resources, Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Alexander Q. Holladay Medal for Excellence Recipients: Paul F. Williams, professor of accounting, and Steve Allen, professor and associate dean, Jenkins Graduate Programs and Research (Read their story.)

2016 NC State Outstanding Teacher Award: Srinivasan Krishnamurthy, associate professor, finance, Department of Business Management

2016 NC State Outstanding Extension Service Awards: Colbey Reid, director, Consumer Innovation Consortium, Department of Business Management, and Umut Dur, assistant professor, Department of Economics

Faculty Retirements

The following faculty are faculty who have retired in the past year or will be retiring by July 1.

• David L. Baumer, Department of Business Management
• Pamela Bostic, former director, Jenkins MBA program
• K. Shannon Davis, professor of human resources and former associate dean, Poole College Office of Undergraduate Programs
• Roger Debo, former director, entrepreneurship and technology commercialization concentration, Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Alvin E. Headen, professor, Department of Economics
• Richard E. Kouri, professor of practice, biosciences management, Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Michael B. McElroy, professor, Department of Economics

The 2016 Spring Commencement Ceremony was also the last one at which Ira R. Weiss, dean and Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Chair, would preside as the dean. He is stepping down on June 30, with Annette Ranft, Ph.D., beginning as new dean July 1. Weiss will be joining the college faculty in spring 2017.