A. Tab Williams Jr. and Dr. L. Wiley Nifong are the 2007-2008 Distinguished Alumni of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dr. Johnny Wynne, College dean, presented the awards to Williams and Nifong September 28 during the CALS Alumni Awards reception. The two were honored for their outstanding career achievements, which have brought honor and recognition to the College, and for their commitment to the land-grant principle of service to community, state and nation.

Williams of Winston-Salem is a 1950 CALS graduate with a bachelor's degree in agronomy. While early in his career he served as an agricultural Extension agent in Forsyth County and as a sales supervisor for the Winston-Salem Tobacco Market, in 1963 he purchased six full-service gas stations and founded the A.T. Williams Oil Co. That company later grew to become Wilco Travel and Fuel Plazas, which by the late 1990s was the largest independent gasoline retailer in North Carolina. In 2001, Williams sold half of his company to a long-time supplier, Amerada Hess Corporation, forming WilcoHess LLC.

Williams is a member of the university's Peele and Pullen lifetime giving societies. In 1996, he established a charitable annuity lead trust that makes annual gifts to support three scholarships: the A. Tab Williams Jr. CALS Endowed Scholarship Fund, the John T. Caldwell-A.Tab Williams Jr. Scholarship Endowment Fund and the A. Tab Williams Jr. Athletic Scholarship Endowment Fund. In 2003, he was chosen to receive the Watauga Medal, the highest nonacademic honor bestowed by N.C. State University.

Nifong, a native of Hyde County, is a magna cum laude graduate of the College with a 1985 bachelor's degree in poultry science. He earned his 1990 medical degree from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, where he received the Frank Longino Award for Excellence in Surgery. He now serves as associate professor and director of surgical robotics and surgical research for the Brody School, where he is board certified in cardiac surgery and is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society.

He has been a pioneer in the use of robotics to perform minimally invasive cardiac surgery. In 2000, he helped perform the first total heart valve surgery using robotic technology in North America. Nifong successfully led the FDA trials for the DaVinci mitral valve surgery application, which has helped transform the Brody School into one of the world's leading training centers for robotic cardiac surgery. Nifong has personally led the training of more than 300 heart surgeons from around the world in using the DaVinci application, often traveling across the globe to deliver this highly skilled training. He also helped pioneer the use of cryoablation (freezing of tissue) for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, which is the primary factor in 15 to 20 percent of all stroke victims.

In partnership with N.C. State University, Nifong joined a design team of engineering faculty and students from the College of Engineering to perfect and expand the capabilities of robot-assisted surgery. Recently, he set up a program for the Park Scholars that allows three students per year to intern at the ECU Minimally Invasive and Robotic Training Center.