Philip Morris USA, one of N.C. State University’s most active corporate partners, in December made a donation of $300,000 to the Philip Morris Professorship Endowment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The check was presented to Chancellor Marye Anne Fox by Dr. Larry Sykes of Philip Morris. The contribution was in addition to $600,000 Philip Morris annually donates to N.C. State.

Sykes, who holds three N.C. State degrees, is a member of the board of directors and past president of the North Carolina Tobacco Foundation and is currently chair of the CALS Campaign steering committee.

Thanking Sykes for “this wonderful investment in N.C. State, the College and our faculty,” Fox announced that, with this contribution, the professorship endowment will have a value of more than $1.1 million. The endowment was begun in 1977 with a $50,000 contribution as the Philip Morris Extension Specialist Endowment. Then in 1983, with a special contribution of $150,000, also brought by Sykes, the endowment was changed to the Philip Morris Professorship Endowment.

College Dean James Oblinger; Dr. Jon Ort, associate dean and director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service; and Dr. David Smith, one of the 14 current and former Philip Morris Professors, joined in the ceremonies at the chancellor’s office to thank Sykes for his leadership and support.

—Terri Leith