N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger conferred 2,925 degrees on 2,780 graduating students when the university held 2007 Fall Commencement on Dec. 19, at the RBC Center in Raleigh. At that time, Oblinger conferred honorary degrees on behalf of N.C. State to College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni Billy Ray Hall, founding president of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, and Arthur Tab Williams Jr., cofounder of WilcoHess. Hall delivered the commencement address.

Also receiving honorary degrees were Arlinda F. Locklear, a pioneering litigator in Native American law, and Gianfranco Zaccai, cofounder, president and CEO of Continuum, a design consulting firm.

Candidates for degrees were from 88 North Carolina counties, 31 other states or U.S. territories and 39 foreign countries. N.C. State holds graduation ceremonies each year in the spring and fall.

— NCSU News Services