With wind in our sails and 2019 on the horizon, it's time to take a look back at the treasure found this year by our imaginative and innovative students, faculty and alumni in Pirate Nation and beyond.
x marks the spot
The new state-of-the-art Main Campus Student Center, set to open in January 2019, saw substantial progress in 2018. The 210,000-square-foot student center is silver-level LEED certified with six dining options, a grand ballroom capable of seating 1,800 people, a jumbo outdoor movie screen and more.
The floor of the main ballroom will have an outline of the coast of North Carolina with all its lighthouses and an X marking the spot for Greenville. Or perhaps it’s an X marking the spot of ECU’s newest treasure.
The bonus? ECU alumni have helped build the center, making it an extra special project.
New faces
This year, ECU Athletics welcomed a new athletic director and coaches for football and men's basketball. In March, former ECU Director of Athletics Dave Hart was named special advisor to the chancellor for athletics.
It was announced in April that Joe Dooley would return for a second stint at the helm of the Pirates’ program.
And December packed a one-two punch — in a good way — as Pirate Nation welcomed Jon Gilbert as athletic director and, one day later, Mike Houston as the new head football coach.
renovated spaces
July brought cause for celebration as guests signed the last beam for the $60 million expansion project at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and looked on as it was placed.
leaders in health
BRODY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
No other medical school in North Carolina – and only one other in the nation – has produced a higher percentage of family physicians in the last decade than the Brody School of Medicine.
VISIONARY LEADER
ECU in December named Dr. Mark Stacy vice chancellor for its Division of Health Sciences, effective Jan. 1, 2019. He has served in the role as interim vice chancellor for seven months.
Dr. Stacy has proven to be a visionary leader who is highly respected by professionals from every health care specialty, by our students and by colleagues across the many different programs offered by the university. He will no doubt lead us to even greater successes for ECU in our role as North Carolina’s health-care university.”
-Chancellor Cecil Staton
breakthroughs in medicine
AMONG THE FIRST IN N.C.
A team of ECU surgeons at Vidant Medical Center was among the first in North Carolina to perform a minimally invasive procedure to treat achalasia.
A NEW PROCEDURE
A new procedure at ECU and Vidant offers a safer option for patients with stroke risks.
IMPROVING HEALTH OUTCOMES
NATIONAL TRAUMA RESEARCH
ECU and Vidant were selected to conduct trauma research for the Department of Defense. The data that is generated and the research produced ultimately could help soldiers and veterans and allow the university and hospital to look at the best trauma care and try new treatments that may save lives.
A SCHOOL OF RURAL PUBLIC HEALTH
ECU announced plans to establish a School of Rural Public Health in August of 2020, after the plans were approved by the UNC System Board of Governors’ Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs in May.
The approval for the establishment of this new School of Rural Public Health is another example of how our health sciences division continues to pioneer exciting new grounds, as it will be only the second school devoted to public health in the state."
-Chancellor Cecil Staton
SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH
The national organization representing all U.S. and Canadian dental schools announced in October that a 2019 award for innovation will go to ECU's School of Dental Medicine. It is the first national honor to recognize the university for its breakthrough approach to providing practical experience for future dentists through rural service learning centers across North Carolina.
SALUTES AND SMILES
The inaugural ECU Smiles for Veterans event, held in November at the School of Dental Medicine's community service learning center in Sylva, provided free dental care to about 40 veterans from seven western North Carolina counties.
Partners in education
ECU and 16 community colleges in the surrounding region in June signed a co-admission agreement designed to improve transfer student access and success through a collaborative degree completion program.
Students will apply to a participating community college and ECU simultaneously and commit to maintaining full-time status. Upon completing an associate degree, they will seamlessly transition into degree completion programs at ECU.
“It’s very important that we provide those pathways … to come here and complete their education, and for those pathways to be easier and more accessible, where the barriers are taken away, in order for them to achieve that baccalaureate degree.”
-Chancellor Cecil Staton
a sea of discoveries
POSSIBLE 1619 DUTCH PRIVATEER IDENTIFIED
ECU maritime studies professor Bradley Rodgers and a team of students have mounted the first scientific exploration of an unidentified shipwreck site in Bermuda. In May, they announced that they may be one step closer to linking the site to the nearly 400-year-old story of a stranded Dutch privateer or pirate ship.
FIELD SCHOOL IDENTIFIES PAMLICO SOUND MYSTERY WRECK
With little to go on but fragments of oral history and the scant clues they could glean from a decaying steel hull, a team of ECU maritime studies students helped piece together the identity and story of a shipwreck in the Pamlico Sound near Rodanthe.
MARITIME STUDIES ON A MISSION IN SAIPAN
ECU maritime studies program professor Dr. Jennifer McKinnon and several graduate students spent time this summer in Saipan to conduct archaeological surveys of surrounding waters to locate and document sites related to World War II. McKinnon and the students hope their work will lead to identifying possible sites containing the remains of missing servicemen.
pirates OVERSEAS
Each semester, students pack their bags then head to the airport, passport in hand.
Through Pirates Abroad, students can live and receive their education abroad for an academic year, semester or summer. There are more than 200 programs in 50-plus countries. During the 2017-18 academic year, 702 students participated in curricular and co-curricular activities abroad, an 18 percent increase over the previous year.
CIAO FROM CERTALDO ALTO
Less than an hour by train from Florence is the small, medieval village of Certaldo Alto, Italy. And for 53 ECU students this summer, that village was their home base as they discovered the architectural, artistic and awe-inspiring wonders of Venice, Volterra, Siena, Cinque Terre, the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii.
TOP MARKS
Additionally, ECU was named a top university for international students by U.S. News & World Report.
once a pirate, always a pirate
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Nia Franklin, a Winston-Salem native and East Carolina University music composition graduate, was crowned Miss America in September. She is the 92nd Miss America.
Miller School of Entrepreneurship and College of Engineering and Technology graduate Magus Pereira's Project OWL won IBM's Call for Code competition and $200,000. The software solution keeps first responders and victims connected in a natural disaster, even when networks are down.
A NEW MODEL FOR ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT
In order to better connect and engage with alumni, the Alumni Association this year transitioned from a transactional, dues-based membership model to one that includes all Pirate alumni. As of July 1, all living ECU graduates are considered full members of the alumni association.
contamination collaboration
GenX, a chemical generated in the production of nonstick coatings for cookware, was detected in early 2017 in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River. The river serves as a drinking water source for around 300,000 residents in the lower Cape Fear River basin, including residents of New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties. Although the chemical is no longer being discharged into the river, measurable amounts of GenX are still being found in drinking water.
Dr. Jamie DeWitt of the ECU Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology has received state and federal funding to study the health effects of potentially harmful chemical compounds that were found in North Carolina drinking water.
World-class faculty
DR. JITKA VIRAG
In a nationwide contest searching for the “best innovations in science and medicine” – out of a field of more than 64 prestigious institutions, including Harvard, Stanford, Yale and MIT – pioneering heart disease research by ECU’s Dr. Jitka Virag reigned supreme.
Virag’s research into a protein’s ability to repair the heart before and during heart attacks defeated research into facial interpretation diagnostics of genetic syndromes by the Children’s National Health System at George Washington University in the final round of 2018 STAT Madness.
EDWARD JACOBS
East Carolina University School of Music composition and theory professor Edward Jacobs received a prestigious Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in April.
Jacobs is the first ECU faculty member to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, which will support the completion of several commissioned works of original music. Approximately 170 fellows were chosen from more than 3,000 applicants last year.
BAOHONG ZHANG
In the 1980s and early ’90s, a commercial jingle described cotton as the “fabric of our lives.” Nearly three decades later, cotton truly has been an important fiber for ECU’s Baohong Zhang. After spending his academic career studying the fiber, Zhang’s hard work paid off in November as the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor was named a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Zhang was recognized for his contributions in plant science, particularly for his discoveries on microRNAs and cotton biology.
after the storm
When ECU was spared most of Hurricane Florence's wrath in September, Pirate Nation rallied to help those affected by the storm that devastated eastern North Carolina.
ECU set up a recovery operations center for those affected and created a website where individuals and businesses can request assistance.
The center also served as a way for the ECU community to sign up for opportunities to help with recovering and rebuilding from the storm and its flooding. Soon, faculty, staff and students began contributing to relief efforts, logging more than 330 service hours within days of the storm.
FLORENCE RELIEF concert
The hurricane relief show at Minges Coliseum on Nov. 13 raised $325,000.
Nearly 4,000 tickets were sold for the show, which featured headliners The Avett Brothers as well as Future Islands and Valient Thorr. Various members of all three bands have Greenville ties.
The net proceeds from the show will go to five North Carolina charities: The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, The New Bern Relief Fund, RISE in Jones County, The Onslow Community Outreach Program and RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA).
ECU – our students, our faculty and our staff – are committed to helping those people and communities affected by Hurricane Florence. Seeing the region’s organizations and bands join us in the relief effort has been remarkable, and I’m truly impressed with what this concert was able to achieve.”
-Chancellor Cecil Staton
PURPLE GOES GREEN
LIMEBIKE
In March, 100 LimeBikes rolled out on ECU's campus, offering students, faculty and staff, and visitors a simple way to find and use a bicycle.
LimeBike is a bike sharing company based in California and currently operates in more than two dozen cities and several university campuses including N.C. State and UNC Greensboro. Each bike is equipped with GPS, wireless technology and self-activating locks, freeing them from the confines of designated docking areas.
SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
With a flourish of his (digital) pen, Chancellor Cecil Staton this fall signaled his approval of the newly developed ECU Sustainability Plan, which outlines five-year goals in the areas of climate change mitigation, academics and research, campus grounds, and materials management.
“Being good stewards of our environment and natural resources requires individual responsibility and campuswide engagement, but it also demands that we assume a leadership role in our region."
-Chancellor Cecil Staton
ECU has had a recycling program since 1990 and new initiatives such as the LimeBike program and the installation of a pair of solar-powered tables with charging stations at the Brody School of Medicine were implemented this year. Those efforts have already had an impact, as ECU recently received a score of 88 out of a possible 99 on the Princeton Review’s Sustainability Report and was included in its “Guide to 399 Green Colleges.”
life, liberty and happiness
A team of researchers at ECU conducted a national survey that provided new insights into American public attitudes and behaviors on topics related to the nation’s founding principles.
The ECU Life, Liberty and Happiness Project is a nationwide survey of more than 1,100 Americans conducted by mail, internet and phone in May and June by the Center for Survey Research at ECU. Results are weighted to be representative of the U.S. population. This is the first national survey of this scope conducted by the center.
golden opportunities
RESEARCH EMPOWERS PRINCIPALS - $9.7M
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded researchers in ECU College of Education a five-year, $9.7 million grant to study strategies to support principals in improving student outcomes with research-based professional development programs.
The project will organize 292 principals into “networked improvement communities” where they will enhance their ability to observe and provide feedback to teachers in STEM fields. Principals will also attend summer learning exchanges at ECU while enrolled in the study and receive online coaching.
EXTRAORDINARY DONATION - $5M
A $5 million gift to ECU from an anonymous organization will support leadership initiatives across the university. The gift was awarded in December to the BB&T Center for Leadership Development, which has provided opportunities for leadership growth at ECU since 1983.
Faculty and student leaders are made here with invaluable help from the BB&T Center for Leadership Development. This tremendous donation will help ensure leadership is truly a part of the university’s DNA, thereby enabling Pirates to lead in the community, the state and beyond in whatever capacities they wish to pursue.”
-Chancellor Cecil Staton
OZONE EXPOSURE RESEARCH - $2.5M
Ground-level air pollution can cause a variety of health problems, and ECU's Dr. Kym Gowdy is taking a closer look at how and why. Her work, for which she has received a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, could eventually help decrease the frequency of respiratory infections like pneumonia.
SPACE FOR INNOVATION - $2M
The Board of Trustees in February approved the establishment of the Van and Jennifer Isley Innovation Building, which is made possible thanks to a $2 million College of Business gift from Van and Jennifer Isley of Raleigh, which was previously announced in November 2017.
STOPPING LYME DISEASE IN ITS TRACKS - $1.69M
Researchers at East Carolina University, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, have declared open season on the bacteria that cause Lyme disease.
While rarely fatal, Lyme disease can be highly debilitating, said Dr. MD Motaleb, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine. It can cause skin rashes, arthritis, neurological disorders and cardiac abnormalities.
VIDEO GAMES AND ADHD - $1.38M
A $1.38 million national grant awarded to an ECU researcher will examine how a serious video game may help young adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD learn academic coping skills.
SPECIAL EDUCATION COHORT - $1.25M
Breaking down the silos of public and higher education for the benefit of learners with disabilities with high intensity needs is the mission behind a new ECU graduate cohort involving multiple colleges.
Project CONVEY (Collaborating to Overcome Needs by improving the Voice of Exceptional Youth) is funded by a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for this mission. The project involves faculty from the ECU College of Education Department of Special Education, Foundations, and Research, the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology, and the College of Allied Health Sciences Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.
FIRST-YEAR SCHOLARSHIPS - $1M
The Chancellor's Scholars program launched in October with a $1 million gift from James and Connie Maynard and their daughter, Easter. James Maynard is a ’65 alumnus and founder of the restaurant chain Golden Corral. His wife, also an ECU graduate, completed her degree in 1962. The family has a long history of supporting ECU and sponsors other scholarships at the university.
Through the Chancellor's Scholars program, ECU seeks to significantly increase its general scholarship offerings for first-year students. While ECU has long championed support for high achievers and those most in need, the new initiative aims to recruit a vast array of students who fall in the middle of this spectrum and might not otherwise receive financial aid.
We understand the competitive nature of higher education and want to ensure that no hard-working students from middle-class families miss out on the chance at an ECU education. No qualified student should be denied the opportunity to be a Pirate.”
-Chancellor Cecil Staton
SPRING COMMENCEMENT
The spring ceremony commemorated the accomplishments of 5,479 graduates, including 3,989 undergraduate, 1,236 graduate and 254 doctoral degrees. Linda McMahon, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration and ECU alumna, gave the keynote speech. The May 4 celebration at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ended with fireworks.
FALL COMMENCEMENT
More than 2,200 Pirates entered Minges Coliseum on Dec. 14 as students and left as graduates. College of Business alumnus J. Fielding Miller '84 told East Carolina's newest alumni to "be very purposeful about what you read, listen to and who you hang out with" as they enter the next phase of their lives.
Miller, co-founder, chairman and CEO of CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, delivered the commencement address. ECU conferred 1,655 bachelor and 585 graduate degrees, including 38 doctoral degrees.
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TOP POSTS FROM 2018
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Credits:
Photos by Cliff Hollis, Rhett Butler and submitted | Videos by Rich Klindworth and Reed Wolfley