I greet you on behalf of the Board of Trustees, more than 8,000 students, over 1,600 faculty and staff and nearly 37,000 alumni of North Carolina Central University. For 109 years, this university has proudly called Durham and the Fayetteville Street corridor our home. We are continually growing, with five capital projects active on our campus today.

NCCU continues to be a leader in groundbreaking innovation, competitively ranked academic programs, cutting-edge health-disparities research, and world-class cultural exchanges. As our institution continues to soar, U.S. News & World Report rankings have reflected our status as a top-tier regional university.

Much of NCCU’s groundbreaking research involves health issues that disproportionally affect minority and underserved populations, such as Type 2 diabetes, cardio-metabolic diseases, and prostate, breast and pancreatic cancers. We offer students the opportunity to gain laboratory skills and experience working with faculty researchers and pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry professionals. The Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE) and Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute (BBRI) collaborate frequently with pharmacy and biotech companies in and well beyond the Research Triangle region.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are at NCCU’s core and are integral to the university’s 2019-2024 Strategic Plan, “Charting a New Landscape for Student-Centered Success.” We nurture a culture of creativity, innovation and collaboration among students and faculty and the broader community to spur economic development. One example of this is the new Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Initiative led by the School of Business.

Another of our signature programs is the NCCU School of Law, which is one of only 11 law schools certified by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to offer both Patent and Trademark clinics. In 2016, with funding from SAS, NCCU established the Intellectual Property Law Institute to strengthen patent quality, protect  intellectual property and train students in this growing and expanding area of legal practice.

NCCU enriches higher education throughout the Triangle region and increases our students’ employability and potential. By facilitating new research and entrepreneurship, and drawing students and visitors to the NCCU Five-County Service Area, the university also generates new financial opportunities for the region. The most recent comprehensive economic impact study, published in 2015, highlighted the following for NCCU:

• Total Economic Impact: $563.7 million
• Operations Spending: $176 million (approximately)
• Research Spending: $9.5 million
• Visitor Spending: $9.6 million
• Alumni Impact: $341.6 million

Our university has long prepared future education leaders for positions in North Carolina and beyond through its robust teacher-education programs. We produce award-winning primary and secondary educators who serve in rural and urban school districts throughout our state. In fact, more teachers in Durham Public Schools are graduates of NCCU than any other higher education institution.

As North Carolina Central University prepares to celebrate its 110th year of excellence in July 2020, we remain committed to a legacy of delivering a high-quality educational experience to our scholars. And we are glad to report among our biggest strengths is the fact that we are part of the thriving City of Durham.

In Truth and Service,

Johnson O. Akinleye, Ph.D.

Chancellor