Engineering Faculty Senior Scholarship supports a stellar senior annually

With dual majors in paper science and engineering and chemical engineering, Rick Conner has a busy senior year.

Finances won’t be another stressor on top of that though, after he was selected as the recipient of the College of Engineering Faculty Senior Scholarship.

Conner says the scholarship makes an impact as he can worry less about whether he needs to work part time to cover costs and focus more on those challenging senior year courses.

“As a college student, even if your family can help out like mine does, you go through that money quickly,” he says. “I’m taking 18 credit hours, and it would be difficult to hold down a part-time job as well.”

Each year, the faculty within NC State’s College of Engineering choose one deserving senior based on academic excellence, intellectual breadth and depth of character as their scholarship recipient.

The merit-based scholarship is supported by donations. Each engineering department nominates one outstanding senior. A committee of faculty members then selects a recipient following a half-day of interviews with the nominees.

“The committee obviously has a very challenging task in interviewing each of those candidates,” says Lisa Bullard, Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor and director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, who chairs the selection committee. “Our objective is to get to know them better as a student – how the college has shaped them, what they’ve contributed to the college and to the university.”

“It’s always a very inspiring exercise, and I’m so proud of the students we have in the college, how well they represent us and represent each department.”

In her nearly 25 years at NC State, Bullard estimates she’s taught more than 3,000 students.

“I learn their stories and hear about the challenges and obstacles that students have faced and are facing – that could be financial, health, family hardship, or learning challenges,” she says. “Many of them end up working part time to pay their expenses, on top of what’s already a very challenging and demanding academic program.”

It’s why being part of the Faculty Senior Scholarship selection process is so meaningful.

“I think every year when I’m awarding a scholarship, to me that’s one of the best days of the year,” Bullard says. “That’s going to make a tangible difference to them and their family.

“It allows them to focus on their academics and to be involved in the campus community by participating in student organizations and community service.”

As an NC State alumna and scholarship supporter herself, Bullard has a unique perspective. Both her husband and daughter are alumni of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, and the family has established the Bullard Family Scholarship.

“I see this from both sides – I can see it sitting across from a student and hearing their struggle,” she says. “I also see it from the donor side, knowing that I helped equip a student to be successful and to have some bandwidth to participate more fully in the campus community.”

For his part, Conner is certainly one of those campus participants. In addition to the dual majors, he’s pursued four interdisciplinary minors – materials science and engineering, business administration, business entrepreneurship and Africana studies. Conner has had three internships as well at International Paper, Wolfspeed and Valmet.

In him, the selection committee saw a student making the most of his time at NC State.

“The selection committee was especially impressed by his initiative in pursuing widely different minors to explore areas of interest outside engineering,” Bullard says.

Conner says he entered his freshman year with enough advanced placement credits to cover his general education requirements. That freed up time to pursue additional courses of interest.

“When you’re in college, you have the most time that you will in your life to learn new things,” he says.

“Whether it’s new clubs, sports, courses – this is the time you’ll find that group of people who are also able to learn and do the things you want to do.”

Conner found his community within the university through the paper science program, a small group of roughly 50 students per class year, he says. He and many others are members of NC State’s chapter of the Technical Association of Pulp & Paper Industry (TAPPI). Conner formed an especially tight bond with that group as they take classes together and engage in other activities such as intramural sports and football tailgates.

The paper science program as a whole has clearly made a lasting impact on Conner beyond the classroom experience. He’s grateful the program provided both a faculty advisor and a student mentor when he enrolled. Even during his freshman year, when so many were studying remotely during COVID, Conner said his cohort kept up through a group chat that went beyond classroom discussion to sharing about their day-to-day lives.

These experiences shaped Conner into someone the selection committee saw as deserving of the Faculty Senior Scholarship.

“It was really exciting to receive this – there are so many qualified people just in paper science and chemical engineering alone – it was really gratifying to know that I was recognized for having the academic breadth,” he says.

It’s also been inspirational as he thinks about being part of the next generation of donors.

“I see myself giving back to the program as well,” he says. “I want to pay it forward, that’s such an important thing.”