Brown, Doaks and Miller receive 2024 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award

Three College of Engineering graduates — Tony McLean Brown, Tracy B. Doaks and Lane Ross Miller — received the Distinguished Engineering Alumni (DEA) Award during a dinner and ceremony on campus on Oct. 30, 2024, as part of Red and White Week.

The DEA Award was established by the Faculty of the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University in 1966 to honor engineering graduates who have been recognized for outstanding achievements in planning and direction of engineering work; fostering professional development of young engineers; contributing to knowledge in the field of engineering; or bringing, in other ways, distinction to the University through engineering achievement.

Tony McLean Brown

Tony McLean Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from North Carolina State University in 1983. He also holds an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.

For almost 35 years, Brown has been a principal with the Public Consulting Group (PCG). Serving public sector clients in all 50 states, Canada, Poland and Australia, PCG is a general management consulting firm in health care, human services, education and technology consulting.

The Brown family proudly supports the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ MFA Creative Writing Program and the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science. They are lifetime members of the Wolfpack Club and Alumni Association. Tony served on the National Advisory Board of the Institute for Emerging Issues, and his son Miles Brown ’14 is currently serving on the board. His daughter Julia Brown ’18 was a Wolfpack volleyball player who is currently playing for League One Volleyball (LOVB).

Brown wrote Happy Guide to a Short Life in 2007 in response to a book written by Pulitzer Prize winner Anna Quindlen. Philanthropic efforts from this literary collaboration have generated more than $2 million in donations to over 500 charities/non-profit organizations across the globe, nation and state of North Carolina. Most recently, the Happy Guide community helped raise awareness and over $672,000 for victims of Hurricane Helene.

Tracy B. Doaks

Tracy B. Doaks earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from North Carolina State University in 1995.

Doaks is the president & CEO of MCNC, the technology nonprofit focused on delivering high-performance protected internet and networking, cloud services, cybersecurity and other essential technologies for communities throughout North Carolina. She previously served as the state chief information officer and secretary for the North Carolina Department of Information Technology and held executive-level positions at Duke Medicine and the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

She is a 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient from the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. She earned a CIO certificate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government and received the 2018 Public CIO Award from NC Tech. Doaks was named the recipient of the Triangle Business Journal’s 2022 Women in Business Award for Nonprofit Leadership.

She currently serves on the Center for Internet Safety Board of Directors, MCNC Board of Directors (as ex officio), MCNC Endowment Board of Directors, NC State University’s Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering Advisory Board, North Carolina Telehealth Network Association Board, Rewriting the Code Board of Directors, The Quilt Board of Directors and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition Board of Directors.

Lane Ross Miller

Lane Ross Miller earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1988. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology from the University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown and master of engineering in engineering science from The Pennsylvania State University.

Miller is the retired vice president of global technology at LORD Corporation, where he started his career in 1979. As vice president, he led more than 300 engineers, scientists and technicians that supported the company’s $1 billion business in adhesives, coatings, sensing, vibration attenuation and motion control for the automotive, aerospace and industrial global markets. 

Miller also traveled the world promoting the introduction of LORD’s active vibration control products, which are among the company’s fastest-growing business segments. These are flying on thousands of commercial and military helicopters all around the world, providing a smoother ride and eliminating 50 to 150 pounds of weight, allowing helicopters to fly further, higher, faster and with more payload. He is an inventor on more than 15 patents related to this product.

In 2013, Miller was in the first group to be inducted into the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Alumni Hall of Fame at NC State. He currently serves on the department’s advisory board. In 2020, Miller was honored as a Distinguished Alumni at Pitt Johnstown. He is a strong supporter of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.