C. Michael Bullard

Our family has been long connected with North Carolina State University starting with my grandfather, Amos Gentry Bullard, Sr., who graduated with undergraduate (‘30) and graduate (’42) degrees. He was a lifelong educator specializing in vocational agricultural education at the local high school level and ultimately leading efforts statewide with the NC Department of Public Instruction. He instilled in our family DNA a spirit embodied by the theme “Together We Educate” which has set the course for a multiple generational emphasis in making educational investments supporting our local public schools and state university system.

I was a product of North Carolina’s public school system when I came to NC State in 1980 as an undergraduate student interested in the field of civil engineering, ultimately graduating with both an undergraduate (‘84) and graduate (’86) degrees. I have been actively involved in the engineering practice in the field of water, wastewater, and environmental engineering for the full length of my career, serving in both private sector consulting and industrial positions. I have never felt unprepared because of the quality of education I received at NC State and I am deeply thankful for the investment made by our faculty in my professional training and for past departmental donors who helped make my education at NC State possible through their financial support.

While at NC State, I found not only a high quality education – but also met my wife who was a chemical engineering student at the time. She now serves as a Teaching Professor and Undergraduate Director in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Our daughter, Meredith, is also a proud NC State graduate, having earned her BSCE degree in 2017. Meredith is part of our continuing NC State legacy and establishes yet another generational connection to the university and specifically the Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department.