John and Joanne Studders

John Studders (Electrical Enginering ’86) spent his career working first in the semiconductor design business and then the computer-aided design software industry. He retired from Synopsys, a software company based in Mountain View, California, where his last position was Chief Architect. Joanne Kempen Studders (English/Writing and Editing Track ’89) worked as an editor at RTI International. John and Joanne have long supported NC State athletics as members of the Wolfpack Club. They are avid fans of Wolfpack football, baseball and basketball and are thrilled to also become supporters of undergraduate NC State engineering students.

John felt strongly that he wanted to give back to the College of Engineering because of the opportunities his degree afforded him, having learned to “think and do” from his time at NC State long before it was the official motto of the university. John and Joanne have contributed to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Friends of the Library and the Engineering Circle for a number of years and wanted to do more. The extra challenges of succeeding in college in the 2020 pandemic pushed them to do it now.

Joanne grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina. John grew up in upstate New York and attended high school in Greensboro. While attending NC State, John helped pay for college by working as a resident advisor and lab teaching assistant and received need- and academic-based scholarships. John and Joanne recognize the importance of scholarships in helping reduce the financial burden of attending college and specifically want to help engineering students achieve their education goals. The goal of the Extraordinary Opportunity Scholarship Initiative is to offer more need-based scholarships across campus, expanding affordability and access for North Carolina students to attend NC State.