William Louis and Mattie Harris Mayo

The Mayo Family Scholarships were established in 1999 as a tribute to the
accomplishments of the sons and daughters of William Louis and Mattie Harris
Mayo of Greenville, North Carolina. Twelve sons and two daughters grew up on the
family farm a few miles north of Greenville, most of them during the years of the
Great Depression. In spite of a dismal economic environment, they were eager
scholars and excelled in the Greenville City schools. All worked on the farm
starting as early as eight years old, and all saw education as the key to a successful
life. Ten boys attended North Carolina State, nine in the School of Engineering and
one in the School of Agriculture. Four boys continued to the PhD level, one of them
at N. C. State. Both girls attended East Carolina University. The other two boys
went to Duke and to Emory.

The worst of the Great Depression hit as the older boys headed off to college. Their
struggles, their attitudes and their accomplishments became powerful motivators
for the rest of the family and left no doubt that if you are determined enough you
can go to college. Unfortunately, scholarships were rare and jobs scarce in those
hard days. Student loans had not been invented. On the positive side, tuition, room
and board were relatively cheap.

Many people helped the family succeed by doing their jobs in exemplary ways,
especially the Superintendent of Schools and a lot of world-class teachers in the
Greenville school system. Others helped enormously when inadvertently showing
they held the entire family in highest esteem. A lot can be accomplished when
expectations are high and you know you are not alone.
Highly successful professional careers and devotion to their own families
characterize the post-college years. Strong contributions to science and technology
were made by family members with majority focus on aeronautics, space
exploration and communications. Six were employed at NASA, most during the
glory days of space travel.