The NC State Philanthropy Podcast · NC State University

Episode 25: Celebrating 125 Years of the Wilson College of Textiles

·52 min·4 clips

Dean Hinks explains how a transformative gift saved the Wilson College of Textiles from potential elimination.

Dr. David Hinks, Dean of the Wilson College of Textiles, and Michael Ward, Executive Director of the North Carolina Textile Foundation, discuss the impact of philanthropy on the college's 125th anniversary. Host Taylor Pardue guides a conversation about how private support secures the college's future and fuels its mission. The episode explores the transformative 2018 naming gift from the Wilson family and its broader effects on students and industry partnerships. The Wilson College of Textiles, founded in 1899, is described as the premier textiles institution for education and research in the Western world. Dean Hinks notes the college's deep ties to North Carolina's textile industry and its reputation as a close-knit family among alumni. Michael Ward details the philanthropic journey with the Wilson family, which began when recent graduate Reid Wilson made an initial gift and connected the university with his aunt, Cres Wilson Calabrese, and his father, Rick Wilson. The family's ultimate gift named the college and ensured its existence in perpetuity, addressing historical concerns about textiles programs being shuttered at other universities. A key insight is that the gift provided not just financial resources but the psychological security for college leadership to take bold, calculated risks. This new confidence led to pursuing and winning major grants, including a $2 million USAID award for workforce training in Honduras. The college also secured a potential 10-year, up-to-$160 million National Science Foundation Engines grant for textile innovation and sustainability. Dean Hinks shares his theory that the college produces a high number of successful entrepreneurs and donors because textiles is a tangible, practical field that attracts creative and practical minds. The tone is conversational, celebratory, and deeply appreciative, focusing on relationship-building and institutional pride. The style is educational and narrative, weaving together personal anecdotes, historical context, and specific examples of philanthropic and programmatic success. This episode would greatly appeal to NC State alumni, especially textiles graduates, and anyone interested in higher education philanthropy, industry-academia partnerships, or the economic history of North Carolina. Listeners seeking a critical examination of university funding models or those with no connection to textiles or NC State might find it less engaging.

As heard by us

A clear look at how private support opens more doors for Wilson College of Textiles students at NC State.

The episode stays focused on the Wilson College of Textiles and the people, scholarships, and private support that help it move forward at NC State.

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Want to hear how private support is furthering NC State's Wilson College of Textiles?

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