The Research Triangle Park Elects Folt, Beriwal and Pigues to Board of Directors
Raleigh, NC, February 5, 2014 – The Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina has appointed three new members to its Board of Directors; Carol Folt, Chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill; Madhu Beriwal, President & CEO of IEM; and D. Keith Pigues, Dean of North Carolina Central University’s Business School.
All three appointees were chosen for demonstrating exemplary leadership skills within their respective business and educational communities. As new members of the Research Triangle Foundation Board, they will play important roles in the upcoming redevelopment of the Research Triangle Park.
“We’ve chosen our new board members from among a diverse group of North Carolina innovators,” said Bob Geolas, President and CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation. “This is an exciting, forward-facing time for the Research Triangle Park, and we are glad to welcome such creative and highly-capable individuals to help us move our redevelopment forward.”
Carol Folt is the first woman to lead the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to being UNC’s 11th chancellor and 29th chief executive, she is also a globally recognized environmental scientist and award-winning teacher.
On her appointment, Folt said, “The Research Triangle internationally recognized both for bringing and for building high tech businesses in North Carolina, was one of the attractions that brought me to this region. I am delighted to participate in envisioning bold and audacious plans for re-energizing the Research Triangle Park for the next half century.”
Madhu Beriwal founded IEM in 1985 as a company dedicated to developing solutions for complex challenges in homeland security, defense, and emergency management.
Beriwal said, “The Research Triangle Park is one of the first and most preeminent research parks in the world. I am honored by this appointment and committed to helping the Park find new ways to continue fostering innovation, collaboration, and education throughout the region and the world.”
D. Keith Pigues is Dean of the School of Business and tenured professor of Management at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). He is also an author, advisor and coach.
Pigues said, “I am honored and delighted to serve the Research Triangle Foundation during this incredibly exciting time in RTP.”
Folt, Beriwal and Pigues join other recent appointees Jack Cecil, of Biltmore Farms, and Kimberly Jenkins, an entrepreneur who started her career with Bill Gates and is now a part-time faculty member in Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering.
“Carol Folt, Madhu Beriwal and D. Keith Pigues were all clear choices for our board,” Geolas said. “Their individual work honors the dedicated spirit of RTP. Each of them embodies the valuable qualities we look for in leadership; their skills and insights will help to ensure RTP’s continued success.”
About the Research Triangle Foundation of NC
The Research Triangle Foundation of NC is the organization responsible for building one of the largest and most successful research parks in the country. RTP is situated centrally between Duke University, N.C. State and UNC-Chapel Hill. The 7,000-acre Park is home to over 170 companies and organizations, employing more than 40,000 employees. Companies in the Park include IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Cisco, Novartis, FMC, ViiV US, Toshiba GCS, Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, The Hamner Institute, Avaya, EMC, Credit Suisse, Biogen Idec, BASF, Stiefel, NetApp, BD Technologies, and RTI.
Reprinted from The Research Triangle Foundation. See original press release.