“‘Why give back?’ The short answer is, NC State is a life-changing experience. Having support available to students, when needed, can change the course of their life. I came up with an analogy:
“Sometimes you see things that — when you’re under stress — become a roadblock to where you’re wanting to go. If you find a way to make that challenge a step, over time, you begin to realize, ‘That’s not a roadblock. It’s a set of stairs.’ If you can rise up to get above that one step, your horizon starts opening up.”
These are the words of Dan Eddleman, 1968 NC State University electrical engineering graduate, retired IBM project manager, lifelong ham radio enthusiast and one half of an NC State couple dedicated to giving back.
“It’s rough. Students now have so many additional pressures that we didn’t have when we were at NC State. The work world — really all of society — has changed; pressures are coming from everywhere. We just want to make it easier for students.”
These aren’t just empty words for Jean Eddleman, a 1974 NC State biological sciences graduate turned pediatric clinical social worker, lover of all things nature and the other half of the Eddlemans.
Dan and Jean are giving back to their alma mater in a big way with a three-part planned gift to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative (PSI) and the Division of Academic and Student Affairs (DASA). The Eddlemans' gift is unrestricted, meaning leaders in ECE, N.C. PSI and DASA have flexibility to use the funds to invest in areas of greatest need or in emerging opportunities to best support current and future NC State students.
But why give to these three, seemingly unconnected, parts of NC State’s ecosystem? As it turns out, the Eddlemans have found a deep connection between all three: our electrical world, our natural world and to NC State as a whole.
ECE
N.C. PSI
DASA
“When I was 6 years old, my older brother, who was pursuing his dream of becoming a pilot, bought a shortwave radio to listen to aviation communications,” said Dan, who grew up in small-town Kannapolis, NC. “I started hearing of places like Gander, Newfoundland. Ottawa, Ontario. The transatlantic aviation routes to Europe. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a big world up there.’ After that, I took to electrical things like a duck to water: communications, radios, circuits, all of it. I graduated from high school in 1964, and if you wanted to go into this field, it had to be NC State.”
“I got my undergraduate degree in biological sciences,” said Jean. “And I really believe in our agricultural industry and in supporting plant sciences and the agricultural sciences. That’s why we give there. It’s really not that complicated: no plant, no eat. On a larger scale, it’s also a way to promote viable agricultural practices to protect and enhance our environment.”
“When we first started giving back, we started with DASA, because our focus was student success,” said Jean. “Broadly, I see this gift as a way to be able to help support some of the structures that we have at NC State, like support for books and supplies, daily living costs — and in particular — mental health resources. We want students to be able to concentrate on their studies. If we can help them keep their heads above water, they don’t have to be working to pay for school, pulled in different directions away from their academics.”
The Eddlemans know today’s students are tomorrow’s future, be they engineers, scientists or pursuing fields that are just emerging. But Dan and Jean also look at current NC State students and see in them the struggles of friends and family from their own pasts: a cousin who had to drop out of school because the combined workload of academics and a job was too much. A roommate who didn’t make it past their sophomore year — someone who was incredibly bright, but lacked the mental health support needed to pursue a challenging engineering degree. A mother who went back to school for a Ph.D., forced to juggle the expenses of research, travel and a consistent lack of time.
Dan and Jean don’t want students to have to choose between their studies and affordable housing. They don’t want students to have to work multiple jobs to be able to support themselves and their families while trying to pursue higher education. And they don’t want mental health to be anything less than a priority.
“As I see it, engineering is critical in helping our society continue to move forward,” said Jean. “I think that’s why we’re paying it forward with this gift.”
Dan and Jean have some words of advice to give, along with their gift, to current and future NC State students:
Be confident, don’t be afraid to ask for help — and most importantly — whatever’s in your heart, go for it. If it’s difficult, still go for it.