Event Photos
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Image 3RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. April 17, 2008 - North Carolina Biotechnology Center President and Chief Executive Officer Norris Tolson Tuesday evening unveiled a new annual award program celebrating H. Martin Lancaster's decade of leadership as president of the North Carolina Community College System.
As more than 150 people gathered at the Biotechnology Center, Tolson announced establishment of the H. Martin Lancaster Biotechnology Instructor of the Year Award to honor Lancaster's role in shaping the state's world-class biotechnology workforce training programs.
"Martin Lancaster has had a long history of service to North Carolina," said Tolson, "and that has included his major role in workforce training through community colleges statewide. Our 56,000 biotech jobs at more than 450 companies pay an average starting wage of $30 an hour at the manufacturing level. This groundwork Martin did through the community colleges will continue to carry us into the future."
The award will be given annually to a faculty member in the community colleges' BioNetwork, a statewide initiative that connects all community colleges providing specialized training for biotechnology and pharmaceutical jobs. The award winner will receive $500 to spend on teaching supplies or equipment.
Contributors to the scholarship fund, in addition to the Biotechnology Center, are the North Carolina Biosciences Organization, the North Carolina Research Campus and Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Industries.
Lancaster retires April 30 from the helm of the 58-institution, 800,000-student job training, literacy and adult education system, one of the largest in the nation, since 1997.
The event, given by the Biotechnology Center's Board of Directors, featured tributes and personal anecdotes from former Gov. James B. Hunt; Erskine Bowles, president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system; Dr. Scott Ralls, Lancaster's successor as president of the community college system; and Sue Cole, chair of the Biotechnology Center's Board of Directors. Lancaster has served on the Biotechnology Center's board since 1999.
The speakers credited Lancaster for increasing state and private funding for the system's facilities, equipment, faculty salaries and instruction, and also for strengthening its essential role in workforce and economic development. Lancaster led community college participation in a successful bond referendum, which raised $600 million for construction, repair and renovation.
Hal Price, consultant with the Biotech Manufacturers' Forum of the North Carolina Biosciences Organization, the state's bioscience trade group, elaborated:
"North Carolina has enjoyed a significant competitive advantage because of our world-leading workforce training structure. It's been a key factor in achieving our status as the No. 3 state in the nation in number of biotech companies. We can all thank Martin Lancaster for his leadership in making this possible."
Steve Dawson of Novo Nordisk praised the outgoing president for increasing the pool of available workers trained for the company's insulin manufacturing plant, and for never "confusing us with Novartis or Novozymes." Clyde Higgs, representing the North Carolina Research Campus, thanked Lancaster for his mentorship early in Higgs' career.
Lancaster grew up on a Wayne County tobacco farm and earned undergraduate and law degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill.
The Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the N.C. General Assembly. Its mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business, education and workforce training statewide.
