French Ambassador to U.S. Touts Partnerships at NC State's Centennial Campus

March 1, 2012 - PRLog -- Saying that the bonds between his country and the U.S. have never been stronger, the French Ambassador to the U.S., François Dellatre, celebrated with North Carolina State University, local and state leaders on the first anniversary of a French business school’s presence on NC State’s Centennial Campus.

Dellatre told a crowd of invited guests that the two countries share a common desire to innovate and build strong companies that result from active research and development activities. He said SKEMA’s presence at NC State helped build those global bridges, not just for the students, but for the country as a whole.

NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson echoed those sentiments in his remarks, saying that “the partnership with SKEMA has grown beyond our wildest dreams.” He said the presence of the French students on campus has added a new and exciting vibrancy.

Also speaking at the event was N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary, Keith Crisco.

SKEMA began classes on Centennial Campus in January of 2011 with 250 undergraduate and graduate students and has plans to double its class size in the next year.

It is one of the largest business schools in France and has five international locations, including classrooms in China and Morocco. Its Centennial Campus location is its first in North America. SKEMA’s presence on Centennial Campus is largely the result of the efforts by the dean of the Poole College of Management, Ira Weiss, who championed the effort from the very beginning. The French school has an agreement with NC State’s College to collaborate on academic projects, dual degree masters programs, undergraduate degrees, executive programs, student exchanges, internships and joint faculty research.

SKEMA also has an agreement with UNC – Chapel Hill for faculty and student exchanges, and it is developing a relationship with Duke University. The school has also signed an agreement with the RTP Foundation to foster research projects.

“Our relationship with NC State and Centennial Campus has just been everything we hoped for and more,” said Pascal Vidal, SKEMA's Centennial Campus director. “It really has been the best solution we could have found for our students.”

SKEMA currently leases about 18,000-square feet of space on Centennial.

About Centennial Campus
Centennial Campus is a 1,314-acre research park and campus owned and operated by NC State University and located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Home to 65 corporate, government and non-profit partners, the campus is also home to about 2,600 employees, 1,300 faculty and researchers, and more than 7,000 students during the academic calendar year. Three colleges of the university have a significant physical presence on Centennial Campus, including the College of Engineering, College of Veterinary Medicine, and the College of Textiles. The Graduate School is also located on campus.

NC State is the largest four-year institution in North Carolina, with more than 34,000 students and 8,000 faculty and staff. The university’s research expenditures are approaching more than $325 million annually, with almost 70 percent of faculty engaged in sponsored research and 2,500 graduate students supported by research grants. NC State is ranked third among all public universities (without medical schools) in industry-sponsored research expenditures.