Published Author Category Community, News from RTP

When the idea of the Research Triangle Park was being hatched over 55 years ago, our founders weren’t shy in their tactics when it came to raising money. According to a new post by the Higher Education Works Foundation, our founders told mothers their beloved children would marry Yankees and they’d never see their grandchildren.

You can only image the horror these mothers felt, and that they promptly turned over any spare funds to help get the Research Triangle Park off the ground.

Today, we’ve pretty much removed all scare tactics from our repertoire. In fact, we don’t do any fundraising at all.

This isn’t the only thing that’s changed about RTP since its inception back in the 1950s. North Carolina has climbed the ranks in education (we were 49th out of 50 back then), we’ve become a leader in science and technology across the US, and a destination for those looking to live in a place with opportunities in a variety of job sectors.

All of this change can be attributed to one thing that has remained constant throughout our 55 year history: our commitment to collaboration with higher education institutions throughout North Carolina. This commitment has only gotten stronger over the decades, and is something our organization intends to continue fostering.

Our President and CEO, Bob Geolas, recently sat down with the Higher Education Works Foundation to talk about how this relationships has grown and changed. You can check it out below!