CSC News

Mark and Robin Wyatt Are Not Done Giving Pack

Giving Pack: Stories of Support from the NC State Department of Computer Science

The Department of Computer Science (CS) is pleased to announce that alumnus Mark Wyatt ‘80 and his wife Robin have finalized two new endowments, the Mark and Robin Wyatt Graduate Fellowship in Computer Science and the Mark and Robin Wyatt Distinguished Professorship in Computer Science.

This announcement comes 16 years to the day after the Wyatts announced their first endowment, the Mark and Robin Wyatt Scholarship Endowment.

The Mark and Robin Wyatt Graduate Fellowship in Computer Science will help support graduate students’ tuition, stipends, fees, research funding, conference fees, travel and more. When fully endowed, the Fellowship will provide $500,000.

“The objective of the Graduate Fellowship is to enable us to support and close the gap on graduate financial needs, such as funds to relocate, to support their research projects and more,” said Mark. “This gift gives the department the opportunity to close the gap when it comes to recruiting top-tier Ph.D. candidates in particular.”

“Computer science departments across academia are competing for the most talented, creative and highly-motivated Ph.D. students they can find,” said Department Head Gregg Rothermel. “It's these students who enable our faculty to produce impactful research results. Graduate fellowships, such as those that will be supported through Mark and Robin's gift, are one of the most important tools we have for successfully recruiting such students.”

The Mark and Robin Wyatt Distinguished Professorship in Computer Science will help support the activities of a professor in the department, including: recruitment costs; partial salary support; funding for undergraduates, grad students or faculty working with the professor; professional development; research materials; scholarly publications and more. When fully endowed, the Professorship will provide $1 million.

“Distinguished professorships, like the one Mark and Robin are endowing, enable the Department of Computer Science to hire and support exceptionally talented, driven and successful faculty members,” said Rothermel. “These faculty members, in turn, help the department recruit the most talented Ph.D. students. We are tremendously grateful to the Wyatts for both of these endowments.”

“I joined the Engineering Foundation Board of Directors eight years ago,” said Mark, “which has enabled me to gain a better perspective of the needs and challenges facing the College of Engineering. This board engagement helped Robin and I realize we wanted to look for additional donor opportunities broader than our endowed scholarship.”

Additionally, the couple’s decision to establish these new endowments was heavily influenced by the appreciation and dedication of the students who have been awarded scholarships from their existing scholarship endowment. The Wyatts have been regular attendees of the annual scholarship donor dinner, where they have had the opportunity to meet their student recipients as well as other donors and their recipients.

The couple’s decision to establish the new endowments was heavily influenced by another form of connection: meeting their student scholarship recipients. The Wyatts have been regular attendees of the annual scholarship donor dinner, where they saw firsthand the appreciation and dedication of their scholarship recipients.

“There is nothing more rewarding than having the opportunity to meet your student recipients and learn more about them personally and their plans following graduation,” said Robin.

With the addition of these two new endowments, the Wyatts are committing to support computer science education and research at every level of the university experience, from undergraduate to graduate to faculty. Combined with Mark’s leadership on various NC State boards and foundations, this kind of forward thinking and all-in approach has made the Wyatts an invaluable partner and supporter of the university.

If you’d like to support the Wyatts’ scholarship endowment, visit the scholarship's Giving Page.

If you’d like to support the Department of Computer Science this Day of Giving, visit the Computer Science Enhancement Fund's page.

~brown~