About
How NC State’s land-grant mission guides our approach to AI.
AI Built to Serve North Carolina
NC State was founded in 1887 on a belief that still guides us: The opportunities and benefits of higher education should not be reserved for a select few. As North Carolina’s land-grant university, NC State was created to put teaching, research and practical knowledge to work for the people of the state.
That purpose soon reached beyond campus. Through Cooperative Extension, university experts brought research and practical instruction to farmers and communities across North Carolina. As NC State grew beyond its agricultural and mechanical roots, its fields of expertise expanded. Its responsibility to serve did not.
Today, AI is part of this continuing story. Through AI for Land-Grant Impact, NC State is bringing together people, research and partnerships across five areas central to our mission:
- Student Experience: AI opportunities, support and experiences that enhance student success and prepare students for an AI-enabled world.
- Research & Discovery: Connections, infrastructure, collaboration and investment that strengthen AI-enabled research and interdisciplinary discovery.
- Learning, Curriculum & AI Literacy: AI literacy, curriculum innovation, faculty support and shared approaches to teaching and learning with AI.
- Workforce & Industry Partnerships: Connecting NC State’s AI expertise with employers, workforce needs and industry partners.
- Extension & Public Impact: Applying AI expertise to North Carolina communities, organizations, industries and the public.
A Mission That Grows With North Carolina
NC State has always evolved alongside North Carolina. From agriculture and the mechanic arts to data science and AI, our fields and technologies have changed. Still, our purpose has remained constant: to put knowledge to work and empower people to build a better future for themselves and their communities.
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1887: A land-grant college is born
The North Carolina legislature charters NC State to bring agricultural and mechanical science directly to the state’s citizens.
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1957: Computing arrives
NC State installs its first computers, seven decades into its land-grant mission, beginning a technology tradition that would grow alongside the university’s teaching, research and Extension work.
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1967: A department, and an AI foundation
NC State establishes one of the nation’s first dedicated computer science departments, with artificial intelligence among its earliest and most enduring research areas.
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Today: AI for land-grant impact
The NC State AI Hub coordinates AI strength from every college, connecting a 139-year-old mission to the technology now reshaping how that mission gets carried out.
Helping North Carolinians Thrive in an AI-Enabled World
