2015 Godwin Award Recognizes Alumnus and Volunteer Richard Bryant

NC State alumnus and longtime volunteer Richard K. Bryant, of Raleigh, has been honored with the 2015 Jerry and Elizabeth Godwin Red Torch Award.

The award is given annually by the NC State University Foundation in appreciation of individuals or families that have volunteered with leadership, dedication and distinction to advance the university and to further the foundation’s mission. In particular, it recognizes those who have been heavily involved in serving different areas and programs of NC State. Jerry and Libby Godwin—who themselves have been outstanding volunteers sharing their expertise, counsel and resources to benefit the university—established an endowment for the award program in 2007.

Bryant received the Godwin Award during a dinner Thursday evening, June 4, in the Skyline Reading Room at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library. It was presented by Chancellor Randy Woodson and Trent Ragland, vice chair of the Foundation Board of Directors.

“I’m both humbled and honored to receive this award,” Bryant said. “I’m humbled because it’s great to be associated with the names that have previously received the award. It’s an honor to be recognized by your peers for something that you love to do. Serving NC State is a privilege and it has been a tremendous learning experience for me.

“What’s going on here is phenomenal. This university is bound for greatness—it’s definitely NC State’s time to shine.”

Bryant graduated from NC State in 1981 with a B.A. in business management and is the co-founder, president and CEO of Capital Investment Companies, one of the largest independent financial services firms in the southeastern United States.

He has volunteered for and supported many programs at the university over the past 20 years, including service on the Board of Visitors from 2002 through 2011 and on the NC State University Foundation Board from 1995 through 1999.

He has served on the boards of the NC State Investment Fund and NC State Endowment, and as co-chair of the Achieve! Campaign Steering Committee for ARTS NC State and co-chair of the Frank Thompson Hall Renovation Project. He currently serves on the NC Textile Foundation Investment Committee. Bryant’s volunteer service also has included the Campaign for NC State Students, the Park Scholars Selection Committee and the Parents’ Council Leadership Network, with his wife, Suzy. He recently retired after 15 years of service on the endowment board of MCNC, to which he was appointed by former Chancellor Marye Anne Fox.

A passionate advocate for the performing and visual arts at the university, Bryant is a founding member and former chair of Friends of ARTS NC State. He was honored in 2009 with the Bowers Medal of Arts for this support. He is a founding member of the State Club, a lifetime member of the Wolfpack Club and a 30-year member of the NC State Alumni Association.

Previous honors for Bryant include the Poole College of Management’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and the NC State Alumni Association’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. At the college, he has served on the Dean’s Advisory Board since 2001, and has been an invaluable speaker and mentor for undergraduates, especially focused on topics including entrepreneurship and creation of business plans.

Bryant and his wife, Suzy, are generous members of the university’s Chancellor’s Circle and W.H. Page Lifetime Giving Society, supporting the Poole College of Management, athletics, arts programs, the marching and varsity bands programs, and other music enhancement efforts.

Woodson thanked Bryant for his dedication to NC State and remarked on some of the most recent accomplishments of the university and, more specifically, the NCSU Libraries. Hunt Library continues to provide new, innovative opportunities for collaboration, research, programs and even fundraising, he noted.

“People want to be part of success. Becoming one of the top public universities in the nation, and changing the world . . . Those things don’t happen without the power of collaboration and the power of philanthropy,” Woodson said. “For a long time, people didn’t know about NC State, but that’s changing.”

Bryant also has been very active in the business community, and has been involved at Raleigh’s White Memorial Presbyterian Church and with Ravenscroft School and the A.E. Finley Foundation. He and Suzy have two sons, Miller and Andy.