Lifting a Burden and Launching a Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nDoug’s parents moved from the Midwest to start a hog farm and raise their two boys in North Carolina. When it was time for college, he knew his parents had been saving for years and weren\u2019t wealthy. He also understood the concept of \u201copportunity cost.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think about my parents and the burden of paying for college for two kids, everything they had to give up to save enough money,\u201d Doug said. \u201cSo, the idea of lifting half the burden off my parents with a scholarship meant a lot to me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doug decided to visit a classroom in the Robertson Wing of Biltmore Hall to get a better idea of what it might be like to join the paper science and engineering program. He was hooked, said his wife, Dani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll the processes and people and machinery \u2014 Doug totally loves all that stuff,\u201d Dani said. \u201cIn pulp and paper, he could get great internships. He ended up getting one at Rayonier Advanced Materials, which he liked so much he went to work there right out of college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/08\/doug-dani-mehlenbacher-2-provided-1500x844-1-1024x576.jpeg\")
<\/a>Through the Mehlenbacher Family Scholarship, Doug and Dani Mehlenbacher hope to provide resources that will help attract engineering students to study paper science. Photo provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAfter graduating with degrees in both chemical engineering and paper science and engineering, Doug stayed with Rayonier Advanced Materials (now RYAM), which manufactures and sells cellulose-based products, for nine-and-a-half years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three promotions took Doug from process and quality engineering at RYAM\u2019s pulp mill in Jesup, Georgia, to managing sales, inventory and operations planning at the company\u2019s Florida site in Jacksonville. During this time, he earned an MBA from the University of Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After relocating to Florida, Doug met his future wife. \u201cI played guitar at church, and he introduced himself after he saw me on stage. And the rest is history,\u201d Dani said. \u201cNow we have twin two-year-old boys and are in a solid financial position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the last three years, Doug has been a senior integrated business planning consultant at My Supply Chain Group. Dani, who was most recently employed as a transportation coordinator for Crowley, has taken a break from her career to focus on raising their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paying\u00a0It\u00a0Forward\u00a0To Come\u00a0Full\u00a0Circle<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nDoug was thinking of his boys as future college students \u2014 <\/strong>and his own college days \u2014 <\/strong>when he broached the idea to Dani of endowing a merit-based scholarship program for paper science and engineering students in the College of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cMy scholarship meant a lot to my whole family,\u201d Doug said. \u201cMy brother, Zach (Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management \u201915), took some time off before he went to college, and in some ways he had that freedom because I received a scholarship and our parents didn\u2019t have to pay for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dani gives full credit to Doug for the idea. \u201cWe were already giving to NC State, but one day he was talking about a hallway on campus lined with plaques recognizing supporters and students who have received scholarships. Seeing those really inspired him,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re at a point in our lives now where we are stable financially, and we decided that the earlier we could help someone the way Doug was helped, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/08\/doug-dani-mehlenbacher-with-sons-provided-1500x844-1-1024x576.png\")
<\/a>Doug and Dani Mehlenbacher with their two sons. Photo provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about my career path, but I credit it all to getting a scholarship to go through pulp and paper. I was able to graduate without any debt, and that set me on a path to where, 10 or so years later, we\u2019re creating more scholarships,\u201d Doug said. \u201cIt is the least we could do to repay everything I took from my time at NC State, time that laid the groundwork for everything I have become since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added, \u201cIf there’s anything we want this endowment to represent, it’s the family and support you get here. It’s why we’ve made this investment publicly: We want others to see this as a place worth attending and supporting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>After graduating with degrees in both chemical engineering and paper science and engineering, Doug stayed with Rayonier Advanced Materials (now RYAM), which manufactures and sells cellulose-based products, for nine-and-a-half years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three promotions took Doug from process and quality engineering at RYAM\u2019s pulp mill in Jesup, Georgia, to managing sales, inventory and operations planning at the company\u2019s Florida site in Jacksonville. During this time, he earned an MBA from the University of Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After relocating to Florida, Doug met his future wife. \u201cI played guitar at church, and he introduced himself after he saw me on stage. And the rest is history,\u201d Dani said. \u201cNow we have twin two-year-old boys and are in a solid financial position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the last three years, Doug has been a senior integrated business planning consultant at My Supply Chain Group. Dani, who was most recently employed as a transportation coordinator for Crowley, has taken a break from her career to focus on raising their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paying\u00a0It\u00a0Forward\u00a0To Come\u00a0Full\u00a0Circle<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nDoug was thinking of his boys as future college students \u2014 <\/strong>and his own college days \u2014 <\/strong>when he broached the idea to Dani of endowing a merit-based scholarship program for paper science and engineering students in the College of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cMy scholarship meant a lot to my whole family,\u201d Doug said. \u201cMy brother, Zach (Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management \u201915), took some time off before he went to college, and in some ways he had that freedom because I received a scholarship and our parents didn\u2019t have to pay for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dani gives full credit to Doug for the idea. \u201cWe were already giving to NC State, but one day he was talking about a hallway on campus lined with plaques recognizing supporters and students who have received scholarships. Seeing those really inspired him,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re at a point in our lives now where we are stable financially, and we decided that the earlier we could help someone the way Doug was helped, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Doug and Dani Mehlenbacher with their two sons. Photo provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about my career path, but I credit it all to getting a scholarship to go through pulp and paper. I was able to graduate without any debt, and that set me on a path to where, 10 or so years later, we\u2019re creating more scholarships,\u201d Doug said. \u201cIt is the least we could do to repay everything I took from my time at NC State, time that laid the groundwork for everything I have become since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added, \u201cIf there’s anything we want this endowment to represent, it’s the family and support you get here. It’s why we’ve made this investment publicly: We want others to see this as a place worth attending and supporting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cMy scholarship meant a lot to my whole family,\u201d Doug said. \u201cMy brother, Zach (Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management \u201915), took some time off before he went to college, and in some ways he had that freedom because I received a scholarship and our parents didn\u2019t have to pay for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dani gives full credit to Doug for the idea. \u201cWe were already giving to NC State, but one day he was talking about a hallway on campus lined with plaques recognizing supporters and students who have received scholarships. Seeing those really inspired him,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re at a point in our lives now where we are stable financially, and we decided that the earlier we could help someone the way Doug was helped, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about my career path, but I credit it all to getting a scholarship to go through pulp and paper. I was able to graduate without any debt, and that set me on a path to where, 10 or so years later, we\u2019re creating more scholarships,\u201d Doug said. \u201cIt is the least we could do to repay everything I took from my time at NC State, time that laid the groundwork for everything I have become since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added, \u201cIf there’s anything we want this endowment to represent, it’s the family and support you get here. It’s why we’ve made this investment publicly: We want others to see this as a place worth attending and supporting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a>