{"id":27552,"date":"2023-08-04T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T14:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=27552"},"modified":"2023-08-04T11:21:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T15:21:10","slug":"jennifer-piercy-decade-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/2023\/08\/jennifer-piercy-decade-of-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer Piercy \u201894 Reflects On Decade of Success at NC State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a word for what Jennifer Piercy<\/a> feels as she heads to work every day as the assistant dean for college advancement and president of the NC\u00a0State Natural Resources Foundation. The word: <\/em>Passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just the job she loves. It\u2019s serving the university that launched her career. It\u2019s working in an industry she treasures \u2014 she cut her teeth in paper mills in Kentucky, thanks to an alumnus with whom she still works today. Most of all, it\u2019s the people: the alumni, students and hard-working board and committee members. Piercy uses the word \u201clove\u201d often when she speaks of those people, and her work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Dean Floyd asked me to serve as the interim assistant dean for college advancement, he asked if I would be applying for the full-time position. I couldn\u2019t imagine feeling the same love I felt for my work as executive director of the Paper and Pulp Advisory Board. That was my dream job,\u201d Piercy said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added, \u201cBut after about six months in the interim role, I sat in a meeting of the advisory board as a bystander, not the director, and I was so proud of the work we had accomplished together. I had my \u2018aha\u2019 moment right then. There was more to be accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piercy\u2019s career has taken a few unexpected turns, and that has made all the difference, she said. After graduating from NC State with degrees in pulp and paper technology and chemical engineering in 1994, Piercy joined Procter & Gamble in Georgia as a process engineer, machine manager and operations manager. She and her husband, Jerry, made a deal when he felt a call to get an MBA at the University of Virginia. After two years, it would be her turn to return to her work in paper operations and manufacturing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those plans changed when Piercy landed a job at the university\u2019s Darden School of Business in the MBA Career Services Center. \u201cAll of this was totally out of my comfort zone, but it taught me a lot about higher education, working with corporations, working with alumni. So over the course of two years, I thought \u2018I kind of like this!\u2019 So when my husband graduated, I was willing to look beyond the paper industry,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Piercy\u2019s husband found a job in Raleigh, the duo relocated and began a new chapter of their lives. She focused on her two children, Gabrielle and Ryan, for a few years but always kept in touch with her old colleagues and school connections. Piercy eventually joined the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board and the Paper Science and Engineering program in the Department of Forest Biomaterials. She knew right away that she had found her dream job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her time in the Department of Forest Biomaterials, Piercy doubled the size of the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board and its committees, developed key industry partnerships resulting in an 85% increase in corporate giving, doubled annual giving and alumni participation, and managed the recruiting and scholarship program for paper science and engineering students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Piercy celebrated her successful career when she became one of two industry leaders to receive the 2023 Woman of the Year Award from the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI). TAPPI is the leading association for the worldwide pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and converting industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The award recognizes women who have demonstrated excellence in leading, motivating, and developing others within the pulp, paper, tissue, packaging and supporting industries. Piercy has done all of that and more \u2013 championing women in an industry where back in the day, a woman on the job was not quite as common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At NC State, about 43% of students in the Paper Science and Engineering program are female, up from what once was only a quarter of the total enrollment. \u201cThere are great support systems in place now, though women still face some issues,\u201d Piercy said. \u201cAnother thing that I find very positive is that the current generation of young men do a much better job at not seeing women as different or less than.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piercy added, \u201cI tell students these days, hopefully in another generation we’re not talking about women in industry, right? Hopefully that goes away because our young women will experience way more equity in treatment than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piercy\u2019s work and love for the industry have earned her a large fanbase among her colleagues and friends in the industry. One of her longest friendships was born when Bart Nicholson, a 1981 NC State graduate, recruited Piercy to learn on the job at a paper mill near her hometown of Philpot, Kentucky. Nicholson, who currently serves as the vice president of the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board and will become president in the fall, calls Piercy \u201ca special person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe elevates everything she pursues and everyone she encounters with a caring and personal touch,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201dJennifer has shown remarkable dedication and passion for the members of the Natural Resources Foundation and the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board, the paper science and engineering program, and most importantly, the students and alumni. Her impact on the pulp and paper industry is deep and wide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was written by Beth Grace<\/em> for College of Natural Resources News.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a word for what Jennifer Piercy<\/a> feels as she heads to work every day as the assistant dean for college advancement and president of the NC\u00a0State Natural Resources Foundation. The word: <\/em>Passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just the job she loves. It\u2019s serving the university that launched her career. It\u2019s working in an industry she treasures \u2014 she cut her teeth in paper mills in Kentucky, thanks to an alumnus with whom she still works today. Most of all, it\u2019s the people: the alumni, students and hard-working board and committee members. Piercy uses the word \u201clove\u201d often when she speaks of those people, and her work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Dean Floyd asked me to serve as the interim assistant dean for college advancement, he asked if I would be applying for the full-time position. I couldn\u2019t imagine feeling the same love I felt for my work as executive director of the Paper and Pulp Advisory Board. That was my dream job,\u201d Piercy said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added, \u201cBut after about six months in the interim role, I sat in a meeting of the advisory board as a bystander, not the director, and I was so proud of the work we had accomplished together. I had my \u2018aha\u2019 moment right then. There was more to be accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piercy\u2019s career has taken a few unexpected turns, and that has made all the difference, she said. After graduating from NC State with degrees in pulp and paper technology and chemical engineering in 1994, Piercy joined Procter & Gamble in Georgia as a process engineer, machine manager and operations manager. She and her husband, Jerry, made a deal when he felt a call to get an MBA at the University of Virginia. After two years, it would be her turn to return to her work in paper operations and manufacturing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those plans changed when Piercy landed a job at the university\u2019s Darden School of Business in the MBA Career Services Center. \u201cAll of this was totally out of my comfort zone, but it taught me a lot about higher education, working with corporations, working with alumni. So over the course of two years, I thought \u2018I kind of like this!\u2019 So when my husband graduated, I was willing to look beyond the paper industry,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Piercy\u2019s husband found a job in Raleigh, the duo relocated and began a new chapter of their lives. She focused on her two children, Gabrielle and Ryan, for a few years but always kept in touch with her old colleagues and school connections. Piercy eventually joined the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board and the Paper Science and Engineering program in the Department of Forest Biomaterials. She knew right away that she had found her dream job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her time in the Department of Forest Biomaterials, Piercy doubled the size of the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board and its committees, developed key industry partnerships resulting in an 85% increase in corporate giving, doubled annual giving and alumni participation, and managed the recruiting and scholarship program for paper science and engineering students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Piercy celebrated her successful career when she became one of two industry leaders to receive the 2023 Woman of the Year Award from the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI). TAPPI is the leading association for the worldwide pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and converting industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The award recognizes women who have demonstrated excellence in leading, motivating, and developing others within the pulp, paper, tissue, packaging and supporting industries. Piercy has done all of that and more \u2013 championing women in an industry where back in the day, a woman on the job was not quite as common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At NC State, about 43% of students in the Paper Science and Engineering program are female, up from what once was only a quarter of the total enrollment. \u201cThere are great support systems in place now, though women still face some issues,\u201d Piercy said. \u201cAnother thing that I find very positive is that the current generation of young men do a much better job at not seeing women as different or less than.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piercy added, \u201cI tell students these days, hopefully in another generation we're not talking about women in industry, right? Hopefully that goes away because our young women will experience way more equity in treatment than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piercy\u2019s work and love for the industry have earned her a large fanbase among her colleagues and friends in the industry. One of her longest friendships was born when Bart Nicholson, a 1981 NC State graduate, recruited Piercy to learn on the job at a paper mill near her hometown of Philpot, Kentucky. Nicholson, who currently serves as the vice president of the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board and will become president in the fall, calls Piercy \u201ca special person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe elevates everything she pursues and everyone she encounters with a caring and personal touch,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201dJennifer has shown remarkable dedication and passion for the members of the Natural Resources Foundation and the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board, the paper science and engineering program, and most importantly, the students and alumni. Her impact on the pulp and paper industry is deep and wide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was written by Beth Grace<\/em> for College of Natural Resources News.<\/em><\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Piercy currently serves as the assistant dean for advancement at the College of Natural Resources and president of the NC\u00a0State Natural Resources Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":27659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"displayCategoryID\":173,\"caption\":\"\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[173,102],"tags":[98,359],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-27552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-and-friends","category-hidden-newswire","tag-alumni-profile","tag-faculty-and-staff"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":173,"name":"Alumni and Friends","slug":"alumni-and-friends","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":173,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Learn about the career paths our alumni set out on to make the world a better place. Discover their dedication to protect the environment, enhance parks and recreation and develop sustainable materials and technologies.","parent":0,"count":158,"filter":"raw"},"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27552"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31169,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27552\/revisions\/31169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27552"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=27552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}