“Five years ago today, this article was published by the wonderful folks at the NC State University Library. The article describes a visit in which I brought my family members to NC State to bask in the history that my grandmother had made by being the first African-American staff member hired at NC State. She was hired as a research technician in the Genetics Department in 1958, two years before the first African American undergraduate students graduated from NC State. While she passed away in 2003, I enjoy finding ways to honor her and “bring her along with me” in my career. I dedicated my PhD thesis to her in 2013 and mentioned her in my article in Trends in Parasitology in 2021. I also keep her microscope in my office, and am so grateful to Trudy Mackay, Henry Schaffer, and other folks at NC State for giving me this piece of our family history!”
– Regina Cordy, July 31 2022
