With new coaches and sparkling new facilities, the athletic program has revamped its look in the past few years. Amidst the optimism, one has led the charge to create such an environment.

The National Association of Athletic Development Directors announced that the executive director of the Wolfpack Club, Bobby Purcell, would be receiving its 2006-2007 Fundraiser of the Year award.

Purcell, who has held his position since 1991, said he was merely receiving the award on behalf of the 19,000 Wolfpack Club members who made it possible.

“It’s an award for our membership,” Purcell said. “They’re the ones that make it happen, and they’re the reason you get these kinds of awards.”

Purcell began his career with N.C. State in 1981 as an assistant for the football program. In 1987, he began serving the Wolfpack Club as an assistant director, coordinating fundraising in 49 North Carolina counties.

While Purcell has been executive director since 1991, it was not until the retirement of his predecessor, Charlie Bryant, in 1997, that he began serving in his full leadership capacity.

“I appreciate what my predecessor Charlie Bryant established here,” Purcell said. “It has been a tremendous foundation on which to build on. We’ve also had a lot of great staff people here through the years, and a lot of them have gone on to run organizations at other schools.”

Since 2001, the Wolfpack Club has nearly doubled the annual donations given to the club. In the past five years donations have ranged from $20 to $26 million dollars a year – a time in which the Athletic Department has received a massive facelift.

In addition to more than $100 million dollars in renovations to Carter-Finley Stadium, the Wolfpack Club has helped fund the Doak Field renovation, the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center renovation, the Dail Basketball Complex and the new softball stadium.

The Wolfpack Club also gives $7 million dollars annually in scholarship money to State athletic programs. Purcell said the credit goes to the Wolfpack Club members and his staff.

“Our fans have been very generous, every time we’ve asked them to step up, they have,” Purcell said.

“We’ve had tremendous staff – the staff that we have right now is as good as there is in the country. I work for a great AD, a great Chancellor and a great Board of Directors. Also, our president the past two years, Mac Campbell, has just been tremendous to work for, a tremendous leader.”

While the gifts of big-time donors are certainly critical to the Club’s initiatives, Purcell said it has focused on treating all gifts, regardless of size, equally.

“One thing we’ve stressed is the small gifts,” Purcell said. “Every little bit makes a difference. Fortunately, we’ve been able to do both – we’ve been able to get some very large gifts and a lot of smaller gifts. Every one of them is important.”

Purcell, a third generation State alumnus, spent two years as an undergraduate at State before transferring to North Carolina where he earned a B.A. in business administration in 1977.

Purcell said while he doesn’t hide the fact that he graduated from UNC, sometimes he gets a hard time for it.

“They had the curriculum I wanted at the time,” Purcell said. “I was a State fan the whole time I was there. My heart has always bled red. Everybody knows about it, I don’t try to hide it. We’ve had a good time kidding about it through the years.”

The NAADD will recognize Purcell’s achievement at its 14th annual convention in Orlando, Fla., June 7-10.