Robert A. Barnhardt Endowment for Leadership Development in the Burlington Textiles Library

Barnhardt Endowment bookplate

Robert A. Barnhardt, long-term head of North Carolina State University's College of Textiles, stepped aside as dean in 1999. The Robert A. Barnhardt Endowment for Leadership Development in the Burlington Textiles Library was created to honor this highly respected industry figure. Contributors to the fund include the North Carolina Textile Foundation, Burlington Industries, and many other individual and corporate donors.

His forty-year career includes positions at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, the Institute of Textile Technology (ITT), and NC State. Barnhardt holds a B.S. degree from the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, an M.A. degree from ITT, and an M.Ed. degree and Ph.D. degree in higher education administration from the University of Virginia. After stepping down as Dean of the College of Textiles, Barnhardt served as Interim Provost in 2003 and Interim Chancellor of NC State in 2004-05.

"I was absolutely surprised," Barnhardt says, "when creation of the endowment was announced. It's exciting and heartwarming—and it's a great idea. The gift is important because it will provide a leadership resource for our students. It is very important that the textile industry has enlightened and visionary leaders. Many of its leaders have come out of NC State."

Dick Windham is executive director of the Burlington Industries Foundation, which committed one of the largest gifts to the Barnhardt Endowment. He notes, "We were glad to be able to take part in recognizing Bob Barnhardt for his achievements. Bob is a great asset to the college, to the university, to the state, and to the textile industry. We felt it was very appropriate that he be recognized with this honor."

Income from the Barnhardt endowment allows the Burlington Textiles Library to acquire leadership resources. It also allows the College of Textiles and the Textiles Library to hold programs fostering innovative leadership. The head of the Textiles Library helps to oversee these efforts. Suzanne Weiner, head of the Textiles Library at the time of the endowment's establishment, said, "The endowment will allow us to do two things. First, we will build strong multimedia collections in the area of leadership, including books, videos, and slides. Second, we will work with the college's Student Services to help them sponsor an annual leadership event. The event will be open to textiles students at no charge." Weiner added, "This gift is exciting because it will allow the library to be even more of a central focus for textiles students. It also means that we will now have materials to lend to students that will help them acquire the skills they need to go out and get good jobs."

Barnhardt is very pleased that friends chose to support the Burlington Textiles Library with their honorary gifts. He says, "As dean, I went there frequently at night to get the pulse of what was going on in the college and with students. The library has a strategic location in the college, and that's by design. When we talked about where the textile library was going to be, we planned it as a beacon for Centennial Campus. We see the Burlington Textiles Library as a lighthouse calling everybody to the campus."

Based on an original article by Tony Reevy, which appeared in vol. 21, no. 2 of the NCSU Libraries Focus (Winter 2001).