The Friends of the Libraries welcomes five new board members

The Libraries welcomes five new members to the Friends of the Libraries (FOL) Board of Directors for 2025. Catherine Stuart, Douglas Edwards, Scott Mabry, Barbara Griggs and Erkang Zheng join the board to promote student success, research excellence and community learning through the Libraries’ outstanding services, programs, and spaces.

“I’m involved with the Libraries because I truly believe that knowledge is power—and that starts right here with access to great resources,” Zheng says about his appointment. “My personal mantra, #KnowMoreFearLess, reflects how learning helps us face the world with confidence. As a Friends of the Libraries Board member, I’m excited to support efforts that not only expand access and spark innovation but also connect people in meaningful ways. This passion also fuels my work creating a personalized AI that helps people not only find information but also discover themselves and grow through learning and coaching.”

The new members of the FOL Board of Directors are:

Catherine “Cathy” Stuart has been a corporate and business lawyer in Raleigh for more than 40 years and is a principal with Stuart Law Firm, PLLC. 

She came to North Carolina to attend UNC-Chapel Hill and went to Tulane University Law School, where she was a law clerk to former Chief Judge Franklin T. Dupree of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. She was an adjunct instructor at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law and has served as counsel, administrator, advisor and board member for major special events and tax-exempt organizations for decades. Stuart previously served on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors, the Wake Regional Committee for the Morehead-Cain Foundation; UNC Lineberger Cancer Center Board of Visitors; President of the Madeira School Alumnae Association and member of the Madeira School Board of Trustees, the North Carolina Bar Association Equity Task Force; the Board of Directors of the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford; Head of the Pastor/Parish Committee for Highland United Methodist Church; the Board of Directors: Friends of the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences; the Raleigh Professional Women’s Forum; the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood Development; Hopeline; and the Raleigh Little Theatre. In addition to her new role on the FOL Board, Stuart currently serves on the Board of Directors and Governance Chair of the North Carolina Opera; the Endowment Committee of Highland United Methodist Church; and is Sponsor and a member of the Leadership Team of the 2029 World University Games Organizing Committee. She is a past recipient of the Triangle Business Journal “Women in Business Award for Community Support.”

Douglas Edwards is an accomplished executive leader, board director and general manager with education and experience in leading and developing talent, optimizing organizational processes, keeping customers as the focus of business and driving operational excellence across a myriad of industries. 

Currently, Edwards serves as Senior Vice President of Enterprise Associate & Business Solutions as part of a distinguished tenure with Humana where he directs comprehensive oversight for all human resources and workplace operations, which encompasses leading an organization of 1000+ professionals. Edwards also serves as a Board Director for DIRTT, a public construction company, as a member of the Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee and the Audit Committee. Previously, he acted as Senior Vice President, Workplace Experience, administering all operational leadership for a talented, diverse team catalyzing human resources, enterprise business services and the physical workplace. Edwards has also served with Jones Lang LaSalle as Managing Director for a major account of the firm. He headed a wide variety of business segments with full P&L responsibility, leading a large team of real estate professionals and overseeing all aspects of facilities management, project management, transactions and engineering within 14 states and Canada for a major financial institution.

Scott Mabry serves as Deputy Commissioner for the NC Department of Labor and Director of its Occupational Safety and Health Division. 

His earlier roles with the Department include Chief of Staff as well as a variety of positions in both compliance and consultative services. In addition to his work at Labor, Mabry served as Director of Safety and Risk Management with the NC Department of Transportation, and a career highlight was the opportunity to return to NC State as an Industrial Hygienist and subsequently Manager of Occupational Safety in the Environmental Health and Safety Department. Overall, his experience in the health and safety field includes more than 35 years working in both public and private settings. Mabry currently serves on the federal Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health and is active in the Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Association. He is a native of Norwood, NC and moved to Raleigh to attend NC State, graduating with a B.S. in Forestry in 1989. As a student, Mabry enjoyed working in both the Natural Resources Library and the Hill Library while also serving in Student Government. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Raleigh.

Barbara Griggs is a Raleigh native. A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, she has been surrounded by the Wolfpack her entire life. 

Her father, William A. Jackson, received his Ph.D. from NC State and was a professor in the Soil Science department for over 40 years. She often accompanied him to work in the summers, which included trips to the Hill Library and being a (free) lab worker for various experiments. Her husband Sam and son Simon are both graduates of the College of Engineering, and daughter Clara is currently majoring in microbiology in the College of Sciences. The Griggs’ family values generational giving and believes that the success of a university is dependent on the health of its library system. Her parents created the Arnold Addison and Mildred Barner Jackson Library Endowment in 1999, in memory of her grandparents, to support the Libraries’ collections; recently the family set up the Griggs Family Libraries Student Scholarship Endowment to provide support for Libraries student workers. Currently, Griggs is employed in the NC State Transportation Department and enjoys hiking and traveling with her family. 

Erkang Zheng is an entrepreneur and product leader who builds technology that solves real problems. He founded JupiterOne, a cybersecurity platform that helps organizations better understand and protect their digital environments. 

Currently, Erkang is working on a stealth startup, leveraging AI to help individuals and organizations unlock their full potential through intelligent, personalized insights and collaboration. Previously, he served as CISO of LifeOmic and Head of Software Security at Fidelity Investments Personal Investing and held security leadership and practitioner roles at IBM Security. Erkang holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in computer science from NC State, five patents and multiple industry certifications. Committed to giving back, Erkang serves on the NC State University Computer Science Strategic Advisory Board, the United Way of the Greater Triangle Board and as an advisor for the International Leadership Foundation. When he's not building companies, he enjoys connecting with fellow entrepreneurs and sharing insights as a speaker at major conferences and community events.