Remembering Bill Grant

William Cullen “Bill” Grant spent 43 years in various roles at NC State. He was the assistant director of academic programs for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the associate provost and coordinator of African American affairs in the Provost’s Office. He served as undergraduate coordinator in the Department of Biological Sciences. But it was teaching he loved most. 

“Some of my friends who are not in teaching say, ‘You’ve been teaching that course for 15 years, there’s nothing new in there, how do you do it year after year?'” he said in a 2014 interview with the Your Wild Life public science program. “I always say that they’re new students and I’m always looking for ways to make it exciting for them. That part is new.” 

Grant, an Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor of Biological Sciences, grew up working on cotton and tobacco farms in rural South Carolina. At a high school summer program funded by the National Science Foundation, he worked on a biology research project. It inspired his career path. 

He earned his bachelor’s in biology from Livingstone College and went on to complete his master’s and doctoral degrees at NC State. As a first-generation college student, Grant understood the importance of exposing students to research and showing them what was possible.     

Former students and colleagues from the Department of Biological Sciences remember Grant, who died on Oct. 13 at the age of 80, as a dedicated and enthusiastic educator and mentor.

“As a young faculty member, I was inspired by his commitment to our students and program, his commitment to academic rigor and to helping our students show themselves what they were capable of,” said John Godwin, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. “And how he always approached these things with that warm laugh and incredible smile of his.”

Grant was known for reading Henry Van Dyke’s poem “Work” to his introductory biological sciences classes and at graduation ceremonies. At his retirement ceremony in 2017, his colleagues read it back to him. 

“There’s not a graduation ceremony that goes by when I do not fondly recall, ‘This is my work!'” said Jennifer Landin, a teaching professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. “His gentle, rich voice and supportive, peaceful demeanor filled the room and my heart. He remains my most admired role model.”

Grant received the NC State Outstanding Teacher Award in 1980 and 1984 and the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award in 2005. In 2019, the William C. Grant Scholarship was established at NC State in his honor. The fund provides aid for students — particularly first-generation scholars — pursuing degrees in the Department of Biological Sciences.