Alumni In Action

Carl Ryden '89 is the founder and CTO of MarginPro, which helps position lenders to instantly generate alternative pricing scenarios.

Caroline Choi '86 is the director for Energy Policy & Strategy with Progress Energy.

Scott Jacobson '95, now writing for the FOX show "Bob's Burgers", has won four Emmys for contributions to "The Daily show With Jon Stewart." He has also written for The Academy Awards, Robert Smigel's "TV Funhouse", and the Adult swim show "Squidbillies".

Maya Ajmera '85 is the founder and president of The Global Fund for Children, a nonprofit organization that makes small grants to community-based organizations helping children around the world. She is also the author of several children's books.

Rhiannon Giddens '95 and her band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album for their 2010 offering "Genuine Negro Jig"

Brad Ives '82 is the CEO of Integro, the developer of NuCoal(TM), which is a biomass-based replacement for coal.

Emily Warren '01 is a solar conversion researcher at California Institute of Technology.

Erik Troan '91 is the founder of the company rPath, a leader in IT system automation. He also was one of Red Hat's first executives, helping develop the architecture that has allowed the company to become one of the largest software firms in the world.

Alia Whitney-Johnson '04, currently pursuing an MPhil in Development Studies at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, is the founder of Emerge Global, Inc. (www.emergeglobal.org), a non-profit that aims to empower young women around the world.

Jud Bowman '99 is the founder of Motricity and founder and CEO of Appia, the world's largest cross platform, open app marketplace.

Geeta Patel 94' is a filmmaker, writer and director of documentary and dramatic feature films. She began her career as the youngest Associate Screenwriter in Hollywood.

Gabriel Cade '96 was a member of Season 4 "Survivor" on CBS.

Not only did Antoine Dove '04 lose more than 40% of his body weight on Season 8 of "The Biggest Loser", he also got down on one knee and asked fellow contestant Alexandra White to be his wife.

Joe Davy '07 Evo is co-founder and CEO of EvoApp, a social business intelligence tool for enterprise customer services, sales, and marketing.

For thirty years, NCSSM alumni have accepted the world’s greatest challenges. Their collective influence is unparalleled by the graduates of any other high school in the state. Everywhere you look, there’s an NCSSM graduate bettering the quality of life in North Carolina and tackling the world’s toughest problems. And now, for the first time ever, a 2010 survey and economic impact study show what most of us knew all along: in every area from education to healthcare, NCSSM alumni are serving on the frontlines.

Volunteerism

According to 2010 survey data, 60 percent of NCSSM alumni report that they volunteer more than one hour each week in their community. That’s more than twice the national average, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. Alumni volunteer nearly 140,000 hours, and students more than 22,000 hours, every year in North Carolina alone.

Education

Approximately half of NCSSM alumni hold at least a Master’s degree, more than five times the national average, and a quarter hold a doctorate. One out of four alumni goes on to teach at some point in their career. Of those that teach, 40 percent do so in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). NCSSM alumni are currently teaching at 15 of the 25 largest universities in North Carolina.

Healthcare + STEM

More than 60 percent of NCSSM alumni major in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, nearly four times the national average. Among those are more than 500 alumni who are caring for patients at the top 10 hospitals in North Carolina.

Culture

Among NCSSM’s alumni ranks are a GRAMMY winner, a four-time Emmy winner, and contestants on hit reality shows like Survivor and The Biggest Loser, not to mention numerous Jeopardy contestants and a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Campus Life

Seventy-five percent of NCSSM graduates go on to attend a UNC system university, many of them winning top scholarships to attend (NCSSM regularly boasts more Morehead-Cain and Park Scholars than any other school). Once they’re there, alumni take prominent leadership positions across campus. Next fall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NCSSM alumni will serve as Editor in Chief of the Daily Tar Heel, President of the Carolina Union Activities Board, and Speaker of the 93^rd Student Congress. This spring, alumni were also honored for service at N.C. State and inducted into UNC Chapel Hill’s Order of the Golden Fleece.

Economic Growth

According to 2010 survey data, 60 percent of NCSSM graduates remain in North Carolina and contribute more than $500 million to the state’s economy every year. The average salary of an NCSSM graduate living in North Carolina is more than double that of the average North Carolinian, and our graduates pay 50 percent more in state income taxes in their lifetime than the average North Carolinian.