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Dennis Kekas named interim director of NC State's Centennial Campus Partnership Office

February 26, 2004
Media Contacts: Dennis Kekas, Networking Technology Institute, 919/515-5297 Stephen Jones, Extension and Engagement, 919/513-0388 Benny Benton, News Services, 919/515-3470 Feb. 23, 2004 Kekas Named Interim Director of Centennial Campus
Dennis Kekas
Dennis Kekas
Dennis Kekas, currently executive director of the Networking Technology Institute (NTI) of North Carolina State University, has been named interim director of the university’s Centennial Campus Partnership Office. Kekas has been involved with Centennial Campus and NC State since 1997, and also has more than 30 years of experience as an IBM executive and development director. “Dennis is strong in a number of areas,” said Dr. Stephen Jones, vice chancellor for extension and engagement. “He’s been on Centennial Campus for seven years. He’s lived the corporate side through his many years with IBM. And he’s been active in the recruitment process of a number of companies to Centennial Campus, so the people in the partnership office know him well. He has both the strong technical background and the interpersonal skills needed to run Centennial Campus.” Kekas will replace Bob Geolas, who has served as director since 2000. Geolas is leaving to accept a position with Clemson University as director of its newly created International Center for Automotive Research. “Bob led Centennial Campus through a period of unprecedented growth, and has helped give Centennial Campus further stature,” Jones said. “People now recognize Centennial Campus as the premier research and technology park in the nation. Bob was an outstanding spokesperson and ambassador for NC State. His work has set the stage for a smooth transition to the next director, who will take Centennial Campus into a prolonged period of growth.” Coincidentally, Kekas also has ties to Clemson, having earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from there and served as national president of that institution’s alumni association. He was presented Clemson’s Distinguished Service Award in 1999. During his 30-year career at IBM, Kekas held several executive positions with extensive product development and financial profit-and-loss successes in networking, point-of-sale and financial transaction systems. He was awarded eight patents, including several in the area of point-of-sale that are still in prominent use. He left his position as director of technical strategy for IBM’s Networking Hardware Division in 1997 to join NC State as director of the NC State Multimedia and Centennial Networking Laboratories, and in 2000 became the director of NTI. As the head of NTI, Kekas directs the Center for Advanced Computing and Communication (CACC), an industry/university cooperative research center that is operated in partnership with Duke University and supported by the National Science Foundation. He also directs the NC State Centennial Networking Lab (CNL) - which provides network and computing analytical services to industry and agencies - and the Computer Science Multimedia Lab. Kekas said in his additional role as interim director, he hoped to “maintain the momentum of this novel and exciting place that is Centennial Campus. I’ve seen seven years of growth, but the past several have been particularly healthy, and I’d like to help that continue.” He added that he has two other goals for his tenure as director. “I’d like to help strengthen and grow the research and development experiences between our campus partners and academia,” Kekas said. “I’d also like to look at promoting Centennial Campus as a hub of innovation. If you believe that innovation is the engine that drives the train of the economy, then I believe the things being done here can help the job situation in the state and the nation.” Jones said he would like to see a permanent director named within the next three months, and added that he has already had a number of inquiries about the position from people across the eastern half of the country.