Clay Gloster, Jr.

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University | Greensboro, NC | 2022

Clay Gloster, Jr. Portrait Photo

Becoming a recipient of this Presidential Award is an extraordinary honor and a dream come true. Mentoring is an opportunity for us to potentially transform the lives of minorities, their families, the greater community, and future generations. Because of this tremendous opportunity to give back to others, for decades I have been committed to mentoring individuals pursuing careers in engineering and technology. I hope this recognition encourages others to join in this critically important work.

The official biography below was current at the time of the award. Awardees may choose to provide their latest biographical information on their profile page.

Clay Gloster, Jr. currently serves as Dean of the Graduate College at North Carolina A&T State University, where he has been since 2018. Since 2015, Clay has received funding from the Verizon Foundation to support a summer camp for minority middle school students, impacting more than 900 students in the Greensboro community. The program increases students' proficiency in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts and stimulates their interest in these fields. Since 1993, Clay has mentored hundreds of minority students in K-12, college, and graduate school in engineering and technology. Additionally, he has mentored several faculty members throughout their careers. While serving in his current role, Clay continues to mentor graduate students in individual and group sessions. He mentors students from the NSF-supported Preparing Future Minority Faculty program and the Accelerate to Industry program that prepares students for careers in private industry. Finally, Clay is most excited about mentoring the 48-50 African American Ph.D. students each year in engineering disciplines supported by a Department of Education grant. Clay was honored to be selected for the Becoming a Provost Academy and the Millennium Leadership Initiative programs sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. He has received numerous fellowships, distinguished awards, and holds two U.S. patents. Clay received a B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and a Ph.D. in computer engineering from North Carolina State University. He also received a Master of Divinity degree from Howard University.