Syngenta’s recent gift of $40,000 to the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences represents a significant contribution toward a new student scholarship endowment being established by the CAES Advisory Board.

The board that advises the college on a range of issues is working to raise $250,000, which would then allow the university to apply for matching funds and establish a scholarships endowment of $500,000.

Carroll Moseley, a Syngenta executive based in Greensboro and the advisory board’s vice chairman, said the company’s donation pushes the endowment effort past the halfway mark toward its goal. Moseley said he hopes the first scholarship will be awarded from the endowment within the next couple of years.

"We thank Syngenta for this generous donation,” said Mohamed Ahmedna, dean of the college. “We at CAES are always looking for ways to reduce tuition and other expenses for our students, and this scholarship endowment will go a long way toward making an N.C. A&T education more affordable."

The 23-member advisory board works with CAES in a number of areas that include advocacy, communications, student and faculty development, networking and outreach. Board members represent a wide range of interests in agriculture, government, education and the private sector interests and are a vital and diverse source of knowledge and expertise for the college.

One of the board’s key roles is raising funds for CAES.

Moseley, who grew up in Southside Virginia, said he strives to support students who grew up like he did in a rural area and might be struggling to pay for college.

For Syngenta, he added, helping CAES establish a new scholarship endowment is “our responsibility to our neighbors,” he said.

“We’ve got the biggest HBCU in the country with one of the most active agricultural programs at an HBCU,” said Moseley, head of state regulatory affairs and stewardship at Syngenta. “They’re our neighbor, and we love supporting them.”

Headquartered in Basel, Switerzland, Syngenta is one of the world’s largest agriculture companies and a global leader in crop protection, seeds, and seed treatments and traits. The company, which has more than 26,000 employees in 100 countries around the world, plays a vital role in supporting farmers and sustaining the global food chain.

Syngenta announced in March that it planned to expand the Greensboro headquarters of its U.S. crop protection division. The company has about 650 employees and 100 contract workers at its 70-acre Greensboro campus on Swing Road. Syngenta has more than 1,000 employees across North Carolina.

For more information about the CAES Advisory Board, contact Carroll Moseley at carroll.moseley@syngenta.com and 336-632-7754.