Welcome to the 229th birthday of the nation’s first public university. This day offers us the chance to reflect on our history and remind ourselves of our mission of teaching, research and service. Through the lens of our founding, we set our sights on the future — the future of North Carolina and beyond.

This year’s celebration is part of University Research Week, a time to recognize the groundbreaking work of our world-class faculty, dedicated staff and outstanding students that improves lives across the globe. I’m grateful for our culture of collaboration among our researchers across disciplines who take on grand challenges and continually look to the future.

Their recent accomplishments are extraordinary. Over the last three years, we’ve surpassed $1 billion in research funding, including topping $1.2 billion for the first time this year. Research projects spanning all 100 counties of our state employ more than 10,400 North Carolinians. An impressive 64% of all funding awards went to projects with multiple researchers, furthering our commitment to collaboration that enables us to engage in transformational work.