Business Person of the Year for North Carolina.
Dr. Porter, a former member of UNCP's Mathematics and Computer Science Department, is
president and CEO of Porter Scientific in Pembroke. She received the award on August 27 at the
Minority Enterprise Development Week celebration, sponsored by the Cumberland Regional Im-
provement Corp.
A 1978 UNCP graduate, Dr. Porter earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Duke University and
joined UNCP's faculty in 1991. She left the University to take over the family business, which her
father founded.
Dr. Porter expanded the scope of the Pembroke-based business and renamed it Porter Scientific
Incorporated (PSI). PSI provides a broad range of services that focus on environmental information
in a fast-paced world as a litigation attorney, Ronette S. Gerber has come home to the town and
school that have always been so close to her family's heart.
A 1989 graduate, Gerber has maintained close ties with the University and her classmates.
"I met my best friends here at the University and we still get together regularly," Gerber said.
"I look forward to homecoming every year and always come to the game with a group of fellow
UNCP grads."
She has also served as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in history at UNCP, Gerber earned a Master of Public
member of the North Carolina State Bar and has thus far practiced exclusively in civil law.
She is the mother of three children: Greyson, 8, Garrett, 7, and Lauren, 5. Gerber is the daughter of Ron Sutton, an at-
torney and state legislator, and Geneva Chavis Sutton, a retired nurse and a 1995 UNCP graduate.
D'Arcee Neal '08 turned that challenge into an adventure.
Only one week after graduating, Neal said goodbye to North Carolina and took a job at a
private international ad agency in Georgetown D.C. The job provided him with the opportunity to
travel across the country while working.
During his travels, Neal realized that he enjoyed his job, but wanted to do more with his de-
gree. On a whim he applied for graduate school in London. Two weeks later he was accepted.
"I was so thrilled; I didn't know what to do," said Neal. "My heart is in writing and learning new
things. I want to be like one of the professors that taught me at Pembroke."
Some of Neal's friends and family couldn't grasp the idea of him leaving the country for
"Going to another country for an English degree seemed silly to some people when I told them," said Neal.
Neal saw it as an opportunity for new and exciting experiences. This past summer he and 12 students traveled to Costa
Rica with Mobility International USA, an organization that helps students travel the world.
"It was an amazing experience," he said. "The bottom line is that just because you have an English degree it doesn't
mean you're going to be stuck behind a desk or end up as someone's secretary. Life's an adventure."
Neal encourages all alumni to use their degree as a passport to travel the world and see their own adventures.