Loyal Like Lloyd

When Lloyd Bostian made his first gift to NC State in 1955, he wasn’t thinking about long-term philanthropic goals. He wasn’t thinking about making a gift each year.

He was simply grateful for his time at the university and proud to be a member of the class of 1954.

But that gift led to another, and another. At least one gift every single year, until Bostian and his wife Genevieve had become NC State’s most longest-running consecutive annual donors, with 70 years of support.

There’s loyal. And then there’s loyal like Lloyd.

Coming Back to the Pack

If the name Bostian sounds familiar, there’s a good reason: Lloyd Bostian is the son of the late Carey Hoyt Bostian, NC State’s seventh chancellor and namesake for Bostian Hall. The elder Bostian served as chancellor from 1953 until 1959, a span that included his son’s career as a student. This tenure was brief by design; Carey Bostian was a professor in the genetics department and fully intended to return to teaching, his biggest passion.

“Dad thought long and hard before he accepted that job [as chancellor],” Bostian said. “But he always put the needs of others ahead of his own.”

Despite family roots at NC State, Bostian had planned to pursue higher education down the road, at UNC-Chapel Hill. But after two years of studying business and accounting, he realized neither the school nor the major were the right fit, academically or personally.

He decided to transfer to NC State’s agricultural economics program after his sophomore year. He was familiar with the university, given his father’s faculty role and his own time working on campus during high school.

This move changed Bostian’s life — and it has gone on to change the lives of dozens of students who have benefited from his commitment to the university over the years. 

Public and Passionate

Bostian didn’t have a lot of time to think about being the son of the chancellor when he began his first semester at NC State. Yes, he lived at the Chancellor’s Residence, which is now the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, but his focus was on studying and keeping up his grades, which was no small feat with a courseload of 22 credit hours. He kept his focus and earned all As that first semester — an achievement that still brings him pride to this day. 

He credits both his parents and his instructors for helping him succeed at such a high level. And some of those instructors extended lessons outside of the classroom.

“I was in a poultry science course and the instructor said, ‘Does anyone here not know how to drive a tractor?’ One hand went up. It was mine and I said, ‘No, but how many of you have plowed with a horse?’ Not one had. So he said, ‘OK, Bostian. Saturday, we’re going out and you’re going to learn how to drive a tractor,’ which I did,” Bostian remembered.

“The instructor and I were friends from then on.”

After graduation, Bostian enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, where he completed a master’s degree in agricultural journalism. When he was contemplating two job offers to edit agriculture-related magazines, a mentor suggested he stay in Wisconsin and teach while working on his doctorate in mass communications.

Whether on a visiting professorship in Brazil or standing in front of a lecture hall teaching introductory agricultural journalism, Bostian enjoyed working with students and encouraging their passions. He spent his entire academic career as a member of the Wisconsin faculty and received the Emil H. Steiger Distinguished Teaching Award in 1983, the highest honor in teaching on the UW-Madison campus.

Between his father’s career at NC State and his own at the University of Wisconsin, Bostian understands firsthand the importance of public, land-grant institutions. 

“I think many people don’t respect how good our state institutions are. I think Wisconsin and NC State both are first-class universities,” he said.

More Than a Habit

It’s been a long time since Bostian has made it back to North Carolina. His career and life thrived in Wisconsin, where he and Genevieve still live. But he stays connected to the university through reading NC State Magazine and following athletics.

And with his long-running philanthropy, he remains an important part of the university’s excellence.

“I’d like to say [giving] is more than a habit. I’m very happy to have been at NC State, and I’m very proud of the institution,” Bostian said. “I think I owe the institution more than I could ever give.”

But he’s certainly tried.

He noted his gifts were small at first, and as he continued to give annually, he saw opportunities to honor his parents and the impact they had on his education. 

Over the course of 70 years, these annual gifts have added up to an extraordinary impact — for scholarship recipients, the Libraries and for Bostian, who enrolled as a student hoping to find a good fit and went on to create a legacy.

“My father and mother were both great library fans, and I thought that if I was going to give a small donation annually to the library, I wanted it to be in their names,” he said. 

The Carey and Neita Bostian Library Endowment supports purchases for the NC State University Libraries Human Genetics Collection. Currently, more than 80 materials are in circulation thanks to the endowment.

Additionally, the Bostians created the Chancellor Carey Bostian Scholarship, which has benefited many College of Sciences students interested in pursuing genetics. 

“The institution saved my life in a way and I don’t know how I can ever repay it,” Bostian said. “To have supported NC State this long means a lot to me.”

That’s loyal. And that’s our Lloyd.

This post was originally published in Giving News.