Salute to the Vets

Chris Cornett ’17 mba is a U.S. Navy veteran who gives back to NC State and the Alumni Association as the leader of the Veterans Alumni Network. The reason is simple. “I take a lot of pride in going to NC State and being a veteran and the effort toward veterans here,” says Cornett, who is a director of service and aftermarket for Adaptec Solutions.

Cornett says he’s seen that effort up close. When he was a graduate student at NC State, he says the Veterans Alumni Network and the work of Nick Drake, director of military and veteran services at NC State, helped him along the way. Drake’s office welcomes military and veteran students to the university and helps them integrate into college life, as well as aids in finding resources for military families.

Drake launched the Veterans Alumni Network in 2017 as an effort to bring together the veteran alumni he was talking to into one group.  He helped build it from the ground up into a robust group with almost 5,200 registered members.

Cornett took the helm as network leader in 2020, but he describes his work as one of many volunteers within the group. He and others help recruit members via social media, organize get-togethers at breweries to catch up and watch the Wolfpack, come up with virtual programming during COVID, and continue to work with Drake and military and veterans services at NC State to capitalize on a robust community.

“Every graduation season, they have the veterans’ alumni get-together and party,” Cornett says. “They have networking events. The military appreciation football game [held every fall]. Veterans Day tower run. [The network] brings camaraderie and mentorship. I think it does a good job of taking a tight-knit group of people together to do more and communicate with each other.”

This story was reported in late 2021. In early 2022, Brian Pezzulo ’18, ’20 MBA took over as the new network leader. You can follow the Veterans Alumni Network on LinkedIn and Facebook.