2025 Annual FSU Scholarship Gala
Success Stories
Alumni Stories of Success
For more than half a century, thousands of students have charted their path to success at FSU. Here we feature a compendium of their inspiring stories and reflections. Check back occasionally to see updated and new feature stories from alumni on the impact FSU has had on their lives and the communities we serve.
The most recent stories appear below the photo bar. To view all stories of success, click through the photos and select a person or scroll to the bottom of the page.
All Stories of Success
Mother-Daughter Act
Together, they comprise 150 years of wisdom, beauty and trailblazing wonder. A mother and daughter with close ties to Fayetteville State University – past, present and future. Just say the…
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FSU alumna Dr. Sylvia E. Johnson is serving on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
As a girl growing up in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, Dr. Sylvia E. Johnson watched her mother toil away in a shirt factory and ultimately die at age 61 of a…
Read more about FSU alumna Dr. Sylvia E. Johnson is serving on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
The Road To Success
College wasn’t even on his radar when Dr. Willie H. Smith, FSU ’82, was growing up as the youngest of eight children born to tobacco farmers in Elizabethtown, N.C. But higher…
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