Clyde A. Higgs, vice president for business development with Castle & Cooke Inc., has been appointed to the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Board of Trustees by Gov. Mike Easley.
Higgs’ term will run through June 30, 2010, completing the term of Glenn Ketner Jr., of Salisbury, who resigned from the board in September after 14 years of service.
Higgs joined Castle & Cooke, the developer of the North Carolina Research Campus, in 2006. He is primarily responsible for recruiting new businesses and venture capital investment to the campus in Kannapolis.
Prior to joining the N.C. Research Campus, Higgs was the executive director of the technology incubator program at the University of North Texas-Health Science Center. While in Texas, Higgs was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Board, a $200 million investment fund for early-stage technology companies.
Before his post in Texas, Higgs was director of the Office of Technology Transfer & Commercialization at North Carolina A&T State University. There he was responsible for developing the overall economic development and intellectual property strategy for the university. Early in his career, he served as the executive assistant to the president of the North Carolina Community College System, where he managed several economic and workforce development projects.
Higgs earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Alabama and a master’s degree in public administration at East Carolina University. He is a native of Fayetteville and is married to Dr. Vetta Barnes Higgs, a medical oncologist. They have one son.