N.C. A&T Alumna to Keynote the Graduate College Commencement

Retired corporate affairs and business executive Hilda Pinnix-Ragland is the keynote speaker for commencement exercises for The Graduate College at North Carolina A&T State University. The ceremony is at 1 p.m., Saturday, May 13 in the Greensboro Coliseum.

Pinnix-Ragland ’77 is acknowledged for building best-in-class organizations that consistently achieve aggressive revenue and profit objectives. She currently serves as a board member or advisor to numerous industry, educational and community organizations.

After earning her degree in accounting from N.C. A&T, Pinnix-Ragland was a Colgate-Palmolive Scholar for two years before starting her career at A&T. She went on to work at Arthur Andersen LLP, at the time, it was a Big Five accounting firm. Later, Pinnix-Ragland went to work for Carolina Power & Light where she stayed through two name changes to Progress Energy and now, Duke Energy.

Pinnix-Ragland served in operating roles with the company that include vice president, North Region and vice president, Energy Delivery Services. She also demonstrated leadership in economic development, serving as Progress Energy’s liaison with international departments of commerce to bring business to North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida doubling Progress’ annual revenue stream from new industries in just three years.

She is also an active alumna, having served the university on the Board of Visitors. Pinnix-Ragland has shown her love of A&T and its students with two scholarships that bear her name – the Hilda Pinnix-Ragland Endowment, administered through the North Carolina Community Foundation, and the Hilda Pinnix-Ragland Endowed Scholarship, established in her honor by her husband and sister.

Pinnix-Ragland serves on the board of directors for several organizations including RTI International; the North Carolina Dental Services Inc.; and the College Foundation of North Carolina. She is also a chapter fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors and a member of Women Corporate Directors. In April, Pinnix-Ragland was awarded the Triangle Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Women in Business.

In addition to her bachelor’s from A&T, Pinnix-Ragland also holds a master of business administration from Duke University Fuqua School of Business. She has completed graduate studies in taxation from St. John’s University and the executive program from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.