Robert Sipes, Progress Energy Executive Vice President of the Western Region, presents a check for $10,000 to UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder (back row). They are joined by (front row, left to right) Dr. Keith Ray, UNC Asheville Health and Wellness Dept. Chair; Dr. Melissa Himelein, UNC Asheville Psychology Professor; Ken Maxwell, Progress Energy Community Relations Manager; and Janet Cone, UNC Asheville Athletics Director.

UNC Asheville’s North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness got a boost Thursday thanks to a $10,000 gift from Progress Energy. The funds will be used to lay the groundwork for faculty and undergraduate student research to prevent childhood obesity, foster workplace wellness and promote senior wellness, three of the state’s most pressing health concerns.       

Among the undergraduate researchers will be UNC Asheville students who are majoring in Health and Wellness Promotion. The two-year-old degree program has become one of fastest growing majors on campus. Graduates will be well prepared to develop and manage worksite and hospital-based wellness programs, community health centers, retirement and nursing home wellness programs, and commercial and not-for-profit health, fitness, and recreation centers.

Construction of the 122,000-square-foot N.C. Center for Health & Wellness complex is slated to begin in summer 2008.     

Progress Energy, a diversified energy company headquartered in Raleigh, has provided a range of funding for student scholarships and programs at UNC Asheville for the past 24 years.