Before 425 attendees at the SMT annual awards dinner, Cline was given the individual award as the person in North Carolina who most “provides extraordinary support of science, mathematics and technology education.”    Cline was cited for his efforts to “promote active engagement by young people in SMT activities, provide new or enhanced opportunities for young people to experience SMT activities, help spark the interest of young people in science and build upon SMT experiences of young people in formal education settings.”

 Born in Statesville, NC, Cline has lived in the state all of his life.  He and his wife, Jo, have lived in Greensboro since 1959 when he joined the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories.  In 1977, Don left Bell Labs with three other engineers and formed Micro Computer Systems (MCS).  Following the sale of MCS to Harris Corporation in 1995, Don served as the president of MCS Operations at Harris for one year, at which time he retired.

In 1998, Don founded the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) and continues to serve as PARI’s president and board member.  Don also serves on advisory boards for the Appalachian State University (ASU) College of Arts and Sciences, the ASU Engineering Physics PSM, UNC Greensboro College of Arts and Sciences, Mars Hill College, Guilford Technical Community College (home of the Cline Observatory), UNC Charlotte and the NASA NC Space Grant Consortium.

About PARI

The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) is a not-for-profit public foundation established in 1998.  Located in the Pisgah Forest 30 miles southwest of Asheville, NC, the PARI campus is a dark sky location for astronomy and was selected in 1962 by NASA as the site for one of the first U.S. satellite tracking facilities.  Today, the 200 acre campus houses radio and optical telescopes, earth science instruments, 30 buildings, a fulltime staff and all the infrastructure necessary to support STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and research.  PARI offers educational programs at all levels, from K-12 through post-graduate.  The institute is affiliated with the 16-campus University of North Carolina system through PARSEC, a UNC Center hosted at PARI, and is a member of the NC Grassroots Museum Collaborative.  For more information about PARI and its programs, visit www.pari.edu.