By Alyson Tuck<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since Samuel Walker first founded the Virginia Underwear Corporation in 1928, the Walker family\u2019s business has been a success story for their family, for their hometown of Martinsville, V.A., and for NC State. Their family legacy \u2014 one mixed with education, hard work, tragedy, luck and success \u2014 is a proud component of NC State\u2019s legacy of developing leaders across the textile field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like his father, Dudley Walker was born into the textile business, and like his father, he planned for a future in textiles from an early age. A critical step in that plan was getting a strong textile education. For Dudley, there was only one place to consider: NC State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dudley Walker arrived on campus in 1948 to a university adjusting to post-war life. He remembers Reynolds Coliseum \u2014 where he spent his later college years rooting for the men\u2019s basketball team \u2014 as a skeleton of steel beams, halted for the war effort. The physical landscape had changed significantly since his father\u2019s time there, but the textiles program, now School of Textiles (and today the Wilson College of Textiles<\/a>), was stronger than ever. Dudley threw himself into his studies, learning all he could about yarn manufacturing, weaving, textile management, textile chemistry and dyeing fabrics \u2014 knowledge that would serve him well in years to come. A leader like his father, he excelled in ROTC and was president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Dudley graduated with a degree in Textile Management in 1952.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dudley Walker faced an easy decision when VF Corporation<\/a> offered to buy Bassett-Walker in 1984. He remained president for two years after the sale, then retired in Martinsville with his wife. Looking back at the tremendous rise of his company, Dudley explained that he never imagined that things would turn out as well as they did. Humbly and matter-of-factly, he described the source of his success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Sam Walker enrolled in the Textiles department at NC State<\/a> (then called North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts) in 1915, he was preparing to one day run the Martinsville Cotton Mill, his family\u2019s business. Though Sam was the youngest of his three brothers, his father, Robert L. Walker, felt that he was the one to take over the mill. But first, Sam decided to get a formal textile education, a unique opportunity for a young man of his generation. He ventured south from the rolling hills of southwest Virginia and headed to NC State, which boasted the largest program in the country in cotton manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like his father, Dudley Walker was born into the textile business, and like his father, he planned for a future in textiles from an early age. A critical step in that plan was getting a strong textile education. For Dudley, there was only one place to consider: NC State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dudley Walker arrived on campus in 1948 to a university adjusting to post-war life. He remembers Reynolds Coliseum \u2014 where he spent his later college years rooting for the men\u2019s basketball team \u2014 as a skeleton of steel beams, halted for the war effort. The physical landscape had changed significantly since his father\u2019s time there, but the textiles program, now School of Textiles (and today the Wilson College of Textiles<\/a>), was stronger than ever. Dudley threw himself into his studies, learning all he could about yarn manufacturing, weaving, textile management, textile chemistry and dyeing fabrics \u2014 knowledge that would serve him well in years to come. A leader like his father, he excelled in ROTC and was president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Dudley graduated with a degree in Textile Management in 1952.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dudley Walker faced an easy decision when VF Corporation<\/a> offered to buy Bassett-Walker in 1984. He remained president for two years after the sale, then retired in Martinsville with his wife. Looking back at the tremendous rise of his company, Dudley explained that he never imagined that things would turn out as well as they did. Humbly and matter-of-factly, he described the source of his success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n