Norris Tolson

Biography

Norris Tolson is a longtime Raleigh insider, former three-time Cabinet secretary and head of the N.C. Biotechnology Center.

Early Life and Education

E. Norris Tolson was born Nov. 18, 1939, the second youngest of eight children. He grew up on a tobacco and dairy farm in Edgecombe County. 

He earned a degree in crop science and agribusiness from N.C. State University in 1962.

While there, he was part of a group of campus Democrats — sometimes called the "N.C. State University mafia" — that included future Gov. Jim Hunt and key advisers.

Military Service

He served in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps from 1963 to 1965. 

Professional Career

Tolson worked at E.I. DuPont from 1965 until his retirement in 1993.  

Over his 28 years with the company, Tolson moved 14 times, managing the agrichemicals business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 

Political Career 

In 1994, Tolson ran for the state House of Representatives, defeating former Speaker Joe Mavretic in the Democratic primary in a district representing parts of Nash, Edgecombe, Pitt and Wilson counties.

In 1997, Governor Hunt appointed Tolson state commerce secretary. In that role, he worked to make North Carolina more friendly to corporate investment.

From 1998 to 1999, he served as transportation secretary, working to overhaul an agency that had been hurt by conflict-of-interest and patronage scandals.

After 18 months in that position, Tolson resigned to run for the Democratic nomination for governor. He withdrew after fundraising difficulties due to low name recognition.

Later that year, he ran for the nomination for agriculture commissioner.

In 1999, he was chairman of the N.C. Hurricane Floyd Relief Fund.

In 2001, Gov. Mike Easley appointed Tolson secretary of revenue, where his first task was to resolve a budget crisis. He served in that position until 2007.

In January of 2007, he became the interim CEO of the N.C. Biotechnology Center, a state-funded nonprofit founded in 1984 that promotes biotech jobs in North Carolina. 

After considering two dozen applicants, the board appointed him to the job full-time in June of that year.

In 2008, Tolson's name briefly came up in a federal corruption investigation around a proposed ethanol plant. Records showed that as revenue secretary in 2005, Tolson had called state regulators urging a speedy approval of permits for Agri-Ethanol Products.  

In an interview, he said he was unaware the company planned to bribe a different state official to get the permits approved. 

Perdue Transition Team

In mid-November of 2008, Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue named him as one of three members of her transition team.

In that role, he will advise her on appointments to her Cabinet and state boards. 

Research and reporting by Sabine Vollmer, Denise Jones, Wade Rawlins, John Wagner, Rob Christensen, Lamara Williams and Ryan Teague Beckwith. 

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