1994–2004
Appointed president of Edgecombe Community College in 1994, Dr. Hartwell Fuller served in this capacity until his retirement in 2004. Helping recruit business and industry to the area was a hallmark of his term, including Keihin Carolina System Technology, a Japanese manufacturer of engine control units, in 1997. 
Edgecombe’s most important mission is to provide practical, up-to-date job training in employable fields. In this 1994 photo, student Ceaso Lewis gets hands-on training in Industrial Electronics Cogentrix. 
Arguably Edgecombe County’s most famous native son, Major General Hugh Shelton returned home to deliver the commencement address to ECC graduates in September 1991. General Shelton urged the graduates to continue their education and to measure their success by three benchmarks: loyalty, contribution to humankind, and selfless service. Shown at left is James Long, a college trustee from 1979 to 2016. 
In 1998, the ECC Foundation established its Student Ambassador program. Pictured are the first students to be selected to this honorary society. To qualify, Student Ambassadors must maintain a 3.25 grade point average and complete a minimum of twelve hours of course work. The program stresses leadership and high academic standards. 
In a photo from the May 1999 disaster drill exercises, a second-year nursing student practices her skills in triage on a first-year nursing student. In mid-September, Hurricane Floyd, the second hurricane in a month, hit Edgecombe County with a power hitherto unknown in the recorded history of the region. 
In the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the student lounge on the Tarboro campus became a distribution center for canned goods and other nonperishable items. From across the country, truck after truck, loaded with donations, made its way through flooded and debris-choked roads. 
The dedication of the new Arts, Civic, and Technology Center (now the Fleming Building) on the Tarboro campus was held in June 2004. From left, cutting the ribbon are Dr. Thomas Fleming, trustee chair; Jean Bailey, ECC Foundation president; Nina Fountain, former ECC Foundation president, and Dr. Hartwell Fuller, ECC president. Major support for the project came from the ECC Foundation, Consolidated Diesel Company, KCST, the Jack D. Mobley Estate, and the Town of Tarboro.
