Avis Sylvia received her PhD from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in cellular biology/neurophysiology. She proceeded to a postdoctoral position at Duke University in 1976 and worked there until 1991. Her research area was a continuation of her doctoral project and involved blood flow, oxygen metabolism, and brain function. During that time, she was the principal investigator and co-principal investigator for several grants and gained the position of Associate Medical Research Professor. She wrote 31 peer-reviewed journal articles and 42 abstracts for professional presentations over that period.
She then left Duke University for Sphinx Pharmaceuticals Corporation where she was a Senior Research Scientist II. After two years, she left that position to become a Visiting Professor at the Departments of Biology of North Carolina Central University and Fairfield University. Two years later in 1995, she joined North Carolina State University as a Senior Research Associate within the Animal Science Department. She then moved to the Biology Department a year later where she was a Visiting Lecturer for four years. During that time, she taught the Anatomy and Physiology, Cell Biology, General Biology, Senior Seminar, and the General Biology Laboratory courses.
Avis Sylvia then joined the Biochemistry Department where she taught the non-majors section of BCH 451 from the fall of 2000 until the October of 2007, when she had to take emergency medical leave.  She commanded respect from her students and expected her students to respect each other.  She was unwavering in her devotion to her students and was well sought after for her letters of recommendation.  This is perhaps best summarized by an on-line comment from one of her students:  “Dr. Avis Sylvia scared the hell out of me on day one, but I came to regard her as the most compassionate, knowledgeable, encouraging professor I had in my time at NCSU. Dr. Sylvia had a way of challenging her students to be excellent, merely because she would accept nothing less. I will never forget the lessons she taught, and the class material has stayed with me better than anything else I learned.”

She was a valued colleague who listened carefully and offered wise counsel.  She was a rare individual who would tell you what you needed to hear and not necessarily what you want to hear.  She did not tolerate incompetence.  She will be missed by all of us.

The Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry at NC State University offers degree programs at the Bachelors, Masters (thesis (MS) or non-thesis (MB)), and Doctoral levels, in addition to a combined BS/MS program. With over 400 students, the undergraduate biochemistry program is the second largest in the nation, where students are encouraged to develop critical thinking and communication skills. Innovative research programs are incorporated into the undergraduate and graduate curricula and prepare students for careers in academia, biotechnology and biomedical industry, government, or professional post-graduate studies. The faculty are internationally renowned for multi-disciplinary research in protein, virus, or RNA structure/function, plant biochemistry, structural genomics, or biomedical sciences. Please explore our website to learn about the undergraduate and graduate curricula, faculty research programs, and professional development opportunities.