Frank “Trip” Belote, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Associate at the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research at North Carolina State University, specializing in workforce development strategies and applied research. He also serves as Director of Workforce Development for the NC East Alliance, advancing workforce initiatives across Eastern North Carolina.
Dr. Belote has more than three decades of leadership experience spanning public and private sectors, including roles as Executive Director of economic development commissions and Vice President of an international engineering firm, consistently bridging academia, policy, and industry.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Government from Campbell University, a Master of Public Administration from Auburn University at Montgomery, and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. He has achieved professional recognition as a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) by the International Economic Development Council and as an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) by the National Development Council.
Among his notable projects is the BART Oakland International Airport Connector, recognized as the 2014 Construction Project of the Year by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE-SF).