A Wadesboro man has been recognized as a distinguished alum.

Each college at North Carolina State University gave the College Distinguished Alumi Award at The 2008 Alumni Association Evening of Stars.

Charles L. Little Jr. ‘78 of Greenville, S.C., was recognized by the College of Textiles.

He is group manager at Greenville-based Batson Group Inc., a company that supplies machinery, equipment and accessories for the textile industry. For 66 years, Little’s family has been involved in the textile industry.

His childhood was spent playing in the warehouses and delivery trucks of the Little Cotton Manufacturing Co. After graduating from NC State, he followed in his father’s footsteps in the yarn industry, witnessing enormous changes brought about by mechanization and globalization.

In 2002, Little was named president of American Yarn Spinners Association, an organization his father also led. He is a member of the Southern Textile Association and the Association of Nonwoven Fabrics and a past president of the Anson County Chamber of Commerce.

Little served 22 years on the board of the N.C. Textile Foundation, eight years on its executive committee and two years as its president. He was instrumental in helping the college create the infrastructure needed to become a world leader in textile innovations.

He is the son of Lucy and the late Charles Little of Wadesboro.