in the early 1940s. The project was officially greenlit by Governor Luther Hodges in 1956, but the three universities were initially wary of the initiative. For his leadership in helping to create RTP, Hodges is credited with leading the transformation of North Carolina from one of the poorest states in the Union to one of its most prosperous.

Although RTP was initially envisioned as a for-profit business, its strategy shifted at the direction of Archibald "Archie" Davis, a former Wachovia Bank