Editor’s Note: This article contains reference to death and suicide.
Questions are surrounding the death of a popular NC State faculty member, whom NC State police found dead in his office on Nov. 20.
Police found Marshall Brain II, director of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program, unconscious and nonresponsive in his office at Engineering Building II on Centennial Campus at 7:00 a.m.
NC State Police Public Information Officer Conner Hartis confirmed police found Brain deceased upon their arrival. The Wake County Simulcast showed Brain’s wife called for a welfare check at 6:40 a.m. No cause of death has been released.
Hours before Brain’s death, he sent an email to colleagues saying two University department heads retaliated against him after he filed several ethics complaints months before his death.
University spokesperson, Mick Kulikowski, said the University has no comment on the allegations or Brain’s death. The University has also not issued a public statement on Brain’s death.
Brain graduated from the University with a master’s in computer science in 1992 and worked at the University since 2012. Brain was an author, entrepreneur and founder of the popular website HowStuffWorks.com. The award-winning faculty member was an influential figure in the world of science and entrepreneurship on and off campus. His classes, which aimed to combine the worlds of engineering and entrepreneurship, were popular.
The email shared to Technician and posted online on a website dedicated to Brain’s legacy contains allegations of wrongdoing. Brain claims he was forced into retirement as retaliation for submitting numerous ethics complaints.
Brain wrote in the email that Stephen Markham, executive director of NC State’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship program, announced Brain’s retirement to the Innovation and Entrepreneurship team on Nov. 6, saying the retirement was effective Dec. 31, 2025. Brain was a member of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Leadership team, alongside Markham.
Brain wrote that he was not retiring but instead was fired. Markham did not respond to multiple requests for comment in time for publication.
“I have just been through one of the most demoralizing, depressing, humiliating, unjust processes possible with the University,” Brain wrote. “The fact is that I am not ‘retiring.’ Instead, NC State terminated me on Oct. 29.”
Brain wrote that after submitting an ethics complaint concerning Veena Misra, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and bringing his concerns to her directly, Misra retaliated against him.
Brain’s complaint contained allegations of wrongdoing in the form of “untrue statements, incompetence, hiding info, bad faith dealings and unethical behavior” after a disagreement with Misra in August regarding repurposing the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program meeting space to accommodate a new hire.
“What came back was a sickening nuclear bomb of retaliation the likes of which could not be believed,” Brain wrote. “[Misra] excommunicated me from my department for reporting my concerns to her.”
Misra did not respond to Technician’s request for comment. Jim Pfaendtner, dean of the College of Engineering, responded on her behalf and referred Technician to Kulikowski.
Brain wrote he received an email a few weeks later from Srinath Ekkad, head of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, saying the department would no longer recommend students participate in Brain’s Engineering Entrepreneurs Program.
Brain wrote that, after outlining his concerns to Ekkad about this message, Markham informed Brain he would be taking disciplinary action against him for “unacceptable behavior.”
Brandon Kashani, Brain’s former student and a startup mentor at NC State’s entrepreneurship clinic, received Brain’s email along with more than 30 others both within and outside of the University. Kashani said he met with Brain on Nov. 15, where Brain detailed the situation and correspondence with the University. Kashani described Brain as “heartbroken.”
“He felt like his reputation was tarnished, like everything he worked for was ruined, and the root of all that was he didn’t get any support from the University, the University that he put all his life — the last 12 years — towards,” Kashani said. “And all he wanted to do was be heard.”
Brain wrote in the email that he believed the ethics complaint system’s framework was not properly used in addressing his concerns. The complaints were submitted through EthicsPoint, a reporting tool used by employees to report ethical concerns.
“My career has been destroyed by multiple administrators at NCSU who united together and completely ignored the EthicsPoint System and its promises to employees,” Brain wrote. “I did what the University told me to do, and then these administrators ruined my life for it.”
Kashani said Brain submitted numerous complaints through the EthicsPoint system and said tensions arose because Brain didn’t “play the political game” through his questioning of higher-ranking administrators.
“Marshall was caught in an imbalanced group of people with more power than him, and they didn’t like him calling them out,” Kashani said. “… He was keeping people accountable. He didn’t understand that political aspect of it, and they just wanted to get rid of him.”
Kevin Barry, Brain’s former student and a member of the Board of Advisors for NC State’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Leadership program, said Brain was pivotal in the lives of students in this program and beyond.
“Marshall was a cornerstone of entrepreneurship at NC State, and a very key person who dedicated himself and was a real entrepreneur, and really dedicated himself to the students,” Barry said. “And he, through and through, down to the bone, had that love and desire to help students. So to see what’s going on with him is just absolutely devastating and disgusting.”
Both Barry and Kashani said they are disappointed in the lack of a public statement from the University surrounding Brain’s death.
“It’s been six days now, which is insane,” Kashani said. “And I know a lot of people are reaching out. There’s a lot of pressure, but there hasn’t been any acknowledgement of mistakes that were made, systems that failed, no resignations, not even a call to celebrate Marshall’s achievements.”
While Brain’s University biography remains on the Innovation and Entrepreneurship website, his page on the Computer and Electrical Engineering website no longer exists.
This is a developing story.
4:30 p.m., Nov. 27 update:
Brain’s page on the Computer and Electrical Engineering website has been restored.
9:32 a.m., Dec. 13 update:
News & Observer reported Brain died by suicide according to the death certificate.
If you or someone you know is having difficulty processing grief or having a mental health emergency, the Counseling Center can be reached 24 hours a day at 919-515-2423. If you are in a crisis situation and need immediate help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. In the case of a life-threatening emergency, call 911.
The Counseling Center’s website offers free online screenings, a plethora of self-help resources regarding mental health and wellness concerns and a comprehensive list of campus services available for those who need guidance. To view an exhaustive list, visit https://wellness.ncsu.edu/resources/.
If you’re seeking professional counseling or other mental health services on campus, visit the Counseling Center’s Getting Started page at https://counseling.dasa.ncsu.edu/get-started/make-an-appointment/ to complete paperwork, set up an appointment and more.
