Ping Fu apparently made a good impression during her first White House visit this month.
Tomorrow, the CEO of Geomagic will fly back to Washington for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. She was asked to attend a reception with Obama at the White House, ride with First Lady Michelle Obama to the Capitol and sit next to her during the speech.
Fu assumes that administration officials wanted someone who represents "game-changing" small or medium companies that created jobs in 2009.
"Somebody was impressed with my company and the things I said" during a CEO technology forum at the White House on Jan. 14, Fu said. "The economy is the main issue, and creating jobs.
"I am nervous, scared, but I'm so thrilled with this experience," she added in a phone interview today. "This is really the American dream come true."
The event is another stop on a long journey for Fu, whose early years in communist China were filled with abuse and oppression. During college in China, she wrote a study on infanticide and was thrown into solitary confinement. In 1981, China deported her to the United States, where she earned degrees in computer science.
She co-founded Geomagic in 1996 and took over as CEO in 2000. Now the Research Triangle Park company, which makes software to help corporations and government agencies build 3D digital models, employs about 100 people and continues to hire.
Once she accepted the White House invitation, Fu asked her friends for advice on what to call the First Lady, what to wear and more. The White House instructions specified "business attire," and Fu also went online to watch past State of the Unions and to see how women were dressed.
She's planning to wear a simple, black and white suit-skirt. "I don't have time to go out and buy something," she said, laughing.
Her friends' advice: "Just be yourself. This is the United States. We're not that formal."
Still, she's going to call her "Mrs. Obama."
On Wednesday morning, Fu will hold a Geomagic board meeting before flying to Washington. Late Wednesday, she'll attend a White House "nightcap" following Obama's speech. On Thursday morning, she'll put her CEO hat back on and fly to Las Vegas for a conference on green automobiles.
"Yes, this is a real privilege, but life has to go on and my priority is still running Geomagic and creating jobs," she said. "I don't want to neglect my own company. I don't think that's healthy."
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or 
