The Plant Pathology Department at North Carolina State University is establishing an international center for disease diagnosis to (1) teach the art and science of diagnosing plant disease, (2) develop regional and international networks of diagnostic clinics to exchange specialized areas of expertise and (3) develop expertise and equipment for distance diagnosis. The center is beginning with an emphasis on tobacco, but will expand to any crops for which the faculty have expertise. The department has a large and diverse faculty, many of whom are active in disease diagnosis at the 44-years-old Plant Disease and Insect Clinic. The initial function of the Center was a 4-days tobacco disease diagnostic workshop designed for anyone interested in diagnosis beyond simple visual identification. The course was conducted in a well-equiped teaching laboratory using traditional and new molecular diagnostic tools for identifying fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes. Topics were organized by symptoms (e.g. leafspots). The 2-days North Carolina Flue-Cured Tobacco Tour followed the workshop allowing participants time to collect specimens. Additional laboratory time and help was provided to work with the collected specimens after the tour. Instructors provided sufficient printed resources for students to establish or refine diagnostic clinics in their own countries.