Graduate School News
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Graduate School Introduces First Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professor for Graduate Education
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October 8, 2009
Announcement from UNC News Services
Photographs from the reception on October 8, 2009
The Graduate School is pleased to introduce the first Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professor for Graduate Education, Julia Wood. Professor Wood outlined her future vision for the Royster Society of Fellows at a reception on October 8 from 5 to 7 p.m., in the Morehead Lounge and Terrace, Graham Memorial Building, on the UNC Chapel Hill Campus.“Julia Wood was selected for this new post from among an exceptional group of faculty nominated for their scholarly and teaching excellence and their dedication to graduate students,” said Steve Matson, Dean of the Graduate School. “Even within this extraordinary group of faculty, Professor Wood stood out as the perfect choice.”
Wood has been on Carolina’s faculty for 34 years during which time she has published more than 25 books, 58 articles, and 35 chapters. She has received 14 awards for scholarship including the Gerald M. Phillips Award for Communication Scholarship, the Gender Scholar of the Year Award, and Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association. She’s also been recognized for her teaching and mentoring with 13 awards including the Bowman & Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor, Donald Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education, and the North Carolina Teacher of the Year Award.
“Her work as a Fellow of the Academic Leadership Program at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities was highly relevant,” Matson said. “Her many recommenders noted her ability to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion, to mentor others, and to stimulate creative and insightful thinking. We are very fortunate to have Julia provide leadership for the graduate students in the Royster Society of Fellows.”
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Royster established the University’s flagship interdisciplinary graduate fellowship program in 1995. The Royster Society of Fellows provides five-year and dissertation fellowships to a select group of outstanding graduate students. The program was designed to attract exceptionally talented students from across the nation and the world. It provides the financial support, professional development, and interdisciplinary learning opportunities to enable the fellows to be highly successful in their graduate programs and to become leaders in the future. More than 275 students from doctoral programs across the Chapel Hill campus have been selected to receive fellowships in the Society of Fellows since its inception.
The University recently established the Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professorship for Graduate Education in honor of their commitment to graduate education throughout the last decade. This professorship was made possible by a lead gift from Dr. and Mrs. Royster along with matching funds from the state’s faculty endowment trust. The recipient of the Royster Professorship will direct the Society of Fellows, ensuring exceptional and dedicated faculty leadership for the Royster Society of Fellows.
In honor of their dedication to Carolina, the Roysters were awarded the University’s Light on the Hill Award in September of 2006. Presented to them by then-Chancellor James Moeser, the award recognizes exceptional individuals who have advanced the University in teaching, research and service, benefiting its community of students, faculty and staff.
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The Royster Society of Fellows Welcomes 27 New Graduate Students
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August 28, 2009
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View photos from the new fellows field trip on August 29, 2009
Twenty-seven new graduate students from around the world are beginning their first semester at UNC Chapel Hill with five-year fellowships in the Royster Society of Fellows. These students were recruited to Chapel Hill with highly competitive fellowships funded by private gifts. For the first time this year, eleven students were recruited with Chancellor’s Fellowships, awarded by the Graduate School as part of the Royster Society of Fellows program.
“We are extremely appreciative of Chancellor Holden Thorpe’s recognition that we need to attract the best and brightest graduate students to Carolina. The quality of this University depends on it,” said Steve Matson, Dean of the Graduate School. “This new funding for Chancellor’s Fellows has enabled graduate programs across the University to successfully compete with the best institutions in the country for these exceptional graduate students.”
The Royster Society of Fellows was endowed in the late 1990’s by Dr. Thomas S. and Mrs. Carolina H. Royster to attract outstanding graduate students to Carolina. It provides full financial support, interdisciplinary learning, professional development, and a mentoring network to enable students to excel in their graduate studies. Over 100 students receive funding and participate in the Royster Society of Fellows of the Graduate School each year.
The graduate students awarded these fellowships have been selected through a highly competitive process, in which finalists are chosen from hundreds of applicants nominated by their respective graduate programs. A committee of faculty decides which applicants will be offered the fellowships based upon their academic performance, research, work, service and life experiences, and their promise for leadership in the future.
The new fellows will kick off the year together on Saturday with a trip to the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, which honors African-American heritage of North Carolina. Royster Society of Fellows Director and Professor of Religious Studies Laurie Maffly-Kipp said, “Our annual field trip for the first-year fellows gives us all the opportunity to become acquainted with one another. And it also gives these graduate students, who come to us from around the globe, the chance to become acquainted with our state, its people and its history. It’s a fitting way to begin their graduate experience since they will soon be teaching North Carolina students and conducting research that will impact the state.”
For more information, please contact Graduate School Associate Dean Sandra Hoeflich: 919-962-6323, Sandra_Hoeflich@unc.edu
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Former Royster Fellow publishes new research on ocean warming
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August 25, 2009
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Warmer ocean temperatures could mean dramatic shifts in the structure of underwater food webs and the abundance of marine life, according to a new study lead by Mary O'Connor, Ph.D., a former Graduate School Royster Fellow.
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Loss of Alexander Heard, former Graduate School Dean
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July 27, 2009
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Alexander Heard, the chancellor of Vanderbilt University in the 1960s and '70s and an education advisor under three U.S. presidents, died Friday. He was 92.
He earned his B.A. from the University of North Carolina in 1938 and received both his M.A. in 1948 and Ph.D. in 1951 from Columbia University. Heard was dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina from 1958 to 1963.
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Trustee John Ellison Jr. Wins Dean's Award
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April 20, 2009
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Trustee John Ellison Jr. has won the 2009 Dean’s Award for Significant Contribution to Graduate Education.The honor is awarded by the dean to someone who has gone above and beyond what is normally required to make significant contributions that impact Graduate Education.
“I am very pleased to honor John for his support of graduate students on this campus and for his strong advocacy for graduate education as a member of the University’s Board of Trustees,” said Steve Matson, Dean of the Graduate School.
Ellison has been outspoken about the importance of graduate education and was an advocate for graduate students on the tuition task force.
“John immediately understood the importance of graduate education and graduate students at this university,” Matson said. “More importantly, he eloquently expressed those views in Best place to teach, learn and discover report that he and JJ Raynor provided to the Board of Trustees and the university community.”
Carolina: Best place to teach, learn and discover emphasized, among other things, the contributions graduate students make to the University through their teaching, research, and the outside funding their research brings. The report also called for greater University funding of graduate students to ensure that Carolina continues to compete with top tier institutions for the world’s most promising graduate candidates.
Ellison is president and chief executive officer of the Ellison Company, Inc. He graduated from Carolina with an A.B. in history in 1969 and an M.B.A. in 1972. He and his wife Jane reside in Greensboro.
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Endowing innovation: Dr. Thomas S. Royster (1918-2008)
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February 26, 2009
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Having dedicated most of his adult life to practicing surgery, teaching and mentoring others, Thomas S. Royster, M.D., ’40 died on Aug. 4, 2008. But the legacy that he and his wife, Caroline H. Royster, established at UNC lives on through the vibrant, interdisciplinary graduate fellowship program they helped establish—the Royster Society of Fellows—as well as the Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professorship to support the society’s director.
Read the rest of this story in Carolina Connections Online...
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Announcing the Chancellor's Fellowships
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February 12, 2009
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The Graduate School is pleased to announce The Chancellor's Fellowships. The Chancellor’s Fellowships support exceptionally talented new doctoral students recruited to outstanding departments. Fellows will receive a competitive stipend, tuition, fees, and student health insurance each academic year for five years. The first year and last year is non-service; fellows are expected to perform teaching and research activities for their departments in the intervening years as part of their training.
In addition to receiving a very competitive financial award, Chancellor's Fellows will join the Society of Fellows within the Graduate School which supports and nurtures members through mentoring by senior faculty, interdisciplinary learning, and leadership and professional development opportunities.
Prospective students cannot apply directly for this fellowship but are nominated by the graduate program to which they are applying. Students in all doctoral degree programs at UNC-Chapel Hill will be considered for Chancellor's Fellowship Awards with preference given to departments with outstanding national/international reputations. Graduate programs will nominate a limited number of their most promising applicants into a university-wide competition. The Fellowship Committee and Society of Fellows faculty then select applicants who will receive fellowship offers in March.
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Announcing the Royster Distinguished Professorship
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February 2, 2009
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The Graduate School is pleased to announce The Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professorship for Graduate Education. This term professorship recognizes the contributions of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Royster to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and to the Graduate School as the founders and benefactors of the Royster Society of Fellows.
The individual named to this Distinguished Professorship will also serve as the Director of the Royster Society of Fellows. The term of the professorship will be 3 years. Selection will be open to any tenured, senior level professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and individuals who hold other permanent, named professorships at the university will not be excluded from consideration for this fixed-term professorship.
The Graduate School seeks an individual with the following characteristics as the first recipient of the Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professorship for Graduate Education:
- An individual with a strong record as a scholar and as a graduate student mentor, as well as a broad interest in graduate education.
- An individual who reveals an appreciation for a broad range of disciplines, either through their own scholarly interests or departmental affiliations.
- An individual willing to devote a significant fraction of their time to serving as Director of the Royster Society of Fellows. The primary academic program that houses the faculty appointment of the selected individual will agree to release this individual from a portion of their academic responsibilities so they can serve as Director of the Society of Fellows. It is recommended that individuals not hold other major administrative responsibilities concurrently with this leadership role.
The Director of the Royster Society of Fellows will be responsible for conceptualizing and leading activities that provide effective interdisciplinary enrichment and professional development for the Fellows. These activities may include oversight of the following:
- Interdisciplinary seminars in which the Fellows present their research to one another;
- Mentoring of dissertation Fellows to complete their research and writing on time and prepare for the job market;
- Mentoring of first-year Fellows to make a successful transition into graduate study;
- Mentoring Royster Fellows who jointly develop and teach interdisciplinary courses for Carolina first-year undergraduates;
- Presentation training to develop the Fellows’ skill in presenting their research to non-academic audiences, such as policy makers;
- Arranging group travel, symposium events and other activities that enrich the graduate experience.
Additional faculty members may also contribute to such mentoring and training under the oversight and guidance of the Director. The Graduate School will provide general administrative support.
The stipend for this term professorship will be $15,000 per academic year. In addition, funds will be available to compensate the department for release from teaching activities. Funding to support the activities of the Fellows and the appointment of one or more additional faculty to assist with these activities will be available.
To nominate a faculty member please submit your nomination letter, a copy of the individual's curriculum vita, a letter of support from the Department Chair and a list of three references for your nominee, with complete contact information. Self nominations are welcome and encouraged. These should include a cover letter indicating your interest and qualifications for this professorship.
Please submit nomination materials in electronic form as email attachments to Kathy Farinola (farinola@email.unc.edu). For full consideration nominations are due by Monday, March 2, 2009.
A committee composed of members of the Administrative Board of the Graduate School and former Directors of the Royster Society will make a recommendation to the Dean of the Graduate School on this appointment. The appointment will begin on July 1, 2009. Please address questions to Steve Matson at 962-3521 or Sandra Hoeflich at 962-6323.
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October 17, 2008
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Myron S. Silverman (Retired Assist. Dean, Graduate School), 93, died Friday morning (17 October 2008) at DuBose Health Center, Chapel Hill.Myron grew up in Ellenville, NY, and graduated in 1937 with a B.S. in Bacteriology from Cornell. He earned an M.S. in Bacteriology from Cornell in 1938, and a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from U.C.- Berkeley in 1950.
During World War II, Myron was a major in the Army Sanitary Corps, and served as Head of the military research hospital in New Caledonia. In the course of his professional career, he held the position of Head of the Microbiology and Immunology Branch at the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory in San Francisco, was a research fellow for the National Cancer Institute, U.S. Public Health Service, at Guy's Hospital in London, and held a Fellowship at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In 1970, he was recruited by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and during his 25 year tenure, he was a Professor with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, a researcher with the UNC Dental Research Center, and Assistant Dean of the Graduate School.
Myron's research was extensively published. Much of his work concerned immunization against Yersinia pestis (Bubonic plague), but he also researched and published extensively about transplantation immunity, the effects of irradiation, and periodontal disease.
Survivors include: his niece, Susan Miller of Ann Arbor, MI, her husband, Allen Batteau; a grand nephew, Adam Miller-Batteau of Chicago; several cousins, and close friends, Charles Milone of Chapel Hill, and Peter Knutson of Durham.
The family welcomes friends at a memorial celebration of Myron's life between 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, 2008, at the Clubhouse Ballroom at the Cedars of Chapel Hill, 100 Cedars Club Circle, Chapel Hill. Interment will be at a family crypt in Frederick, MD.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Myron S. Silverman Endowment Fund, Attention: Mary Anne Larson, The Graduate Student Center, 211A West Cameron Avenue, Room 201, CB 5492, Chapel Hill NC 27599-5492
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September 25, 2008
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Dr. Debra Wehrle Stewart will receive a Distinguished Alumna/Alumnus Award as part of the University Day Ceremony on October 12, 2008. Stewart received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975. She has since become a national spokesperson for graduate education in America and was named president of the Council of Graduate Schools in July, 2000. Prior to her service at the Council of Graduate Schools, Stewart was Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School at North Carolina State University. She also served as Interim Chancellor at UNC-Greensboro (1994) and as graduate dean and then vice provost (1988-1998) at N.C. State. The Council of Graduate Schools is the leading U.S. organization dedicated to the improvement and advancement of graduate education. Its over 500 members award over 90% of all U.S. doctorates and approximately 75% of all U.S. master’s degrees.Stewart's service to graduate education includes chair of the Graduate Record Examination Board, the Council on Research Policy and Graduate Education, the Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the Board of Directors of Council of Graduate Schools. She also served as vice chair of the ETS Board of Trustees, as Trustee of the Triangle Center for Advanced Studies, as a member the American Council on Education Board and several National Research Council Committees. She currently serves on the National Research Council Board on Higher Education and the Workforce, the National Research Council Committee on Educational Paradigms for Homeland Security, and advisory boards for the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, the Responsive Ph.D. Project, and the Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future.
Stewart received her Ph.D. in Political Science from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her master's degree in government from the University of Maryland, and her B.A. from Marquette University where she majored in philosophy. In November 2007, her leadership in graduate education was recognized by the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie with an honorary doctorate.
The Distinguished Alumna/Alumnus Awards will be presented during the University Day celebration on October 12 following the installation of the new chancellor, Dr. Holden Thorp. The installation ceremony will include a performance by the UNC Ceremonial Band followed by the procession of hundreds of faculty, students, staff, alumni, visiting dignitaries and leaders.
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Dr. Christina Burch and Dr. Thomas Whitmore win awards for excellence in doctoral mentoring
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May 10, 2008
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The winners of the 2008 Faculty Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring are Dr. Thomas Whitmore, Department of Geography and Dr. Christina Burch, Department of Biology.
Both have mentored students in their respective fields who have gone on to successful teaching and research careers. Tom’s and Christina’s commitments towards the advancement and success of their students’ scholarship, and their compassion towards the process of completing a doctoral degree have impacted their students in ways that could not be predicted. Their nominators speak to their caring approaches, endless energy, and on-going encouragement as they navigated the path to the PhD.
Here are a few student comments from their respective nominators:
Thomas Whitmore:“It comes as no surprise that Tom is held in the highest regard by the graduate students in our department. He gets excited about our accomplishments, he is quick to forward congratulations to departmental list-serves, and it is not uncommon for him to do graduate courses for only one student. Add to this that his students have won the top graduate fellowships and the most competitive jobs in Geography. Tom’s hard work has benefited a large number of other students as well, and they will overwhelmingly confirm his passion and dedication to graduate mentoring.”
Christina Burch“...what makes Christina most worthy of an award for her doctoral mentoring are not the easily quantifiable measures of student success, although her accomplishments in these categories are impressive. Rather, it is the care, attention and effort she put into ensuring that her students were happy, healthy, and successful through their graduate careers. Christina encouraged us to establish our own record of scholarly activity, provided a supportive environment to facilitate our development onto independent researchers, and achieved a successful record of graduate degree completion among her PhD students. Christina has worked tirelessly ... to ensure that her students were mentally and emotionally and financially supported throughout the entire process of graduate school.”
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Steven Matson, biology professor and chair, appointed Graduate School dean
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April 28, 2008
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Steven W. Matson, professor and chair of the department of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will become dean of the Graduate School effective July 1.
A member of the faculty since 1983, Matson is widely respected for his teaching, mentoring and research in the field of genetics and molecular biology, said Bernadette Gray-Little, executive vice chancellor and provost, in announcing the appointment.
Matson will oversee the approximately 8,000 graduate students in Carolina’s 66 doctoral and 100 masters programs.
“Dr. Matson is an innovative and collaborative administrator whose background and extensive experience working with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows make him especially well-suited to further the University’s efforts to attract the best students to the Graduate School and ensure that they receive a quality education,” Gray-Little said.
On the national level, Matson is a recipient of the American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award and has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, where he served as an editorial board member from 2000 to 2005.
At Carolina, he has taught courses a variety of courses, including: Current Topics in Biology, Advanced Molecular Biology, Advanced Cell Biology and honors sections of Genetics and Molecular Biology. A 2004 recipient of the University’s Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and a 2005 Institute of Arts and Humanities Leadership Fellow, Matson is also a member of the Chancellors Advisory Committee, Bank of America Distinguished Professorship review panel and Honors Program Faculty Advisory Board. He is a past member and chair of the Pre-health Professions Advising Task Force and has served on various University administrative review committees through the years.
Matson’s research focuses on DNA repair, conjugative DNA transfer and enzymatic mechanisms and biological roles of DNA helicases. His laboratory’s long-term goal is to understand the molecular role of several helicases in the bacterium E. coli and the budding yeast S. cerevisiae.
A native of Coos Bay, Ore., Matson earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Colgate University. His master’s and doctoral degrees are from the University of Rochester, both in biochemistry.
He succeeds Linda Dykstra, William Rand Kenan Jr. professor of pharmacology and psychology, who will return to full-time research and graduate student training.
“The University community is extremely grateful to Dr. Dykstra for her commitment and long-term leadership of the Graduate School,” Gray-Little said.
News Services contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 962-2093, lisa_katz@unc.edu
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U.S. News & World Report Magazine's “America’s Best Graduate Schools”
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March 28, 2008
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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill appears on multiple lists of schools, programs and specialty areas newly ranked in 2008 by U.S. News and World Report magazine for its 2009 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”
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Celebration to Recognize UNC-Chapel Hill Graduate Students for Outstanding Research and Service
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March 18, 2008
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The Graduate School at UNC-Chapel Hill will recognize approximately 300 graduate students for outstanding research, community service, academic achievement, and leadership at the 10th Annual Graduate Student Recognition Ceremony on April 3 at the Carolina Club of the George Watts Hill Alumni Center.
More than 200 of the students being honored have received prestigious external fellowships from sources such as the National Science Foundation, the Vietnam Educational Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Ford Foundation, the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the Fulbright Program and the American Hearth Association, among many others.
“Every time a Carolina graduate student is awarded an external fellowship or grant, it enhances Carolina’s reputation as one of the finest public research universities and brings valuable funding to the university,” reports Linda Dykstra, Dean of The Graduate School
In addition, 28 Impact Award recipients will be recognized for outstanding research that benefits the people and the state of North Carolina.
“These students’ research affects the economic development of our state, as well as the quality of health and human services, education, and the environment,” explains Dean Dykstra. “Graduate student research covers diverse topics such as new screenings and therapies for cancer, carbon reduction strategies, affordable housing, literacy in autistic children, flood policy effectiveness, and development of a health initiative to serve American Indian communities.”
A new award, The Graduate Deans’ Distinguished Dissertation Award, will be presented to four students who completed their dissertations this year. Other honorees include graduate students who received awards at University Research Day and new graduate student inductees of three honorary societies. Recipients of the Boka W. Hadzija Award for Distinguished Service and of the Dean’s Award will also be recognized.
“Whether it is through academic research or volunteering for community groups, these students certainly deserve recognition. Carolina’s graduate students add to the success of the University and the larger community through their research and service,” observes Dean Dykstra.
The Graduate School Recognition Celebration takes place from 3:00-6:00 p.m. and includes poster displays of student research beginning at 3:00. The recognition ceremony begins at 4:00 p.m. and will be followed by a reception. The University community is invited. To make a reservation to attend, please contact Kathy Farinola at 919-962-6311 or farinola@email.unc.edu.
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Admissions Office Manager Diane Davis Receives Robert R. Cornwell Unsung Hero Award
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February 11, 2008
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Diane Davis joined the university in 1978 and has spent the majority of those years in the Graduate School Admissions Office. She is now being honored for those years of excellent service with a Robert R. Cornwell Unsung Hero Award. She received the award at a reception held in the Graduate Student Center on February 12, 2008.
Jointly nominated by the dean of the Graduate School, Linda Dykstra, and the director of the Office of Admissions & Enrolled Students, Cheryl Thomas, they wrote that the nomination was “based on Diane’s quiet, self-effacing competence, her flexibility and willingness to learn and update her skills, and the combination of grace and firmness that characterizes the assistance she provides applicants on two campuses and abroad.”
The Unsung Hero award goes annually to a current, full-time, permanent faculty or staff employee who has provided significant service in support of the University over a long period of time and, generally, from a background position. Excellence in the quality of work performed is the standard used for selecting the recipient, but of equal importance is the likelihood that the employee's work has gone unnoticed by much of the University community.
The nomination statement noted, “she is the only remaining staff member with the historical experience of processing hundreds of admission applications by hand, to processing thousands electronically.” Despite the drastic changes to the admissions process that occurred over the years, “her positive and enthusiastic method of accepting new processes and delivering that information to the campus community is inspiring to all.”
In her current position as manager of the Admissions Office, Davis coordinates the efforts of a small group of individuals who process nearly 11,000 applications per year. “As the workload increases, she assists others with their applications so our process is seldom backlogged. We have never seen anyone process as much work as accurately and quickly as she does,” wrote Dykstra and Thomas. “In addition, Diane coordinates all applications for the joint academic program with NCSU as well as all International Fellowship applications. All of these are behind the scenes responsibilities invisible to staff or applicants on two campuses and abroad.”
“Although they’ve maybe never seen her face,” their nomination statement concluded, “Diane has assisted hundreds of staff across campus and notified thousands of graduate applicants of their admission status. All will tell you that she consistently practices the same respectful, supportive standard today.”
This award is sponsored by the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) in recognition of the late Robert R. Cornwell who served as the University's associate registrar and as research associate in the OIR for more than 20 years. He died in 1994 in active service of the University, and the award was established to honor him and to recognize the long-term contribution he made to Carolina.
Those interested in contributing to the Robert R. Cornwell Unsung Hero Award Fund may do so by sending checks payable to UNC-Chapel Hill to the Office of University Development, CB# 6100.
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$19 Million in Private Gifts Exceeds Graduate School Goal
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November 6, 2007
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The Graduate School is delighted to announce that we have met and surpassed our $18 million goal in the University’s Carolina First Campaign, raising over $19 million for graduate education at Carolina. These funds will be used to support the Graduate School’s interdisciplinary fellowships and initiatives. We are very grateful to the more than 1,000 generous private donors whose gifts made this happen.
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Loss of a Dear Friend: Henry H. Dearman
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October 23, 2007
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Henry H. Dearman, 73, died Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, NC.
Dr. Dearman was born on August 28, 1934 in Statesville, NC, the son of the late [Judge] Claudius Hursell Dearman and Henrie Miller Dearman.
A lifelong love of science and teaching led Dr. Dearman to pursue a career in academics that would later span four decades.
Dr. Dearman graduated from the University of North Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956 and the California Institute of Technology, where he earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1960.
After serving as a research fellow at the University of Chicago and working in the Research Triangle, Dr. Dearman returned to the University of North Carolina as a Professor of Chemistry in 1962, where he would teach for the next 33 years. In addition to conducting research and teaching at UNC, Dr. Dearman served as Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Chemistry. He was further involved in graduate education when he became an associate dean in the Graduate School at UNC from 1981-1989 and Dean of the Graduate School from 1989-1994. As Dean, his proudest accomplishment was the establishment of the Society of Fellows, a prestigious graduate fellowship program that emphasized interdisciplinary interaction among graduate students and senior faculty members of the University. Dr. Dearman continued to serve graduate education as a member of the Graduate Education Advancement Board for more than a decade after leaving the position of dean.
Dr. Dearman loved spending time surrounded by his family and friends, especially at his retreat in the Virginia mountains where he enjoyed gardening, hiking and bird- watching.
Dr. Dearman is survived by his wife, Martha J. Stucker of Chapel Hill; his daughter, Emily D. Cullen and her husband, Marc Cullen of Cary; and one granddaughter.
Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. Sunday, October 28, 2007 at Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to the Henry Dearman Graduate Fellowship Fund (Designation 2356); The Graduate School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 200 Bynum Hall, CB # 4010, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-4010.
Online condolences www.cremnc.com
Published in The News & Observer on 10/26/2007.