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Storyline · 1965–2004

The Thomas Jefferson Award at UNC, 1965–2004

UNC's Thomas Jefferson Award, a cash prize paid from the income of a gift, went to the faculty member whose life best reflected the spirit of Jefferson. Winners included historian Fletcher M. Green in 1965, former chancellor William B. Aycock in 1967, physicist Eugen Merzbacher in 1972, Walter Spearman in 1978, political scientist Richard Richardson in 1987 and orthopedic surgeon Frank Wilson in 1992. Law professor Charles E. Daye won it in 2004.

1965–2004 Filed under UNC & Campus Life 9 dated events

William B. Aycock with President Kennedy at Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, 12 October 1961
William B. Aycock with President Kennedy at Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, 12 October 1961White House Photograph Office; via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Source

Kenan Professor of History Fletcher M. Green won UNC's Thomas Jefferson Award for 1965, presented by Chancellor Paul F. Sharp at a faculty meeting in April. The cash prize, for the faculty member whose life best reflected the spirit of Jefferson, came from the income of a $10,000 gift, which a 1967 account said had endowed the award in 1962. On May 5, 1967 Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson gave the award at a meeting of the University faculty to William B. Aycock, Kenan Professor of Law, who had been chancellor from 1957 to 1964. On April 14, 1972 Chancellor N. Ferebee Taylor presented it to Kenan Professor of Physics Eugen Merzbacher, who had chaired the committee behind the new undergraduate curriculum, along with the Salgo, Tanner and Standard Oil teaching awards.

In 1977 the faculty gave the award, its highest faculty honor, to James Dickson Phillips of the law school, the year before he left for the federal appeals court. Walter Spearman received it in 1978, near the end of a teaching career in which students admired his defense of freedom of speech and of the press. William F. Little received it at the Faculty Council meeting of April 18, 1980, one of eight teaching awards given that day. At the Faculty Council's last meeting of the year, on April 10, 1987, Chancellor Christopher Fordham gave it to Richard Richardson, Burton Craige professor and chairman of political science, and presented Tanner awards to four faculty members and the Nicolas Salgo award to John M. Sweeney of journalism. On April 10, 1992 Frank Wilson, Kenan professor of orthopedic surgery, who had joined the faculty in 1964, received the award at the Faculty Council meeting.

Law professor Charles E. Daye won the award in 2004, the year after he co-authored a brief that helped persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve affirmative action in college and university admissions.

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The events, date by date

Every statement above comes from these dated entries in the chronology. Each links to its source.

  1. Fletcher M. Green receives the Thomas Jefferson Award Kenan Professor of History Fletcher M. Green won the university's Thomas Jefferson Award for 1965, presented by Chancellor Paul F. Sharp at a faculty meeting in April. The cash prize, for the faculty member whose life best reflects the spirit of Jefferson, came from the income of a $10,000 gift by Earll McConnel of Hobe Sound, Florida. People: Fletcher Melvin Green Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Earll McConnel, Paul F. SharpSearch the index · Internet Archive: "Historical News", North Carolina Historical Review 42 (1965), p. 484 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 10, 1965, p. 1
  2. Former chancellor William B. Aycock receives the Thomas Jefferson Award Kenan Professor of Law William B. Aycock, chancellor from 1957 to 1964, received the Thomas Jefferson Award from Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson at a meeting of the University faculty. The award, endowed in 1962 by Earll McConnell, goes to the faculty member whose life and work best typify Jefferson's. People: William B. Aycock, J. Carlyle Sitterson Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 6, 1967, p. 1
  3. Physicist Eugen Merzbacher receives the Thomas Jefferson Award Chancellor N. Ferebee Taylor presented the Thomas Jefferson Award to Kenan Professor of Physics Eugen Merzbacher, who had chaired the committee behind the new undergraduate curriculum, along with the Salgo, Tanner and Standard Oil teaching awards. People: N. Ferebee Taylor Place: Faculty Council, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Eugen MerzbacherSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 15, 1972, p. 1
  4. Dickson Phillips receives the Thomas Jefferson Award The University of North Carolina faculty gave Phillips its Thomas Jefferson Award, its highest faculty honor, the year before he left the law school for the federal appeals court. People: James Dickson Phillips Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Kathrine R. Everett Law Library: Judge James Dickson Phillips, Jr., Scholarship and Public Service · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, January 31, 1978, p. 1
  5. Walter Spearman receives the Thomas Jefferson Award Spearman received the Thomas Jefferson Award in 1978, near the end of a teaching career in which students admired his defense of freedom of speech and of the press. People: Walter Spearman Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Carolina Story: Walter Spearman (1908-1987)
  6. William F. Little receives the Thomas Jefferson Award Little received the university's Thomas Jefferson Award at the Faculty Council meeting of April 18, 1980, one of eight teaching awards given that day. People: William F. Little Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Carolina Story: William F. Little (1929- ) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 22, 1980, p. 4
  7. Political scientist Richard Richardson receives the Thomas Jefferson Award At the Faculty Council's last meeting of the year, Chancellor Christopher Fordham gave the Thomas Jefferson Award to Richard Richardson, Burton Craige professor and chairman of political science, and presented teaching awards: Tanner awards to four faculty members, among them Anne H. Fishel of nursing, J. Lee Greene of English and Dixie Spiegel of education, and the Nicolas Salgo award to John M. Sweeney of journalism. Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Richard Richardson, Christopher Fordham, Anne H. Fishel, J. Lee Greene, Dixie Spiegel, John M. Sweeney, Burton CraigeSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 13, 1987, p. 8
  8. Orthopedic surgeon Frank Wilson receives the Thomas Jefferson Award Frank Wilson, Kenan professor of orthopedic surgery, who joined the faculty in 1964, received the 1992 Thomas Jefferson Award at the Faculty Council meeting. Place: UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Frank WilsonSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 14, 1992, p. 3
  9. Charles E. Daye receives the Thomas Jefferson Award Law professor Charles E. Daye won the Thomas Jefferson Award in 2004, the year after he co-authored a brief that helped persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve affirmative action in college and university admissions. People: Charles E. Daye Place: UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel HillSearch the index · Carolina Story: Charles E. Daye (Teachers, Scholars, and Citizens: Distinguished Carolina Faculty)

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People with a page of their own whom the dated events above name, those named most often first.

Further reading

No indexed work is about this storyline itself yet. These are the most widely held histories of the theme it is filed under, so they may not discuss it. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Background on UNC & Campus Life · the most widely held histories of the theme this storyline is filed under; they may not discuss it

Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence

Lucas, Adam · 2010 · University of North Carolina Press

Adam Lucas marks one hundred years of basketball at the University of North Carolina in this illustrated history, published by UNC Press in 2010 in association with the athletics department. Chapters follow the program from the game's arrival on campus and the 'White Phantoms' of the Southern Conference through the founding of the ACC, the 1957 season, Dean Smith's changes to the game and the title seasons of 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009, closing with a century of statistics. 289 pages.

The Blue Divide: Duke, North Carolina, and the Battle on Tobacco Road

Moore, Johnny; Chansky, Art · 2014 · Triumph Books

The Duke and North Carolina basketball rivalry written together by Johnny Moore and Art Chansky, the latter a sports reporter who has followed it since his student days at UNC. The book opens with the 2014 season and moves through recruiting battles old and new, 'Black and Blue Sunday', 'Blood and Roses', and chapters on the rivalry's heroes, leaders and teachers, with a foreword by Jay Bilas and a photo gallery. Published by Triumph Books in 2014, 289 pages.

Miss Mary's Money

Jones, H. G. · 2014 · McFarland & Co.

H. G. Jones follows the fortune of Mary Ruffin Smith (1814-1885), the unmarried heiress whose Orange and Chatham County lands passed at her death to the University of North Carolina and the Episcopal Church. Chapters profile her grandfather Francis Jones, then trace the bequest through a quarrel among Episcopalians over Price Creek, the Chapel of the Cross and the university's buildings. A December 1885 New York Times report called the gift money; Jones shows it was land. Published by McFarland in 2014, 231 pages.

The Chronicles of the Bicentennial Observance of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tepper, Steven J. · 1998

Steven J. Tepper's chronicle of how the University of North Carolina marked its bicentennial in 1993 and 1994. An appendix reprints the University Day speeches of October 12, 1993, given by Paul Hardin, James B. Hunt Jr., C.D. Spangler, William C. Friday, Charles Kuralt and President Bill Clinton, plus bicentennial addresses by Li Lu, Francis S. Collins and Richard J. Richardson. Published by the university in Chapel Hill, 1998; 284 pages.

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William Friday

Link, William A. · 1995

Biography of William C. Friday, president of the University of North Carolina system, by historian William A. Link, published by UNC Press in 1995 with the subtitle power, purpose, and American higher education. It covers Friday's career and the history of the university at Chapel Hill and statewide. Part of the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection.

Chapel Hill in Plain Sight

Athas, Daphne · 2010 · Eno Publishers

Twelve essays by novelist Daphne Athas (1923-2020) on the Chapel Hill she knew across the twentieth century. Subjects include Carrboro as 'the Paris of the Piedmont', philosopher Horace Williams, Betty Smith writing in Chapel Hill, Junius Scales, Ab Abernethy and the Intimate Bookshop, Richard Wright's visit, and a set of Chapel Hill murders. Published 2010, 243 pages with illustrations.

What it means to be a Tar Heel: Roy Williams and North Carolina's greatest players

Fowler, Scott · 2010 · Triumph Books

Scott Fowler gathers recollections from Carolina basketball players, decade by decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, organized around Roy Williams and the question in the title. Contributors include Lennie Rosenbluth, Larry Brown, Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Brad Daugherty, Eric Montross, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Raymond Felton and Sean May, each entry giving position and playing years. Published 2010 by Triumph Books of Chicago, 270 pages, here as an e-book.

The Campus of the First State University

Henderson, Archibald · 1949

Archibald Henderson's history of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, its buildings and grounds from the founding in the 1790s onward. Henderson, a professor of mathematics and a prolific historian of the university, wrote it in the years around the university's sesquicentennial. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 412 pages with illustrations and bibliographical footnotes.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1949), South Atlantic Quarterly (1950).

The Woman Who Rang the Bell: The Story of Cornelia Spencer Phillips

Russell, Charles Phillips · 1949

Charles Phillips Russell's biography of Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908), the Chapel Hill writer remembered for ringing the bell of South Building when the university reopened in 1875 after its closure during Reconstruction. It doubles as a history of Chapel Hill and the university. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 293 pages with illustrations.

Reviewed in Journal of American History (1949).

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Friends of the Orange County Public Library. “The Thomas Jefferson Award at UNC, 1965–2004.” Orange County Indexed, https://focplnc.org/orange-county-books/storylines/thomas-jefferson-award-storyline-1965/. Accessed October 22, 2026.

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