Joan Gillings selected for UNC trustees' highest honor
| November 17, 2011 | |
Joan Gillings
Philanthropist Joan Gillings, a former staff member and major supporter of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, received the 2011 William Richardson Davie Award, the highest honor bestowed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees. Established by the Board of Trustees in 1984, the Davie Award recognizes extraordinary service to the University or to society. It is named for the Revolutionary War hero who is considered the father of the University. Joan Gillings’ generosity, service and leadership to the university and School are extensive. In 2007, she and Dennis Gillings made the largest single commitment in University history: $50 million to the School of Public Health, which was renamed the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. The gift supports the School’s efforts to accelerate delivery of public health solutions in North Carolina and around the world. She also supports Carolina’s PlayMakers Repertory Company, the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, and Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at UNC Hospitals.Among other honors, her efforts have earned her the UNC General Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Medal.
Her service to North Carolina extends to UNC-Wilmington, where she has chaired the Board of Visitors. She also serves or has served on the board of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History and has worked to revitalize Wilmington’s Opera House Theatre Company. Other 2011 Davie Award recipients honored at the Nov. 16 event were Bernadette Gray-Little, PhD, of Lawrence, Kan., chancellor of the University of Kansas; Luther Hodges Jr. of Chapel Hill, N.C., president of Phoenix Associates Inc.; and Nelson Schwab III of Charlotte, N.C., managing director of Carousel Capital. UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
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