The Old Well

Students
Some 24,635 students from all 100 North Carolina counties, the other 49 states and more than 100 countries studied at UNC in fall 1999. Sixty-two percent enrolled as undergraduates, 29 percent in graduate programs and 9 percent in professional programs.

UNC students have a long tradition of outstanding achievement. Thirty-five have been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship since it was created in 1902, including the first U.S. black woman recipient. Twelve UNC students have won the Rhodes since 1980.

UNC students regularly win other prestigious merit awards in the United States and abroad. In 2000, UNC posted nine such winners: two Luce Scholars funded by the Henry Luce Foundation; one of 79 scholars the Harry Truman Scholarship Foundation chose nationwide; two of 11 Churchill Scholarships to England's University of Cambridge; two Morris K. Udall Scholars; and two of 309 Goldwater Scholars.

Academics
With a requirement that all freshmen in fall 2000 own laptop computers, UNC aims to produce graduates with both the brainpower and the technical savvy required for success in the 21st century. The requirement is part of the Carolina Computing Initiative, a campuswide technology plan to enhance teaching, learning and research. UNC-CH is believed to be the first university among those classified as "Research I" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to require undergraduates to own laptops as part of a comprehensive technology plan.

UNC spent 1999-2000 enhancing scholarly opportunities available to undergraduates, especially freshmen. Carolina offered 65 freshman seminars averaging about 15 students each and taught by outstanding senior faculty. Designed to develop critical thinking, writing and speaking skills, the seminars are being phased in over four years until all freshmen participate.

More academic advisers, a new undergraduate research office and the opening of the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence were among other academic highlights. Housed in the newly renovated Graham Memorial Building, the Johnston Center united under one roof the honors program, Carolina Leadership Development, scholarly fellowship programs and other entities that enrich undergraduate education.

Fund raising helped enhance academics. In 1999, UNC marked its ninth straight record year for private giving by raising $148 million. The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education presented its 2000 Circle of Excellence Award for Overall Educational Fund- Raising Performance to Carolina, the only public campus to win six times. Gifts created scholarships and professorships, purchased library collections and benefited academic units.

Faculty
Carolina's 2,600-member faculty includes professors who hold major posts in virtually every national scholarly or professional association. Among current professors, nine are members of the National Academy of Sciences, 20 of the academy's Institute of Medicine, five of the National Academy of Engineering and 23 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Fred Brooks, founder of the computer science department, received the Association for Computing Machinery's A.M. Turning Award, which is considered the Nobel Prize of computing and honors landmark contributions to computer architecture, operating systems and software engineering.

Jacquelyn Hall, founder of the Southern Oral History Project, won a 1999 National Humanities Medal for helping preserve access to resources in the humanities.

Joe DeSimone, Kenan professor of chemistry, received the 1999 Phi Lambda Upsilon Fresenius Award, becoming the first N.C. scientist to receive the national honor. Basic science and engineering applications he developed use carbon dioxide as a replacement for water and organic solvents in synthetic and manufacturing processes.

Pediatrics Professor Mel Levine has pioneered efforts to understand why children learn differently. In 1999, All Kinds of Minds, a non-profit institute affiliated with UNC and founded by Levine, received a $10 million challenge grant from Charles R. Schwab and his wife, Helen, to promote greater awareness of learning differences nationally.

Economics Professor Steven Rosefielde was among a dozen researchers in the first class of Carnegie Scholars, selected for innovative scholarship and policy research. He will receive up to $100,000 from the Carnegie Corp. for a project on arms control in Russia.

Research
In 1998-99, UNC topped the $344 million mark -- a new university record -- for contracts and grants awarded for research, teaching and public service. Faculty received $171 million in National Institutes of Health research funding, ranking 14th all universities and fifth among publics. NIH is the federal government's biomedical research arm.

In 1999, UNC disclosed 116 new inventions by faculty. Forty-one patents were awarded, and 70 inventions licensed for commercial development. Applying their inventions and their know-how for economic growth, current and former UNC faculty, staff and students have helped create 21 new companies employing more than 12,500 people. Those start-up companies include Alphavax, Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc., MiCell Technologies Inc. and Xanthon Inc.

MiCell founder Joe DeSimone and his UNC chemistry students developed technology that spurred DuPont to expand its Bladen County site with construction of a $40 million Teflon development and manufacturing facility. Upon demonstration of the new technology, the company plans to build a world-scale facility representing a total $275 million investment.

Entreprenurial initiative is among the reasons UNC was one of 16 universities listed as the best nationwide in contributing to state and local economic development in a recent report by the Southern Growth Policies Board's Southern Technology Council.

In the battle against cancer, about 210 faculty work at the Lineberger Cancer Center, one of 26 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers nationwide. Faculty from all five health schools and the College of Arts and Sciences collaborate on center projects in laboratory, clinical and public health science.

Using genetic engineering techniques, UNC medical researchers have bred mice that help them better understand and treat deadly diseases and health conditions. UNC is building upon this and other strengths by starting a new genetics department and genomics initiative with a four-year, $2.6 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

UNC scientists are national leaders among those using sophisticated atomic-scale research techniques called nanotechnology, which may help guide efforts to manipulate viruses and DNA. Team members work with a device they invented called the nanoManipulator, which combines an atomic force microscope with a force-feedback virtual reality system.

Educational and Cultural Resources
From the Ackland Art Museum to the North Carolina Botanical Garden, Carolina offers an array of educational and cultural opportunities. The Ackland exhibits from a permanent collection of more than 14,000 works of art, particularly rich in Old Master paintings and sculptures by artists including Degas, Rubens and Pissarro; Indian miniatures; Japanese paintings; and North Carolina folk art. Besides its displays of native and unusual plants and its nature trails, open year-round, the Botanical Garden offers art exhibits, nature walks and courses on topics ranging from home gardening to botanical illustration.

Professional theater also has a permanent place at Carolina through the PlayMakers Repertory Company. And the Carolina Union Performing Arts Series has sponsored shows by artists including Bobby McFerrin, Stomp and Dance Theater of Harlem.

Astronomy enthusiasts enjoy programs at the Morehead Planetarium while student, faculty and professional ensembles perform classical and choral music and jazz. Wilson Library's North Carolina Collection, Rare Book Room and Southern Historical Collection draw researchers from near and far. And the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education offers a site for conferences, workshops and institutes plus courses in classrooms and via the Internet for part-time students.

Public Service
UNC's public service programs reach every region of North Carolina, helping communities protect public health, improve schools and medical services, stimulate business, plan for growth, understand their heritage and enrich the quality of life.

Launched in 1999, the new Carolina Center for Public Service coordinates and catalyzes campus outreach activities around the state. Immediately after opening last fall, the center mobilized UNC's efforts to help Eastern North Carolina recover from Hurricane Floyd, sending volunteers by bus to help in damaged areas.

Students and faculty in all schools volunteered time and expertise to help flood victims and officials in damaged areas. Efforts ranged from staffing makeshift clinics to helping obtain medicines to advising state and local health departments on challenges including the threat of disease and contaminated drinking water. Floyd has spawned new research in Chapel Hill to help damaged areas and better prepare for similar future disasters.

Other mainstays of Carolina's public service efforts include the Institute of Government, the nation's largest and most diversified university-based government training and research organization, and the N.C Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program, which is based at the School of Medicine and helps meet health-care needs statewide. North Carolina's school teachers benefit from the Learners' and Educators' Assistance and Resource Network of North Carolina (LEARN NC), a Web site offered free through the UNC School of Education. Teachers and others in all 117 school systems have been trained on the site, which includes exemplary lesson plans indexed by grade, subject and the N.C. Standard Course of Study.

With the N.C. Arts Council, the education school also helps public schools through the N.C. Curriculum, Music and Community Project, which uses traditional Tar Heel music to teach the state standard course of study in fourth-grade.