2000-2009

Dr. Les Purce

Dr. Purce has served as president of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., a nationally recognized public liberal arts institution, for nine years. Purce has also held top-ranking administrative roles at Washington State University and Idaho State University. He has been a civic leader as well. Purce was the first black elected official in Idaho, serving as city councilman and then mayor of Pocatello. He later served as director of Idaho’s departments of Administration and Health & Welfare. In the private sector, Purce was partner and CEO of Power Engineering Inc., a large electrical engineering firm in the Northwest.

Arthel “Doc” Watson

“Doc” Watson (1923-2012), a native of Western North Carolina, was  a legendary guitar player, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk and country music. Blind since the age of one, Watson attended North Carolina’s school for the visually impaired in Raleigh. Though he did well in the classroom, his true love was music. Watson got his big career break at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963, and recorded his first solo album the following year. He won seven Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Medal of the Arts and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole

Renowned educator and humanitarian Johnnetta B. Cole made history when she became the first African American woman to be named president of Spelman College. Later, Cole served as president of Bennett College for Women. She is the only individual to have served as the president of the two historically black colleges for women in the United States. Much of her time is now centered in her role as the chair of the board of the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute founded at Bennett College for Women. Cole is also committed to community service. She serves on numerous prominent boards, including the National Visionary Leadership Project, TransAfrica Forum and Africa University in Zimbabwe. From 2004-2006, she was the chair of the board of United Way of America – the first person of color to hold that position – and she continues to serve on that board. She is on the advisory board of The Atlanta Falcons and The Smithsonian’s Scholarly Advisory Board for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Ernest Gaines

Ernest Gaines, a professor of English and writer-in-residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is acclaimed for his novels and short stories, including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated “A Lesson Before Dying” and “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” which was made into a popular television movie. Gaines was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his 1997 novel, “A Lesson Before Dying,” which received the National Book Critics Circle Award, Southern Book Award, Langston Hughes Award, Louisiana Literary Award and Black Caucus of the American Library Association Award. It was also named an Oprah Book Club Selection in 1997. Gaines is also a MacArthur Fellow, 1993 Louisiana Humanist of the Year and 2000 Louisiana Writer of the Year. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has received a National Humanities Medal.

Donald Sultan

Donald Sultan, a successful New York artist, is a native of Asheville and graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. After receiving a Master of Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago, Sultan moved to New York in 1975 to begin his career. Sultan quickly established himself as a prominent painter, printmaker and sculptor. He has exhibited his extensive body of work in some of the most prestigious galleries and museums around the world. His works are included in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Sultan’s art is on display in the galleries of his alma maters and in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Australian National Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, North Carolina Museum of Art, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, among others.

James E. Ferguson II

Nationally renowned civil rights attorney James E. Ferguson II is a 1960 graduate of Stephens-Lee High School and the first president of the Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality (ASCORE), which held peaceful demonstrations to desegregate local establishments during 1959-1965. A graduate of Columbia University Law School, he has won numerous awards from organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

Doris W. Betts

Prize-winning author Doris W. Betts (1932-2012) produced nine short story collections and novels, including “Souls Raised from the Dead” and “The Sharp Teeth of Love.” She taught creative writing for 35 years at UNC Chapel Hill, retiring as Alumni Distinguished Professor of English in 2001. Betts received the 1975 North Carolina Award in Literature and in 2004 was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame.

The Commencement Address was given by Chancellor Anne Ponder.

Martha Craven Nussbaum

Martha Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago Law School; she also holds appointments in the university’s Philosophy Department, Divinity School and Law School. The recipient of many academic awards and honors, Dr. Nussbaum is a prolific author and editor whose books have brought her worldwide acclaim as a legal theorist, a philosopher and a classical scholar.

William Ivey Long

Native North Carolinian William Ivey Long is a four-time Tony Award-winning costume designer in New York. Long comes from a family with great theater tradition, and grew up, quite literally, on stage. He is the National Theatre Conference’s Person of the Year for 2000, and he is the recipient of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Legend of Fashion Award.

Amanda Swimmer

A native and lifelong resident of Big Cove on the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, Amanda Swimmer works in a time-honored tradition that was almost lost during the 19th-century Cherokee removal to Oklahoma. A founding member of the Cherokee Potters Guild, Mrs. Swimmer began creating pots with local clay in the 1930s. She continues to teach—at Cherokee Elementary School, where she is passing the gifts of knowledge and creativity to the younger generation, and throughout Western North Carolina, including the renowned John C. Campbell Folk School and a number of colleges.

Charlotte philanthropist Irwin Belk is the retired president of the Belk Group of department stores. A generous contributor to higher education in North Carolina, Mr. Belk served two terms on the UNC Board of Governors. He is a former state senator and was appointed a U.S. delegate to the 54th United Nations General Assembly. Belk served as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and as president of the American Cancer Society Foundation.

Sharon Begley

Sharon Begley has been the science columnist at The Wall Street Journal since April 2002 when she launched the “Science Journal.” She is widely known for her ability to break down complex scientific theories and write about them in elegant prose. During her 25 year career at Newsweek, she wrote numerous award winning articles. She has discussed science issues on news programs such as The Charlie Rose Show, Today and The CBS Morning Show, and her articles have appeared in Smart Money, National Wildlife, Modern Maturity and Astronomy magazines. Begley is co-author of the books “The Mind and the Brain” (2002) and “The Hand of God” (1999). She holds a bachelor’s degree in combined sciences from Yale University.

Evan S. Dobelle

Evan S. Dobelle is a noted educator and politician. He has served as president of the University of Hawaii, Trinity College, Middlesex Community College and City College of San Francisco. His career in public service included posts as commissioner of environmental management and natural resources for Massachusetts and U.S. chief of protocol for the White House in the Carter administration. He holds three degrees in education from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. After his leadership in the revitalization of the Hartford, Conn. neighborhood surrounding Trinity, Dobelle was named New Englander of the Year and was inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Hall of Fame in Atlanta in 1999. The Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel at Morehouse College recognized him in 2002 as a “drum major for the social potential movement.”

Jerome J. Richardson

Charlotte businessman Jerry Richardson is the founder and owner of the Carolina Panthers. A two-time All-American at Wofford College and member of the Baltimore Colts’ 1959 championship team, Richardson invested his playoff check in a Hardee’s restaurant in Spartanburg that was the foundation for Flagstar Companies Inc. His impact on the city is far-reaching. Richardson spearheaded the fund-raising effort for a new library and built the tallest structure in Spartanburg as headquarters for his food-service company, thereby helping to revitalize the downtown. Richardson’s contributions to the community have been recognized through a number of distinguished awards, including the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and the Order of the Palmetto, North and South Carolina’s highest service awards.

Clifton R. Wharton, Jr.

Wharton was chairman and chief executive officer of the largest pension fund in the world, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and the College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA CREF), from 1987 to 1993, when he became President Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State. During the 1970s and ’80s, he was president of Michigan State University and chancellor of the State University of New York system. An economist with degrees from Harvard, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago, Wharton spent his early career in foreign economic and agricultural development in Latin America and Southeast Asia working for the Rockefeller family philanthropic interests. He has held appointments under six Presidents and received the 1983 President’s Award on World Hunger.

Frank Rhodes

Frank Rhodes is professor of geological sciences and president emeritus of Cornell University, where he served for 18 years. A native of Great Britain, he has resided in the United States for many years and has come to be regarded as one of America’s most respected educational leaders. Rhodes holds three degrees from the University of Birmingham, England and is a former Fulbright scholar and Fulbright distinguished fellow, a National Science Foundation senior visiting research fellow, a visiting fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, and an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. Rhodes has published widely in the fields of geology, paleontology, evolution, the history of science and education. He is the former chair of the American Council on Education, the Association of American Universities, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the National Science Board.

Henry Frye

Henry Frye served as Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court from 1999 to 2001, and prior to that he served for 16 years as an associate justice. His career began in 1968, when he became the first African-American to be elected to the N.C. House of Representatives in the 20th century. He served in the State House for 12 years and was then elected to a two-year term in the N.C. Senate. He is a distinguished visiting professor of political science and justice at North Carolina A&T State University. Frye holds degrees from N.C. A&T State and the UNC Chapel Hill Law School.

Yolanda Moses

Moses, a nationally acclaimed cultural anthropologist, is an expert on cultural diversity. She is the author of numerous articles on issues related to cultural change in the United States and in the Caribbean as well as cultural change and diversity in public policy and higher education. Moses is president of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), a professional membership association for leaders of the nation’s colleges and universities. Prior to assuming this role, she served from 1993-1999 as president of The City College of New York and was the first African-American to serve as president of the 11,000-member American Anthropological Association. Moses earned her bachelor’s degree at California State College at San Bernardino and her doctorate from the University of California at Riverside.

Hugh Morton

Hugh Morton (1921-2006) was one of North Carolina’s most effective advocates for conservation of the state’s natural environment. As the owner of Grandfather Mountain, he was an exemplary steward, preserving this natural treasure while providing access and environmental education for visitors. Morton also played a crucial role in raising public awareness of the threat posed by air pollution through the production of a major documentary for PBS. In addition to his distinguished public leadership, Morton was an accomplished photographer and photojournalist, whose work appeared in publications ranging from road atlases to sports histories.

LeRoy T. Walker

LeRoy Walker (1918-2012) began his 45-year career in education as an athletic coach at N.C. Central University, where he eventually served as chancellor from 1983-1986. The first African-American to earn a doctorate in exercise physiology and biomechanics from New York University, Walker became one of the nation’s most successful track and field coaches, producing 111 All-Americans, 40 National Champions and 12 Olympians. Walker also coached Olympic teams from Ethiopia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya and Trinidad-Tobago. In 1976 he became the first African-American to coach a U.S. Olympic team. Twenty years later, at the apex of his four-year term as president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, his influence and stature were cited as pivotal reasons for the 1996 Summer Games to be held in his native Atlanta. In addition, he served as president of the Special Olympics World Games in 1999. Walker earned an array of awards and recognitions, including an induction into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Thomas J. Fazio

Thomas Fazio is a world-renowned designer of golf courses and a notable benefactor of children’s causes. Many of the most acclaimed golf courses built in the United States in recent decades bear his stamp. The popular journal Golf Digest discontinued its poll for best modern-day golf course architect after Fazio claimed that award three consecutive times. He and his wife Sue, who are the parents of six children, reside in Hendersonville. They are active in a variety of charitable endeavors, both in the local community and beyond. Fazio and his wife share a special interest in the welfare of children, providing support for children’s causes throughout the nation via the Tom Fazio Children’s Charity Fund.

Muriel Siebert

Muriel Siebert (1928-2013) was a national leader in field of finance. In 1967, she became the first woman to be named a member of the New York Stock Exchange and for the next ten years was the only female among its more than one thousand members. Her firm, Muriel Siebert & Co., was an innovative leader in introducing discount brokerage services in 1975. From 1977 to 1982, Siebert served as Superintendent of Banking for the State of New York. Resigning from that post to run for the United States Senate, she lost the Republican primary but remained active in civic and charitable activities.

Edward Villella

Villella is a preeminent figure in dance. Principal dancer with the New York City Ballet from 1958 to 1976, he later became founding artistic director and chief executive officer of the Miami City Ballet, a post in which he continues to serve. Villella has the distinction of being the only American ever asked to dance an encore at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. He has served as a visiting artist at a number of the nation’s leading institutions of higher education, including Harvard, Yale and the United States Military Academy at West Point. Villella serves as a trustee of the Wolf Trap Foundation and the School of American Ballet.

John Hope Franklin

John Hope Franklin (1915-2009), an Oklahoma native, earned his doctorate at Harvard University. During the course of his career, he served in a number of distinguished academic positions, including that of Pitt Professor of American History at Cambridge University and the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University. He was the author of numerous publications, including the landmark “From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans,” now in its seventh edition. In 1995, Franklin was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Clinton, the highest honor an American civilian can receive. Franklin also held important roles of civic leadership, including his recent past service as chairman of the advisory board of One America: The President’s Initiative on Race.

Myra Janco Daniels

Myra Janco Daniels, who achieved outstanding success as an advertising industry executive, now serves as chair, president and chief executive officer of the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples, Fla. At age 24, she founded her own advertising agency, rising through the ranks of the industry to become president of the national firm Draper Daniels. She organized a fund-raising drive in 1983 that led to the creation of the $21 million Philharmonic Center, which opened in 1989. Daniels also founded the Naples Museum of Art, a subsidiary of the Philharmonic Center.

Adelaide Daniels Key

Adelaide Daniels Key grew up in Raleigh but has lived in Western North Carolina for most of her adult life. She was the guiding force in the creation of the Lewis Rathburn Center, an innovative facility providing a caring and supportive residential environment in Asheville for serious illness. She also inspired the creation of UNC Asheville’s Key Center for Service Learning, which is named in her honor. Key served two terms on the University’s Foundation Board, is currently chair of Western Carolina’s Board of Trustees, and has served on Warren Wilson’s Board of Trustees. In 1999, Key was presented the UNC Asheville’s Chancellor’s Medallion, one of the most distinguished honors the University can bestow.

William C. Friday

William C. Friday (1920-2012) was a champion of quality education in North Carolina. He was named president of the University of North Carolina in 1956, at the age of 36, and held that position for three decades. During that time, he successfully saw the university through consolidation into a 16-campus system and dealt with a host of social and political issues. Friday played an important role in national education policy, serving as chair of the American Council on Education in 1964 and the President’s Task Force on Education in 1966-67, among others. Friday’s approachable personal style and lively intellect were key factors in the popularity of his weekly show, “North Carolina People,” airing on UNC-TV.

Roy Carroll

(Updated June 2020)
Roy Carroll, who served as interim chancellor at UNC Asheville in 1990-91, retired from the University of North Carolina after a 45-year career. Carroll held a doctorate in history from Vanderbilt University, and served as the chair of Appalachian State University’s history department before joining the University of North Carolina’s General Administration in 1979. There he served first as vice president for planning and later as senior vice president and vice president for academic affairs in 1996. He published articles in professional historical journals in the U.S. and England, and wrote extensively on academic program development, teaching and tenure, and governance in higher education. Carroll died at home on June 5, 2020 at the age of 90 with his wife of 67 years, Eleanor, by his side.

Girard Etzkorn

Girard Etzkorn, an internationally known scholar of medieval manuscripts and an emeritus professor, has devoted his life to making accessible the texts of important medieval thinkers. During his 22 years at the Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaventure University, he worked an editor of the institute’s research projects, overseeing the publication of key modern editions of medieval philosophers William of Ockham and John Duns Scotus.

Cynthia Ozick

A major American writer of fiction and essays, Cynthia Ozick’s the author of many widely acclaimed works of fiction, including “The Shawl,” “The Puttermesser Papers” and “The Pagan Rabbi.” She has also published three collections of essays, “Art & Ardor,” “Metaphor & Memory,” and “Fame & Folly,” and is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine. She has received many prestigious awards, including the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Distinguished Jewish Letters Award, the National Jewish Book Council Award for Distinguished Literary Contribution, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Strauss Living Award.

William Raspberry

William Raspberry, who holds a 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary, was named one of the top 50 most influential journalists in the national press corps by Washingtonian magazine. His syndicated commentary on topics ranging from education to justice appears in 225 newspapers. Raspberry joined the Washington Post in 1962; his coverage of the 1965 Watts riot in Los Angeles earned him the Capital Press Club’s “Journalist of the Year Award.” Among his honors is the 1994 National Association of Black Journalists’ Lifetime Achievement Award. Raspberry teaches at Duke University, where he is the Knight Professor in Communications and Journalism.