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Dental School Opens New Teaching, Research Building

Koury Oral Health Sciences Building.

Completed Koury Oral Health Sciences Building in the evening. (Photo by Ramona Hutton-Howe.)

The UNC School of Dentistry opened the doors to a new education and research facility that honors a generous alumnus and friend, Burlington businessman Maurice J. Koury ’48, on April 27.

The Koury Oral Sciences Building, which adds 216,500 square feet of space, adjoins the school’s existing structures — Tarrson Hall, Brauer Hall and the original Building — at the corner of Manning Drive and South Columbia Street.

The building will provide improved technology for teaching and collaborative research across UNC and other campuses, larger lecture rooms and meeting spaces for inter-class collaboration, and an expanded 105-seat patient simulation laboratory.

The Koury building design is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, the national accepted certification program for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings, and is pursuing LEED Silver, but is tracking for Gold Certification.

The joint commitment of the N.C. General Assembly and dental school alumni and friends made possible the financing of the $118 million facility. The state contributed $92 million and the University provided $20.5 million toward the construction. Private donors committed more than $6.5 million.

The building is the latest example of Koury’s generosity and impact across the Carolina campus. Others include the Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Koury Auditorium; Koury Residence Hall; the Koury Library in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center; and the Koury Natatorium.

Koury began his relationship with the School of Dentistry nearly 30 years ago as a patient and through patient referrals he made to the school. Koury is president of Carolina Hosiery Mills Inc. and over the years his business interests also have expanded to the development of hotels and commercial properties. He served two terms on the UNC Board of Trustees, and he chaired the student affairs and development committees. He also served two terms as president of the Educational Foundation Inc. and was the longtime chair of the foundation’s endowment trust.

Koury’s University honors include the William Richardson Davie Award, the highest recognition given by the trustees, an honorary degree and the GAA’s Distinguished Service Medal.


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