Three Win Distinguished Young Alumni Award
Posted on Oct. 28, 2004A former NBA All-Star, a theoretical physicist and a member of the Federal Communications Commission were honored by the UNC General Alumni Association with its Distinguished Young Alumni Awards at a dinner ceremony Oct. 8.
Bradley L. Daugherty, Adam F. Falk and Kevin J. Martin each received the 14th-annual award for bringing credit to the University through their achievements.
Daugherty, a 1986 Carolina graduate, enjoyed a stellar career with the Cleveland Cavaliers after being chosen first in the NBA draft. He went to five all-star games, but was sidelined with back problems. Daugherty now makes his mark off the court as a color analyst who has appeared on ESPN-TV and ABC, and a successful businessman who owns interests in several automobile dealerships. He lives with his wife and children, dividing his time between homes in Asheville and Florida.
Growing up in Black Mountain, Daugherty used to stop by the Presbyterian Home for Children to shoot hoops. Impressed with the staff’s work with neglected and abused children, Daugherty is a celebrity host and player for the home’s annual golf tournament, which raises money for the home. He also has sponsored an annual scholarship to help a child from Presbyterian Home receive a higher education.
At Carolina, Daugherty was awarded the Patterson Medal when he graduated in 1986, an award given to the senior athlete who is judged by a committee of faculty, students and administrators to be most outstanding in athletic ability, sportsmanship, morale, leadership and general conduct. As an alumnus, he has given generously to the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History. He also has served on the Board of Visitors and on the athletic council of the GAA Board.
Falk, a 1987 Carolina graduate, became interested in theoretical physics when he was 14 and the nation was celebrating the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s birth. A Phi Beta Kappa chapter vice president and Morehead Scholar, Falk is now dean of the faculty at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and a professor in the department of physics and astronomy, where he has taught since 1994. Before that, he was an assistant project scientist at the University of California at San Diego and research associate at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. He holds a doctorate in theoretical physics from Harvard University.
Falk has received numerous honors and awards for teaching and research. Falk says studying high-energy physics is important because it involves the most fundamental laws of nature.
Falk is a native of Chapel Hill. His father, the late David Falk, was a professor and former chair of the UNC philosophy department. His mother, the late Ruth Loewe Falk, was a clinical psychologist at UNC Hospital. He and his wife Karen live outside Baltimore and have three children.
Martin, a 1989 Phi Beta Kappa graduate, began serving a five-year term on the FCC in 2001. Years earlier, Martin was a political science major and student body president at Carolina.
Martin has a master’s in public policy from Duke University and a juris doctorate, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He joined the FCC from the White House, where he served as a special assistant for economic policy and on the staff of the National Economic Council. Martin also served as the official U.S. representative to the G-8’s Digital Opportunity Task Force.
Martin was a principle technology and telecommunications adviser on the Bush-Cheney transition team and deputy general counsel to the Bush campaign in Austin from 1999 to 2000. Prior to that, he was a legal adviser to FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, served in the office of independent counsel Kenneth Starr, worked in private practice for a D.C. law firm and clerked for U.S. District Court Judge William M. Hoeveler in Miami. A native of Waxhaw, Martin now lives in Washington with his wife, Cathie, a special assistant for economic policy at the White House
The GAA award continues a 14-year tradition honoring alumni age 40 or younger whose achievements bring credit to the University. Among the past 27 recipients of the DYA awards are basketball star Michael Jordan, soccer player Mia Hamm, financial analyst Sallie Krawcheck and author Kaye Gibbons.
