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Four Alumni Receive Davie Award for Service

William Richardson Davie Award winners

Four alumni have been honored with the William Richardson Davie Award, the UNC trustees’ highest honor for service, for 2017. The recipients are:

Alston Gardner ’77, a North Carolina native whose service has included the Chancellor’s Innovation Circle, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School’s board of visitors and the Kenan-Flagler Foundation board. He served on the steering committee for the eight-year Carolina First fundraising campaign that concluded in 2007, chaired the University’s Global Advisory Board and helped lead the effort to build the FedEx Global Education Center. He has served on the Board of Trustees and was its vice chair (2013-15).

Dr. Sheldon Peck ’63 (’66 DDS), a native of Durham whose passion for art led him to be a collector of rare drawings. In January 2017, Peck and his wife, Leena, donated 134 of these drawings, which included seven Rembrandts, to UNC’s Ackland Art Museum. He has served on the national advisory board of the Ackland, and he currently is an adjunct professor of orthodontics at UNC.

Sallie Shuping-Russell ’77, a Greensboro native, has devoted her time to her alma mater throughout her adult life. She has served on the board for the UNC Health Care System and on the Board of Trustees, and she currently is vice chair of the UNC Investment Fund. She also chairs the newly established Carolina Research Ventures board, which invests in companies formed from technologies developed at UNC. In 2011, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UNC General Alumni Association.

John Townsend ’77 (’82 MBA) has served on the executive committee of the UNC Investment Fund, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School’s board of visitors and Ackland Art Museum’s national advisory board. A former member of the Board of Trustees, Townsend co-chairs the Campaign for Carolina, the University’s current $4.25 billion fundraising drive. He and his wife, Maree, recently made a $50 million gift that will benefit programs across campus, including the Institute for the Arts and Humanities and the Ackland.

Established by the trustees in 1984, the Davie Award is named for the Revolutionary War hero who is considered the father of the University. It recognizes extraordinary service to the University or society.

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