Six to Receive Honorary Degrees at Commencement
Six celebrated individuals, including two alumni, will receive honorary degrees at Commencement on May 10. They are:
Catarina de Albuquerque
Catarina de Albuquerque, a world-renowned international human rights lawyer and advocate. Albuquerque has focused her efforts on issues surrounding health and human rights worldwide. From 2004 to 2008, she presided over United Nations negotiations relating to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, resulting in an agreement allowing individuals to present complaints before the U.N. against their own governments for alleged violations of socio-economic rights.
Peter Ware Higgs (Photo by David Cheskin)
Peter Ware Higgs, professor of physics and astronomy emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles.” In 2012, Higgs made startling news with what’s now known as the Higgs boson — the idea that a background field permeating all matter was responsible for mass. It was at Carolina in 1965 that Higgs put that idea in a paper.
Mary Elizabeth Junck ’71
Mary Elizabeth Junck ’71 (MA), CEO and chair of Lee Enterprises, a newspaper corporation. Junck currently is chair of the board of The Associated Press. She previously held several key executive positions at the former Times Mirror Co. She has been a committed supporter of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, including her endowment of the Mary Junck Colloquium, an initiative aimed at bringing scholars together to share insights into the world of media.
R. Charles Loudermilk Sr. ’50
R. Charles Loudermilk Sr. ’50, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and business and community leader. Loudermilk founded Aaron Rents Inc. in 1955, leading the company until retiring in 2012. He is a leading member of the Atlanta business community, co-chairing mayoral campaigns for Andrew Young in 1981 and 1985, and was integral in bringing the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta. He helped fund construction of the Kenan-Flagler Business School’s McColl Building and the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center at Meadowmont. Loudermilk also donated the funds to build Kenan Stadium’s Loudermilk Center for Excellence, the academic support center for 800 Carolina athletes.
Charles W. Millard III
Charles W. Millard III, a nationally recognized art history scholar, writer and curator who served as director of the Ackland Art Museum from 1986 to 1993. As a museum professional, Millard held positions at Dumbarton Oaks, the Washington Gallery of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art before being appointed the first chief curator of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington. During his seven years as director of the Ackland, Millard added more than 800 works to the collection, established an education program with an interdisciplinary University liaison, expanded the museum’s staff and accomplished a complete renovation of the Ackland building.
Wyndham Robertson
Wyndham Robertson, a pioneer among women in journalism. Robertson joined Fortune magazine in 1961, was promoted to researcher-reporter shortly thereafter and began writing its landmark personal investing column in 1968. She was elected to Fortune’s board of editors in 1974; in 1981, she became the first woman to be the magazine’s assistant managing editor. She also served as business editor of Time magazine. Robertson spent the last decade of her career as vice president for communications for the UNC System, including overseeing the UNC Center for Public Television.
Media and entertainment innovator Jason Kilar ’93 will deliver the Commencement address. Kilar is the co-founder and CEO of Vessel and was previously the founding CEO of Hulu.
