Impact Stories - The Arts and Sciences Foundation

Explore the stories of how alumni and friends help fuel the progress of scientists, humanists, artists, entrepreneurs and technologists at the College of Arts and Sciences every day.

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A student in the Triple-I course, “Health and Happiness,” piloted in spring 2019. Each Triple-I course brings together three outstanding professors from different departments across the university so that students can study a common theme from several perspectives. Triple-I is part of the First Year Foundations requirement of the new IDEAs in Action curriculum. (photo by Donn Young)

Supporting the New Undergraduate General Education Curriculum

Thanks to a recent gift from donors Justin ’94 and Emily Haynie ’96, whose son is a current Tar Heel, the College is able to implement this more structured first-year experience.

Graduate students perform research on local living shorelines through the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences. (photo by Mary Lide Parker)

The Cross-Pollination of Science at Carolina

Margaret and Tillman Cooley, B.S. ’65 (Ph.D. ’70) support the department of earth, marine, and environmental sciences at Carolina. “Synergy is so important, and it works – I know,” said Tillman Cooley. “I’m so excited to see how our UNC scientists cross-pollinate and flourish.”

Surveyor and Storyteller

Anna Atencio was a member of the first Chancellor’s Science Scholars cohort. Now she helps tell the unseen story below the seafloor as a geophysicist on the coast of North Carolina.

“I took two classes in San Cristóbal, one on immigration to the United States from Latin America and one on Latin American literature. We traveled to various beaches on the island, several giant tortoise reservations and to Santa Cruz, another island in the archipelago. I told my friends and family that there were so many ‘best parts’ of the trip — the food, the friends I made, the immigration course, the amazing views and weather, my super sweet host family, the friendly citizens of Puerto Baquerizo — I could go on. “The experience opened my eyes to a completely different way of life, while simultaneously making me appreciate the culture and living conditions of the United States. The course on immigration taught me a lot about the violent and desperate conditions that cause Latin Americans to immigrate to the United States. Additionally, it showed me how complex the process of legal immigration is and the various ways in which Latino immigrants are exploited in the United States. Still, despite all these barriers and threats, many choose to immigrate. Learning this from a perspective outside of the U.S. really brought home this idea to me because I was separated from many things that I take for granted in the U.S. I did not expect that through study abroad, I would gain an appreciation for my home country.” - Trevor Pharr ’23, a music and chemistry double major

A Plan and a Partnership

John and Marree Townsend’s commitments to UNC-Chapel Hill over the years have been both plentiful and purposeful — and none more so than their gift to the College of Arts and Sciences to establish the Townsend Family Strategic Initiatives Fund.

Pillar of Chapel Hill Community Leaves Gift to College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts

Robert E. Seymour Jr. was a champion of social justice who led a congregation that challenged racial segregation and advocated on behalf of the aged and poor. Seymour died in 2020 at age 95, leaving a gift in his estate to the College of Arts and Sciences.

French Fellow Frances Duffy Ph.D. ’20, who earned her doctorate in public policy, received graduate support that enabled her to focus on her dissertation research and teaching. Duffy is currently a senior national security analyst at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

$25 Million Gift to be Transformative for Graduate Students

A $25 million bequest to the College of Arts and Sciences from an anonymous donor ensures a bright future for graduate students. This transformative commitment, when realized, will support more than 200 graduate students annually.

Stepping Outside Her Comfort Zone

Jeliyah “Liyah” Clark is among the first students from the Chancellor’s Science Scholars Program to graduate with a doctoral degree. She will become a double Tar Heel at Winter Commencement on Sunday.

Statewide Civic Engagement Project Inaugurated Through Alumni Gift

Carolina Public Humanities announced the creation of the Zietlow Civic Engagement Project in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Carolina Students Will Help to Share Veterans’ Stories in ‘After the War’

The Mellon Foundation-funded digital archive of veteran experiences will debut in June 2023 and is presented in part by UNC’s Southern Oral History Program.

Pillar of Chapel Hill Community Leaves Gift to College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts

The Seymour family has established the Dr. Robert E. Seymour Jr. Dean’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Helping Faculty Break Down Silos, Be Part of ‘Something Bigger’

“When you learn about what the institute does, I think its mission is so encouraging,” said Caroline Williamson ’83.

Doubling Down

The Batchelders’ two sons graduated from Carolina. So they doubled down and created an Honors Carolina Scholarship to benefit two Carolina students who share an interest in business, history or drama.

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