When graduate students make all the difference
October 9, 2024
Betsy and Vic Briscoe
During his 37-year career at UNC-Chapel Hill, Charles “Vic” Briscoe said that working with graduate students was his favorite part of the job.
“I had wonderful relationships with my graduate students,” said Briscoe, who was a professor in the department of physics and astronomy from 1958 to 1995. “They are so important to the department, as well as the state, nation and world. They bring a vitality and excitement [to our research].”
Briscoe’s own research was focused on low temperature physics and superconductivity, a branch of the discipline that makes MRI machines possible.
Empowering the next generation
Larry Stacey (B.S. ’62, Ph.D. ’68), one of Briscoe’s former graduate students, shares Briscoe’s appreciation for the value graduate students bring to the academy. He created the Vic and Betsy Briscoe Fund for Graduate Studies in the department of physics and astronomy in honor of Briscoe and his wife. The planned gift, once it is realized, will support graduate students in the department with top-up grants, summer research fellowships, travel stipends and funding for academic conferences.
The Briscoes’ daughter, Julee Waldrop ’81, also added her support to the fund because of her father’s “commitment to how education can change a life.” Waldrop has a doctor of nursing practice (DNP), and prior to her current role as assistant dean at Duke University’s School of Nursing, she held joint appointments in UNC’s School of Medicine and School of Nursing. She has taught nursing for more than 25 years.
“We are so grateful for the generosity of these families,” said Frank Tsui, chair of the department of physics and astronomy. “Our students are pushing the boundaries of scientific endeavors, especially those that directly impact the science and technology of today and tomorrow.”
Thanks to Waldrop’s additional support, the department will begin distributing awards to graduate students next year.
“I have been incredibly fortunate to have received philanthropic support from many individuals throughout my academic journey,” said Pa Chia Thao, a Ph.D. student in physics and astronomy. “With the aid of private funding, I am able to dedicate my time to my research and pursue my academic endeavors.”
The power of mentorship
Briscoe was originally a chemistry major at King University in Bristol, Tennessee. He credits his undergraduate physics professor, Edward W. Burke Jr., for inspiring his interest in the subject. Other mentors influenced Briscoe’s educational journey, too, including former King University President Robert Todd Lapsley Liston and Briscoe’s Ph.D. adviser, Charles F. Squire of Rice University.
Briscoe’s graduate students have gone on to do impactful work across various sectors — from working at NASA to teaching at universities to managing family farms in retirement.
The Briscoes have stayed in touch with many of Vic’s former students. Over the years, the couple hosted graduate student dinners. Their daughter remembers that her father’s students “were always close to him and were treated like members of the family.”
“My dad is a very determined and strong person, but at the same time, he is always willing to help anyone who needs or wants it, if at all possible,” Waldrop said.
The family hopes that the fund will enable more graduate students to have the opportunity to study physics at Carolina.
“The department of physics and astronomy is doing exceedingly well, and I’m so happy for that,” Vic Briscoe said. “They have had good leadership. I just hope we can raise enough money to support students to carry on the work.”
By Laura Batts-Thomas
To make a gift to the Vic and Betsy Briscoe Fund for Graduate Studies, visit go.unc.edu/BriscoeFund.
