Richard and Judy Vinroot of Charlotte have pledged $1 million to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in honor of Richard’s friend and mentor, Robert W. Bradshaw Jr.
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| Judy and Richard Vinroot |
Richard and Judy Vinroot of Charlotte have pledged $1 million to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in honor of Richard’s friend and mentor, Robert W. Bradshaw Jr.
The pledge will support faculty and students in UNC’s School of Government and is the largest-ever commitment by an individual to the school.
“Judy and Richard Vinroot have shown extraordinary generosity and thoughtfulness in creating this new professorship and fellowship,” said Mike Smith, dean of the School of Government. “This historic gift will support two important aspects of our work: the faculty who teach and advise government officials every day, and the graduate students who become public service leaders in local and state government, as well as in federal agencies and nonprofit organizations in North Carolina and throughout the country.
“The Vinroots are known for their support of good government and an ever-stronger North Carolina. This gift is clear evidence of their dedication.”
Part of the commitment ($666,000) will be matched by the state’s Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund to create the $1 million Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Distinguished Professorship, which will support a faculty member who teaches, advises and publishes in local and state government fields such as local government law and finance, courts and criminal justice, health and human services, taxation and public employment.
The remaining $334,000 will establish the Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Public Administration Fellowship. It will provide aid to a worthy student or students in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, covering tuition and expenses for both years of the two-year program.
“The fellowship will help us attract the highest quality students interested in public service,” Smith said. “This will be the premier fellowship for the MPA program at Carolina. Private support for the MPA program has become more and more important and this pledge comes at a wonderful time.”
The program serves 60 students annually and offers courses ranging from public policy analysis to ethics, budgeting and management. Students work with faculty engaged in helping state and local officials solve public problems. Graduates serve in state and local government positions throughout North Carolina and other states, as well as in federal agencies and nonprofit organizations. Carolina’s MPA program is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as sixth in city management and 10th overall among public administration graduate programs in the United States.
A graduate of the Duke University law school, Bradshaw served as the chairman of the Republican Party of North Carolina.
“Bob Bradshaw spent many years encouraging good people to enter public service, and then mentoring them once they did so,” Richard Vinroot said. “Wonderful examples of this are former Gov. Jim Martin and 9th District Congressman Alex McMillan, both of whom are among Bob’s protégés.
“I’m most grateful for what Bob did for me personally, but more so for what he’s done for everyone in North Carolina throughout his professional life. Accordingly, Judy and I can think of no better way to honor Bob than at the School of Government, where public service is the essence of their mission.”
A Charlotte native, Richard Vinroot attended UNC on a Morehead Scholarship (now Morehead-Cain), served as class president in his junior and senior years, and played basketball for Coach Dean Smith. He graduated in 1963 with a degree in business administration and went on to get a UNC law degree in 1966. After law school, Vinroot served in Vietnam and earned a Bronze Star. He returned to Charlotte and joined the law firm of Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, where he is a senior partner, specializing in commercial litigation.
Vinroot also has extensive experience in public service. He served on the Charlotte City Council from 1983 to 1991 and as mayor of Charlotte from 1991 to 1995. He was the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina in 2000 and lost the election to Mike Easley.
Judy (Allen) Vinroot is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who graduated from UNC with a degree in education in 1965. At UNC she was a class officer, cheerleader and active in numerous campus activities. She earned a master’s degree in adult literacy at Appalachian State University and has taught in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools and at Central Piedmont Community College, also in Charlotte. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the UNC Alumni Association.
The Vinroots have three children, Dr. Richard Vinroot, Jr., Laura Vinroot Poole and Katy Vinroot O’Brien, all of whom graduated from UNC.
School of Government Web site: http://www.sog.unc.edu/
School of Government contact: Ann Simpson, (919) 966-9780, simpson@sog.unc.edu