For immediate use
UNC-Chapel Hill alumni association honors three for outstanding service
(Chapel Hill, N.C. – May 10, 2016) – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill General Alumni Association honored three alumni for their outstanding service to the University and to the association.
Recipients of the 2016 Distinguished Service Medal are John Burress III, retired president of J.W. Burress, Inc. construction machinery; Charlie Loudermilk, retired owner of Aaron Rents furniture and equipment rental company; and Jordy Whichard, former publisher and editor of the Greenville Daily Reflector.
The medals were presented on May 7 at the GAA’s Annual Alumni Luncheon during spring reunion weekend. Since 1978, the association has awarded the medals to alumni and others who have provided outstanding service to the GAA or the University.
Burress, a Winston-Salem native who graduated in 1958, has supported many aspects of the University. An original supporter of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in the 1980s, he was recruited to be a founding member of its board of visitors. Burress has served on UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Visitors and the board of Carolina’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities. An early contributor to the construction of the Dean E. Smith Center, he was elected president of the Educational Foundation. He served on the University’s Bicentennial Steering Committee and holds emeritus status on the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School board of visitors. He also served on the GAA Board of Directors. In 2001, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees awarded Burress its highest honor, the William R. Davie Award.
Loudermilk, an Atlanta, Georgia native who graduated in 1950, has served on the board of visitors for UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. He was also a member of the Carolina First Campaign Committee. Loudermilk received the William R. Davie Award in 2000; the athletics department’s Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy’s Leadership of Distinction Award; and Kenan-Flagler’s Alumni Merit Award. One of his gifts made possible the Loudermilk Center for Excellence in Kenan Stadium, through which nearly 800 student-athletes a year can access strength-and-conditioning training, academic support, student services and the Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy. He also helped fund construction of the McColl Building at Kenan-Flagler and Loudermilk Hall at the Rizzo Center.
Whichard, a Greenville native who graduated in 1979, has served on the UNC Health Care System board; as president of the School of Media and Journalism Foundation board; and as a trustee for UNC’s Center for Public Television. A former chair of the GAA Board of Directors, he has also taken on special assignments for the University. One notable example was in 2009 when Whichard, a member of Phi Gamma Delta at Carolina, led a comprehensive review of the fraternity system that brought about several reforms aimed at maintaining student safety and strengthening governance.
The General Alumni Association is a self-governed, nonprofit association serving alumni and friends of Carolina since 1843.
GAA Distinguished Service Medal website: https://alumni.unc.edu/awards
-Carolina-
Photo Links (photo credit: Ray Black III):
Burress:
Loudermilk:
Whichard:
About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 77 bachelor’s, 113 master’s, 68 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. Every day, faculty – including two Nobel laureates – staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s more than 308,000 alumni live in all 50 states and 150 countries. More than 167,000 live in North Carolina.
GAA contact: Doug Dibbert, GAA president, (919) 962-7050, doug_dibbert@unc.edu
Communications and Public Affairs contact: MC VanGraafeiland, (919) 962-7090, mc.vangraafeiland@unc.edu