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Three to receive honorary degrees at UNC commencement May 19

CHAPEL HILL -- A U.S. senator, the founder of an international medical aid program and a successful financier and philanthropist will receive honorary degrees Sunday (May 19) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Honorary degree recipients are:

U.S. Sen. John R. Edwards of North Carolina, whom The Wall Street Journal has recognized as one who "impresses colleagues in behind-doors deliberations." Edwards, who grew up in Robbins and received a law degree with honors from UNC, will receive a doctor of laws degree.

Dr. Verne E. Chaney Jr., founder and president of the Thomas A. Dooley Foundation-INTERMED USA and INTERMED, Geneva, Switzerland. Chaney, who completed a residency in surgery at UNC and has received the UNC School of Medicine Distinguished Service Award, will receive a doctor of science degree.

Julian H. Robertson Jr., founder of Tiger Management Corp. Robertson, who received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UNC and has received the UNC Board of Trustees’ William R. Davie Award, will receive a doctor of laws degree.

The recipients will be honored during the university’s spring commencement ceremony, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Kenan Stadium. Edwards will be the featured speaker, and Chancellor James Moeser will preside.

· Edwards

Edwards was elected senator in November 1998 and was sworn into office on Jan. 6, 1999. He quickly made a name for himself inside and outside the Beltway. Sen. Patrick Leahy has called him the best debater the Senate has seen in 25 years, while the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call includes him on a list of members of Congress who have made a mark for themselves in a very short period of time.

In his first term, Edwards’ main legislative interests have focused on patient protection, better schools, personal privacy, fiscal integrity of Social Security and Medicare, and campaign finance reform.

Edwards grew up in Robbins, a small town in Moore County. He attended Clemson University and transferred to N.C. State University, graduating with a bachelor of science degree with honors in textiles. He earned his law degree with honors from UNC in 1977 and is the 19th Carolina alumnus to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Senate.

After serving a year as law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Franklin T. Dupree Jr., Edwards began his own practice in Nashville. In 1981, he joined the Raleigh firm of Tharrington, Smith & Hargrove and quickly became one of the nation’s most outstanding trial lawyers. In 1992, he and law school classmate David Kirby formed their own firm, Edwards & Kirby. Edwards was named one of the eight Lawyers of the Year in 1996 by Lawyers Weekly USA.

Edwards has kept close ties to UNC. He serves on the executive leadership board of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and his wife Elizabeth, whom he met when both were in law school, is a member of the university’s Board of Visitors.

· Chaney

Chaney is the founder and president of the Thomas A. Dooley Foundation-INTERMED USA and INTERMED, Geneva, Switzerland. INTERMED is a private, non-sectarian agency that helps develop medical care systems in less developed countries, provides medical aid to refugees, and supports and manages medical care for primitive tribal groups.

Chaney received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Military Institute in 1944 and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1948 (he received his master of public health degree from the university in 1972). He completed his surgical residency at UNC in 1956, and afterward donated his services to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti. He served with distinction as a military surgeon during the Korean War, was wounded in action and became one of the most highly decorated medical officers in the U.S. Army.

In 1961, Chaney began volunteering with Dr. Tom Dooley’s organization MEDICO. He spent months in Vietnam and Cambodia training health workers and caring for civilian refugees displaced by war. After Dooley’s death, Chaney took over running the medical programs in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and India.

Chaney created the Thomas A. Dooley Foundation to ensure the programs’ continuation.  Projects have since been added in Nepal, Thailand, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger and Tanzania.

Chaney has helped improve the health of thousands of underprivileged people worldwide. His humanitarian service has been recognized with several international awards, including the Silver Star, the Croix de Guerre (France), the Order of a Million Elephants (Royal Government of the Kingdom of Laos) and the UNC School of Medicine Distinguished Service Award.

· Robertson

Robertson, a New York investment manager, founded Tiger Management Corp., which became one of the largest and most successful hedge fund groups ever created. In 1989, he established the Tiger Foundation to provide financial support to non-profit organizations serving New York City’s neediest families, and to encourage active, informed philanthropy among Tiger Management’s investment staff.

Robertson now devotes his time and talents to philanthropy – and in 2000, Julian and Josie Robertson established the Robertson Scholars Program with a generous gift to both UNC and Duke University. This program recruits and supports undergraduates on both campuses who divide their academic careers between the two institutions. The Robertsons came up with the idea as a tribute to their sons Spencer (Duke, class of 1998) and Alexander (UNC, class of 2001).

Robertson also has contributed to Lynn University, alma mater of his son Julian III, endowed a fellowship in UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and established a foundation in honor of his parents to benefit the citizens of Salisbury.

Robertson, who grew up in Salisbury, received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from UNC in 1955. Following two years of service in the U.S. Navy, Robertson joined Kidder, Peabody & Co. in 1957 as a sales trainee. He rose through the ranks, becoming chairman and chief executive officer of Webster Management Corp., a subsidiary of the firm, in 1974. Six years later, he founded Tiger Management.

Robertson’s service to his alma mater includes stints as executive-in-residence at the Kenan-Flagler Business School and membership on the business school and university’s boards of visitors. He has served on the General Alumni Association’s Board of Directors and received the UNC Board of Trustees’ William R. Davie Award in 1992.

For general information about spring commencement, click on www.unc.edu/commencement.

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Photo URLs:
http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/edwards_john.jpg
http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/chaney_verne.jpg
http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/robertson_julian.jpg

Contact: News Services, Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415