News Release

Note: For photos of award recipients, see end of release.

Board of Trustees honors five
with prestigious Davie awards

CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees last night (Nov. 15) presented five longtime university supporters with the William Richardson Davie Award, the board's highest honor.

Chancellor James Moeser and the trustees honored the following recipients at a Carolina Inn dinner: Alan Dickson of Charlotte; Leonard Herring of North Wilkesboro; Jim Hynes of Charlotte; Allen Morgan of Memphis, Tenn.; and U.S. Rep. Melvin Watt of Charlotte.

Established by UNC's Board of Trustees in 1984, the Davie Award is named for the Revolutionary War hero who is considered the father of the university. It recognizes extraordinary service to the university or society.

Dickson graduated from North Carolina State University in 1953 with a degree in textiles and earned a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University. He and his brother Stuart Dickson formed Ruddick Corporation in 1968 as a holding company for their father's textile company, American & Efird Inc. They acquired the grocery store chain Harris Teeter in 1969. The Dickson brothers led Ruddick until 2002, when they retired from day-to-day management.

Dickson has led the John Motley Morehead Foundation, which oversees Carolina's Morehead Scholarship Program, for more than four decades. His late wife, Lindsay Morehead, was a daughter of John Lindsay Morehead. Dickson was elected to the foundation's board of trustees in 1964 and served as chairman of the board from 1985 to 2006. He is married to a Davie Award-winner, Mary Anne Dickson, class of 1963.

Herring graduated from UNC in 1948 with a degree in commerce and began his career in finance in eastern North Carolina. In 1955, he answered a newspaper ad for a job opening in North Wilkesboro for Lowe's, a hardware company with six stores. He remained at Lowe's for 42 years and served as chief executive officer for the company from 1978 until his retirement in 1997. During his time there, the company grew to 423 stores, and sales increased from about $10 million to more than $8 billion.

Herring created scholarships to benefit UNC students from Greene and Wilkes counties. He has been on the UNC Board of Visitors and was a trustee of Pfeiffer College in Misenheimer, N.C. He recently completed a six-year tenure on the N.C. Zoo Society board of directors. Herring's fraternity, Chi Psi, honored him with its Harold S. Falk Distinguished Alumni Award, and the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry inducted him into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1997.

Hynes graduated from UNC in 1962 with a degree in English. After serving for four years in the U.S. Navy, he joined Hynes Inc., a sales and marketing firm founded by his father. From its headquarters in Charlotte, Hynes Inc. represents companies that manufacture health and beauty and general merchandise products. Hynes became the company's controlling stockholder in 1971 and its chairman in 1986. He retired from the chairmanship in 2000 but remains a member of the board.

Hynes established the Cameron Morrison College Fellows Fund to benefit students from Mecklenburg and Richmond counties. After his daughter Suzanne died in an auto accident while traveling in Greece in 1985, he established a memorial endowment in her name in the College of Arts and Sciences to support faculty. Another endowment named for Suzanne Hynes supports students traveling abroad.

Morgan graduated from UNC in 1965 with a degree in history. Four years later, he founded Morgan Keegan & Co., an investment firm that grew over the next 30 years into a regional powerhouse with more than 300 offices in 18 states and $600 million in capital. The company was acquired as a subsidiary of Regions Financial Corporation in 2001. Morgan continued as chairman and chief executive officer of Morgan Keegan and joined the Regions corporate board of directors.

Morgan serves on the Carolina First Campaign Steering Committee and co-chairs its Tennessee committee. He has been on the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation Board and the UNC Investment Fund Board. He created the Morgan Writer-in-Residence Program, which has brought to Chapel Hill writers such as Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, Shelby Foote (class of 1939), John Grisham and John Edgar Wideman for readings, seminars and public lectures.

Watt graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UNC in 1967 with a degree in business administration and went on to earn a law degree at Yale University. The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he just won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represents North Carolina's 12th district. Watt was one of few black students on campus when he enrolled at UNC in 1963.

A civil rights attorney, Watt began his career in politics as manager of Harvey Gantt's campaigns for city council, mayor of Charlotte and the U.S. Senate. He also served one term in the state Senate, earning the nickname "the conscience of the Senate." Watt received the Black Alumni Reunion Award (which has since been renamed the Harvey E. Beech Outstanding Alumni Award in honor of Beech, class of 1952, the first African American to receive a degree from Carolina) from the General Alumni Association in 1983. He has been honored as a Distinguished Alumnus for his achievements in public service.

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Photo URLs: Herring: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/event/award/davie06/herring_len.jpg
Hynes: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/event/award/davie06/hynes_jim.JPG
Watt: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/event/award/davie06/watt_mel.jpg

Development Communications contact: Scott Ragland, (919) 962-0027 or scott_ragland@unc.edu
News Services contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 962-2093 or lisa_katz@unc.edu