News Release

Note: For a photo of award recipients, see end of release.

School of Education honors alumni
for commitment to education

CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education recently recognized five alumni, including the civil rights lawyer who argued the Supreme Court case upholding busing as a method of integration, for making strides with teaching and learning. The awards and their recipients are:

• The Peabody Award
  Dr. Julius Chambers
  The lawyer for the 1971 Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Supreme Court case and former Chancellor of North Carolina Central University received the School's highest honor for his lifelong work to make quality schooling available to all children.
  
  
• The Distinguished Leadership Award
  Dr. Nancy Farmer
  The educational consultant and former school district administrator in Orange and Pitt counties was honored for her accomplishments as a career educator including her contributions to advancing struggling schools.
  
  
• The Alumni Achievement Award
  Dr. Henry Johnson
  The assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education in the U.S. Department of Education was honored for his work to improve education policy and programs across America.
  
  
• The Young Alumnus Award
  Travis Lewis
  The director of Pitt County Schools' student services department was honored for achievements as a school counselor helping children achieve success in school and in life. "
  
  
• The Excellence in Teaching Award
  Jan Schuettpelz
  The seventh-grade teacher at Durham School of the Arts was honored for her work to improve science education.
  

Chambers argued Charlotte-Mecklenburg less than 10 years after graduating from the UNC School of Law. He became chancellor of North Carolina Central University in 1993 and retired in 2001. He is the director of the UNC Center for Civil Rights and a faculty member at the UNC School of Law.

Farmer began her career as a high-school teacher in Alamance County. She is a consultant for the Local Education Agency Assistance Program to aid struggling schools and has been on the School of Education's Alumni Council for many years, including a tenure as president from 1997-2001. She was appointed to the University's Board of Visitors in 2002 and has been a member of the Carolina First Women's Leadership Council since 2003.

Johnson became assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education in 2005. He has testified before Congress on the No Child Left Behind Act. Prior to his appointment, Johnson worked for 30 years at many levels of education, including time as the Mississippi superintendent of education and the North Carolina associate state superintendent of education.

Lewis is director of the Pitt County Schools' student services department, where he oversees the work of the district's school counselors, social workers, nurses and resource officers. He received the Barry Gaskins Ambassador Award in 2003, honoring him as the Pitt County employee who "best exemplifies the attributes of grace, civility, humor, care and concern for all."

Schuettpelz this year received the Delta Education/Cambridge Physics Outlet (CPO) Science Award for Excellence in Inquiry-based Science Teaching. She also previously received the Toyota Tapestry award for science in literacy and a grant from North Carolina's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives.

Each year, the School of Education honors select alumni and others for their outstanding accomplishments and deep commitment to education. This year nominations were made by alumni, faculty and friends of the School; a nine-member committee selected the winners.

Previous award winners include UNC President Emeritus William C. Friday and his wife, Ida H. Friday, who is a UNC School of Public Health alumna; former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt; former North Carolina Senator and current state board of education chairman Howard N. Lee; and former UNC men's basketball coach Dean Smith and his wife, Linnea Smith, who is a Chapel Hill physician.

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School of Education contact: Linda Baucom, (919) 962-8687 or lbaucom@unc.edu
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589

Photo Link: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/2006awardsgroup.jpg