HISTORY

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the nation’s first state university to open its doors and the only public university to award degrees in the 18th century.

Authorized by the N.C. Constitution in 1776, the university was chartered by the N.C. General Assembly Dec. 11, 1789, the same year George Washington first was inaugurated as president.

The cornerstone was laid for Old East, the nation’s first state university building, Oct. 12, 1793. Hinton James, the first student, arrived from Wilmington, N.C., Feb. 12, 1795.

LOCATION

The 729-acre central campus includes the two oldest state university buildings, Old East and Person Hall. Old East and Playmakers Theatre, an 1852 Greek-revival building, are National Historic Landmarks.

The American Society of Landscape Architects selected the Carolina campus as one of the most beautifully landscaped spots in the country. That listing is among the praise affirming the charm of mighty oaks, majestic quadrangles, brick sidewalks and other landscaping synonymous with UNC.

Carolina's Grounds Services crew maintains beloved trees, flowers, shrubbery and green spaces. They use top environmental practices endorsed in the campus master plan. Their work resulted in the university's selection for a 2005 Grand Award from the Professional Grounds Management Society's Green Star Awards competition, co-sponsored by Landscape Management magazine. This program recognizes the value of maintaining a well-manicured landscape.

KEY STATISTICS

Now in its third century, Carolina offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral and professional degrees in academic areas critical to North Carolina's future: business, dentistry, education, law, medicine, nursing, public health and social work, among others. Offerings include 71 bachelor’s, 110 master’s and 77 doctorate degree programs. The health sciences are well integrated with the liberal arts, basic sciences and high-tech programs. Patient outreach programs affiliated with Carolina and the UNC Health Care System serve citizens in all 100 North Carolina counties.

A sampling of other Carolina facts:

  • 27,500 students from all 100 North Carolina counties, the other 49 states and more than 100 other countries. Eighty-two percent of Carolina's undergraduates come from North Carolina.

  • These students learn from a 3,100-member faculty. Many of those faculty members hold or have held major posts in virtually every national scholarly or professional organization and have earned election to the most prestigious academic academies and organizations.
  • More than 5.7 million library volumes in a library system that perennially ranks among the best research libraries in North Americas judged by the Association of Research Libraries.

  • More than 249,202 living alumni. Notable alumni include writers Thomas Wolfe, Shelby Foote, Russell Banks and Jill McCorkle; athletes Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Mia Hamm, Marion Jones and Davis Love III; and journalists Alan Murray, Roger Mudd, Charles Kuralt, Stuart Scott and Tom Wicker. Others include former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles; former White House Communications Director Don Baer; former U.S. Sen. John Edwards (now director of UNC’s new Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity); Bill Harrison, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Sallie L. Krawcheck, chief financial officer and head of strategy for Citigroup Inc.; Ken Thompson, chairman and chief executive officer of Wachovia Corp.; Dr. Mary Sue Coleman, a biochemist and former Carolina vice chancellor and now the University of Michigan president; Dr. Elson Floyd, former Carolina executive vice chancellor and now president of the University of Missouri system; U.S. President James Polk; geneticist Francis Collins; actors Jack Palance, George Grizzard and Andy Griffith, as well as actresses Louise Fletcher and Sharon Lawrence; editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly; Hugh McColl, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp.; and fashion designer Alexander Julian.