News Release

Local angles: Fayetteville, Gastonia, Chapel Hill

Photo: For a photo of Dibbert, click on http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/admin/vice_chancellors/dibbert_doug.jpg.

UNC scholarship fund increased to honor Alumni Association president

CHAPEL HILL – A scholarship fund set up six years ago by the UNC General Alumni Association is being increased by $50,000 in honor of Douglas Dibbert of Chapel Hill, who has served as the association’s president for 25 years.

The GAA Scholars program was established in 2001 with a gift of $500,000. With the additional gift, one Carolina student a year will be awarded a scholarship and designated as the Douglas S. Dibbert Scholar. The announcement of the new gift was made at the association’s annual alumni luncheon on May 12 by Tom Efird of Gastonia, chair of the GAA board of directors for 2006-07.

“Doug is an immensely skilled administrator, and under his guidance and leadership our programs for alumni are growing every year, not only in depth but in quality,” said Efird. “The executive committee felt that the most appropriate way to honor Doug was to enhance a program that he started and has worked on.”

The university’s Office of Scholarships and Student Aid administers the GAA Scholars program and works with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to attract students who otherwise might choose not to attend because of insufficient scholarship aid. Twenty-five students have benefited from the program since fall 2002.

Dibbert, a 1970 graduate of Carolina who graduated from Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville in 1966, began leading the GAA in 1982. The association, established in 1843, now serves more than 70,000 members.

Dibbert played a key role in getting the George Watts Hill Alumni Center located in the center of the campus, and under his leadership the alumni association started an enrichment program through which Carolina faculty showcase their research; expanded reunion offerings, including the successful Black Alumni Reunion; widened the association’s focus to include student members; and made its publications a trusted source of news and connectivity for alumni.

Dibbert also has served as chair of the trustees of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the largest international association of educational institutions. He is a former president of the Council of Alumni Association Executives and has served as a member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

GAA contact: Eleanor Morris, (919) 929-4953, eleanormorris@nc.rr.com
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589