News Release

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees last night (Nov. 17) presented four longtime friends of the university with the prestigious William Richardson Davie Award.

Chancellor James Moeser and the Board of Trustees honored the following Davie Award recipients at a Carolina Inn dinner: Harvey E. Beech of Kinston, Paul Hardin of Chapel Hill, William B. Harrison of Greenwich, Conn. and Charles McKimmon (Charlie) Winston Sr. of Raleigh. Beech was unable to attend due to illness; friend and former Kinston Mayor Orice "Buddy" Ritch accepted on his behalf.

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 and is the highest honor bestowed by the trustees. It recognizes extraordinary service to the university or to society.

In 1952, Beech became UNC’s first black graduate. A graduate of Morehouse College, he was a law student at the North Carolina School for Negroes in Durham (now North Carolina Central University) when Thurgood Marshall, then a young lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and later the first black Supreme Court justice, asked him if he would join a case against UNC challenging the separate-but-equal status of its law school. Beech agreed, and in March 1951, the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered that he and four others be admitted to UNC’s law school.

Beech practiced law for nearly 40 years and lead by example, garnering recognition for his contributions to civic and professional organizations. He served on UNC’s Board of Visitors from 1982-1990 and the university honored him in 1989 by establishing a scholarship in his name. He received UNC’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2002. Beech has been a member of the Board of Directors of the UNC Law School Alumni Association and was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus by the School of Law. He has been a generous donor to the law school and to the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, among others.

As the university’s seventh chancellor, Paul Hardin led Carolina during its bicentennial celebration, spearheading a fund-raising campaign that exceeded its $320 million goal by $120 million. He created the first Employee Appreciation Fair and the Employee Forum to facilitate communication between non-academic employees and the administration. He signed the agreement to build the Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research (SOAR). Under Hardin’s leadership, the university doubled its minority representation on the faculty. He also steered the campus toward resolution of a controversy over a proposed freestanding building for the Stone Center.

Hardin received the university’s Distinguished Service Medal, is an honorary member of the Board of Visitors and the Golden Key Society and was inducted into the Order of the Golden Fleece. He has been a generous donor to many of the university’s schools and units, and the University Library’s Gilliken-Hardin fund was established in his honor.

In the hard-edged arena of mergers and acquisitions, UNC graduate William B. Harrison has been called "the last gentleman on Wall Street." He worked his way up the ranks of Chemical Bank to become vice chairman when the bank completed its merger with Manufacturers Hanover and its subsequent merger with Chase Manhattan. In 2000, Chase merged with J.P. Morgan and Company and, in 2001, Harrison was named chairman and chief executive officer of J.P. Morgan Chase and Company. In 2004, he piloted the financial services giant through a merger with Chicago-based Bank One Corporation and remains the organization’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Harrison served the General Alumni Association as its international representative from 1981 to 1984 and as its second vice president from 1985 to 1986. He has served on the Board of Visitors, the Bicentennial Steering Committee and the National Development Council. Currently, is a member of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Board of Visitors and represents the school on its Carolina First campaign committee. He also is an honorary member of the Carolina First Campaign Steering Committee. He has been a loyal and generous donor to Carolina, with contributions to the Kenan-Flagler Business School Foundation, the Arts and Sciences Foundation and the Chancellor’s University Unrestricted Fund, among others.

Charles McKimmon (Charlie) Winston Sr. traces his Chapel Hill connections back to 1844 when the first of 14 family members attended the university. In 1960, he and partner Thad Eure Jr. opened The Angus Barn in Raleigh, which became a nationally recognized dining establishment. He parlayed his restaurant success into Creative Dining Food Systems, later acquired by the General Mills Restaurant Group. His next venture, WJS Management Inc., grew into Winston Hotels, now a public, multi-million dollar real estate investment trust that currently owns or is invested in 51 hotels with 7,185 rooms in 15 states. Winston is chairman of the board.

Winston served on the Board of Visitors from 1985 to 1989 and was elected board chair of the General Alumni Association in 1998. He also has served on the Board of Visitors for the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He and his wife, Flo, have worked for the Arts and Sciences Foundation -- he as former vice chair and she as a current board member. In 1986, Winston and his brother, James, established the Robert W. Winston Distinguished Professorship in the College to honor their father. A long-standing participant in the Educational Foundation, Winston became chair of its executive committee in 2003. He has been a member of the National Development Council and is currently a member of the Carolina First Campaign Steering Committee. In 2000, he received the Distinguished Service Medal.

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Photo URLs:

· http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/event/award/davie04/beech_harvey.jpg
· http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/event/award/davie04/hardin_paul.jpg
· http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/event/award/davie04/harrison_william.jpg
· http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/event/award/davie04/winston_charles.jpg

Development Communications contact: Scott Ragland, 919-962-0027, scott_ragland@unc.edu

News Services contact: Lisa Katz, 919-962-2093