A look back at 2017

From national academic rankings and national championships to alumni reaching great heights and new initiatives that will support students, 2017 was another memorable year for the Carolina community.

• Carolina continued to rack up national rankings throughout 2017.
  • For the 17^th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report rated Carolina as the fifth best public school in the nation.
  • The Wall Street Journal and the London-based Times Higher Education ranked Carolina third among public universities in graduate success and student learning.
  • Carolina was also named the best value in American public higher education, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance for the 17^th straight time.

• For the first time in the University’s 224-year history, Carolina surpassed $1 billion in annual research expenditures as researchers took on some of the world’s biggest challenges including HIV, cancer and autism.
• The University launched an ambitious fundraising drive that seeks to raise $4.25 billion over the next five years. “For All Kind: the Campaign for Carolina,” will help lead Carolina into the future through research and scholarship, example and ethos. The campaign has already raised more than $1.8 billion.
• Chancellor Carol L. Folt introduced the Blueprint for Next, Carolina’s strategic framework that will guide the University during the next decade.
• Carolina alumnus Sheldon Peck and his wife, Leena, presented the Ackland Art Museum with the museum’s largest gift on Jan. 25. The couple donated an $8 million endowment and 134 original Dutch and Flemish drawings – including seven Rembrandts – valued at $17 million.
• Established by Folt and led by Special Assistant to the Chancellor for the Arts Emil Kang, Carolina launched its Arts Everywhere initiative in April. Arts Everywhere is designed to embed the arts into the University’s teaching, research and service.
• The University was recognized for its dedication to access and affordability on June 19 when the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation awarded Carolina the 2017 Cooke Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence. Carolina is the first public university to receive the Cooke Foundation’s $1 million award, which recognizes success in enrolling low-income students and supporting them through graduation.
• The current and former Tar Heels excelled in the sports world throughout 2017, winning ACC titles, a national championship and the New York City Marathon.
  • A year after a last-second loss in the national championship, Carolina’s men’s basketball team returned to the NCAA finals and beat Gonzaga for the program’s seventh title.
  • In May, the women’s tennis team defeated Georgia Tech to earn its eighth ACC championship in program history. The same day, both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams won their own ACC titles. The women’s team defeated Syracuse for its second championship in two years, while the men topped Notre Dame for the 13^th ACC championship in team history.
  • The Tar Heels won ACC titles in bulk in November as well with the field hockey team and women’s soccer team both winning championships Nov. 5. The wins were the 20^th title for field hockey and the 21^st for women’s soccer.
  • On Nov. 5, Carolina alumna and four-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan became the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon in 40 years. Flanagan finished the race with a time of 2:26:53.
• Two-time Carolina alumna Zena Cardman was named a member of NASA’s most recent class of astronauts. She reported to Johnson Space Center in August to begin two years of training before she will officially become eligible for NASA missions.
• Robert Blouin was named the provost and executive vice chancellor of the University in August. Blouin succeeded Jim Dean, who stepped down in September after serving four years in the position.
• Carolina officials joined student-veterans in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the Carolina Veterans Resource Center on Sept. 28. The space, which is located on South Campus in Odum Village, will serves as a central location for services focused on their needs such as assistance finding and applying for specialized scholarships.
• The UNC Institute of Marine Sciences celebrated a milestone in 2017, commemorating 70 years of research on Oct. 21. The institute serves the state and the nation by conducting cutting-edge research, training young scientists, providing expertise to governmental agencies and industry and promoting new knowledge to inform public policy.
• The Black Student Movement celebrated its 50^th anniversary on Nov. 7. After five decades of striving for progress, the group continues to push the University forward and provide a voice for black issues to make Carolina inclusive for everybody.
• Although the year presented much to celebrate, the University mourned the loss of a Nobel Prize laurate and former chancellor.
  • Oliver Smithies, the School of Medicine’s Weatherspoon Eminent Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, passed away after a short illness Jan. 10. In 2007, Smithies became the University’s first full-time faculty member to win a Nobel Prize. He received the honor for his development of a technique that makes it possible to introduce targeted genetic modifications to cells.
  • Chancellor Emeritus Paul Hardin III, who led the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during its Bicentennial Observance, passed away July 1 after a battle with ALS.He was 86.