UNC-Chapel Hill trustees honor six with prestigious Davie Awards

On Nov. 4, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees Chair David Boliek Jr. announced six recipients of the Board’s highest honor, which recognizes individuals who exemplify dedication, commitment and service to the University.

The six recipients of the 2021 William Richardson Davie Award are North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper of Raleigh; Robyn Shernita Hadley of Charlottesville, Virginia; Jean Almand Kitchin of Rocky Mount; North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore of Kings Mountain; and Roy and Wanda Williams of Chapel Hill.

Established by the trustees in 1984, the William Richardson Davie Award was named for the Revolutionary War hero who introduced and won passage of a 1789 bill in the General Assembly to charter the University of North Carolina. Named for the man considered the father of UNC-Chapel Hill, the William Richardson Davie Award recognizes extraordinary service to the University or society.

• Roy Cooper ’79, ’82 (J.D.) is in his second term as North Carolina’s 75th governor. Before becoming governor, he served four terms as North Carolina’s attorney general, first taking the office in 2000. He was also a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate, including a stint as the Democratic senate majority leader. Born and reared in Nash County, Cooper attended UNC-Chapel Hill on a Morehead-Cain Scholarship. In 1997, he received a Distinguished Young Alumnus Award from the General Alumni Association. He and his wife, Kristin, have three daughters who graduated from Carolina, Hilary, Natalie and Claire.
• Robyn Shernita Hadley ’85, a first-generation college student who grew up in Graham, attended UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar and spent two years on the Tar Heels women’s basketball team. After graduating with a degree in public policy analysis, she went on to study political science as a Rhodes Scholar and was the first Black woman from North Carolina to receive a Rhodes. She received the Harvey Beech Award, recognizing Carolina’s outstanding Black alumni, and a Distinguished Service Medal from the General Alumni Association. Hadley created a nonprofit to help students navigate their way to college, and her efforts were recognized by the White House and U.S. Department of Education as a “Champion of Change.” She is now vice president and chief student affairs officer at the University of Virginia.
• Jean Almand Kitchin ’70 graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in education and taught secondary English in three school systems. She then went to work with Almand’s Drug Stores and took over as president and CEO in 1998. After selling Almand’s in October 2014, she continued as chief marketing officer until her retirement in 2017. She has hosted and produced television shows for NBC and ABC affiliates, as well as PBS, dating back 30 years. At Carolina, Kitchin has served on the Board of Trustees as both vice chair and secretary, the General Alumni Association Board of Directors as chair and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Board of Visitors as chair. She received the General Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Medal. She is married to Leland H. Kitchin III and has two sons, Brent and William, and a stepdaughter, Julie, a UNC-Chapel Hill alumna.
• Tim Moore ’92, who represents District 111, Cleveland County, in the North Carolina House of Representatives, was first elected to office in 2002. He is serving his fourth term as speaker of the house, making him the longest serving Republican house speaker in North Carolina history. He has also served on the UNC Board of Governors and the General Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. A lifelong resident of Kings Mountain, Moore received a B.A. in political science from Carolina and went on to earn a law degree at Oklahoma City University. Moore joined a law firm in Shelby after graduating from law school in 1995; he opened his own practice in Kings Mountain in 2009. He has two sons, McRae and Wilson.
• Roy ’72, ’73 (M.A.T.) and Wanda ’72 Williams met in ninth-grade algebra class at T.C. Roberson High School in their respective hometown of Asheville. They have been married for 48 years and have two children who are also Tar Heel alumni, son Scott and daughter Kimberly, as well as four grandkids. Wanda, who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in education and teaching certificate in secondary English, taught for six years in three North Carolina public school systems and oversees everything household- and non-basketball related, including the family’s generous and diverse philanthropic endeavors. The Williamses were initial spokespersons and financial backers of the Carolina Covenant, have raised more than $2.5 million through an annual Fastbreak vs. Cancer breakfast and contributed nearly $6 million to UNC-Chapel Hill in the 18 years Roy was head coach of the Tar Heel men’s basketball program, among their numerous charitable activities. Roy, whose undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill was in education, retired following the 2020-21 season, his 33rd as a college head coach, with the second-most wins in Carolina history, second-most NCAA Tournament games and wins, third-most wins by a Division I coach, fourth-most Final Fours and sixth-highest winning percentage in college basketball history, and the only coach to win 400 games at two different schools. A 2007 inductee into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Williams led Carolina to three NCAA championships, three ACC Tournament titles and nine regular-season ACC championships. He was a consensus National Coach of the Decade for 2000-09 when he won a pair of national championships and directed Kansas and Carolina to five Final Four appearances. He is a recipient of a Distinguished Service Medal from the General Alumni Association.