September 21, 2006
Chapel Hill, N.C. — Alumni Barbara and Pitt Hyde have
pledged $5 million to endow the Academic Leadership Program in the
Institute for the Arts and Humanities in the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill's College of Arts and Sciences and to name the
program for Ruel W. Tyson.
Tyson, long-time director of the Institute, stepped down in June
after being at the helm for nearly 20 years. A religious studies
professor, Tyson will continue to teach at the university, following a
one-year research leave. He was appointed by Gillian Cell, then-dean of
the College, to serve as the Institute's first director.
Barbara Hyde, a 1983 UNC-Chapel Hill alumna, is president of the
J.R. Hyde III Family Foundation and director of the J.R. Hyde Sr.
Foundation of Memphis, Tenn. She also chairs the Institute's advisory
board and serves on UNC's board of trustees. Pitt Hyde graduated from
UNC in 1965. The Hyde family gave the lead gift to build the Institute
a new home in 2002 -- in Hyde Hall on McCorkle Place.
The Hydes' new $5 million gift will allow for expansion of the
institute's Academic Leadership Program. It is the largest single gift
to the institute. The Academic Leadership Program prepares faculty for
academic, intellectual and institutional leadership roles at the
university and provides ongoing support for faculty who have assumed
such positions.
"In my year on the board of trustees, I've come to understand how
important faculty retention is to the future of the university. It's a
top priority," Barbara Hyde said. "As we thought about what makes a
faculty member want to stay at Carolina, a big piece of that is having
faculty leaders and mentors and administrators who understand the life
of a faculty member and who are committed to supporting that in
meaningful ways."
"The Hyde family has a deep and abiding commitment to education, but
it's not just money that the Hydes give," said Madeline G. Levine,
interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "They give of their
time, energy and ideas and share their experiences in retention and
training of leaders through their own family business. We are grateful
to the Hydes for this gift and for the real partnership that exists
between them and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities."
Since the Academic Leadership Program's inception in 2002, 42
leadership Fellows from the College of Arts and Sciences and other
parts of the university have benefited from the program. Eight to 10
leadership fellows are chosen annually.
Fellows participate in a semester-long seminar where they discuss
critical issues facing the university and faculty members'
participation in university life. They undergo a week of leadership
training at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro and
participate in two overnight retreats focused on career development,
leadership skills assessment and personal vision. They continue to meet
as an ongoing forum of fellows, offering mutual support to each
other.
The Ruel W. Tyson Academic Leadership Program will offer expanded
opportunities for faculty career development as well as new programs
designed for university administrators, department chairs and new
faculty.
John McGowan, the new director of the Institute, is particularly
excited about the new programs. He said there are specific leadership
goals associated with being a department chair, for instance.
"It's a complex job," said McGowan, an English scholar and The Ruel
W. Tyson Jr. Distinguished Professor of Humanities. "We want to help
make chairs aware of the fact that there are different needs in the
different career stages for their faculty."
The Hydes' gift counts toward the Carolina First Campaign, a
comprehensive, multi-year, private fund-raising campaign with a goal of
$2 billion to support Carolina's vision of becoming the nation's
leading public university.
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