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FOR RELEASE AT WILL
November 12, 2004
Holshouser Honored for Service to Higher Education
CHAPEL HILL -- Former North Carolina Governor James E. Holshouser, Jr., of Southern Pines is the 2004 recipient of the University Award, the highest honor given by the Board of Governors of the 16-campus University of North Carolina.
UNC President Molly Corbett Broad and awards committee chair J. Craig Souza of Raleigh presented the award, which recognizes illustrious service to higher education in North Carolina, during a banquet last evening (Nov. 11) at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the evening, a special tribute was offered to Holshouser by Phillip J. Kirk, Jr., president of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry (NCCBI).
Holshouser was honored for a lifetime of public service and progressive leadership, including stalwart support for education at all levels.
A native of Watauga County, Holshouser graduated from Davidson College in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in history and later received his law degree from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law. He began his political career in 1963, when he was elected to the first of four terms in the N.C. House of Representatives. He was elected governor in 1973 – North Carolina’s first Republican governor since 1896 and one of only two in the 20th century.
As governor, Holshouser was a champion for educational improvement at all levels, presiding over the consolidation of the 16-campus University of North Carolina that had been mandated by the 1971 session of the General Assembly and establishing a statewide public kindergarten program. His administration also advanced the State’s first capital funding for the community college system since its inception. The veterinary school at NC State University was created during his gubernatorial tenure, as was the statewide network of nine Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), now considered a national model for health-care training and delivery.
In 1979, Holshouser was elected to an eight-year term on the UNC Board of Governors and was re-elected to a four-year term when state legislation was changed in 1987. Since 1991, he has served as a member emeritus under special legislation that preserves this status for Board members who are former governors of North Carolina. During his 25 years on the Board – the longest continuous tenure of any member – he has served as chairman of both the Budget and Finance and the Personnel and Tenure Committees.
In addition, Holshouser was tapped by his colleagues to head the search that led to the 1997 election of Molly Broad as UNC president. He later served as an honorary co-chair for the 2000 Higher Education Bond Campaign, which resulted in the landslide passage of a $3.1-billion bond issue – the largest in the history of American higher education – for capital construction on UNC and community college campuses.
Holshouser has chaired the St. Andrews Presbyterian College board of trustees and served on the board of Davidson College, where he also led a successful $50-million capital fundraising campaign. He currently serves on the Development Foundation of the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching.
Himself a kidney transplant recipient, Holshouser is a former member of the board of directors for the United Networks for Organ Sharing, a national organization that facilitates all organ transplants performed in the United States. He also has served as chairman of the board of the Matter of Life Corporation, Inc., a group formed to increase statewide education and involvement for organ and tissue transplantation.
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