Two College of Arts and Sciences professors — Richard “Pete” Andrews and J. Steven Reznick — have been inducted into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. The honor, created in 1963, is among the most prestigious awards presented by the governor of North Carolina for extraordinary public service to the state.
Andrews received the award this spring, and Reznick was recognized this fall. Both are Carolina alumni.
Andrews received his undergraduate degree from Yale, then a master’s and Ph.D. from the UNC department of city and regional planning. Reznick received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UNC, then earned a master’s from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Andrews, professor emeritus in the department of public policy, has focused his research and teaching on environmental policy in the United States and worldwide, including writing a book on the history of U. S. environmental policy. His most recent work includes research on state policy innovations for addressing air pollution reduction, energy efficiency, renewable energy and global climate change, and on energy behavior in business organizations.
In addition to teaching environmental policy at UNC-Chapel Hill for 34 years, Andrews formerly served as chair of the faculty, chair of public policy, director of the Institute for Environmental Studies and on the executive committee of the Faculty Council.
Beyond the University, Andrews has served on numerous national study committees on the topics of environmental policy and climate change.
He was a member of North Carolina’s Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change. He was also a senior staff member for the Governor’s Commission on the Future of North Carolina, chaired by UNC President William Friday, from 1982 to 1985. He previously served as a member of the Pollution Prevention Research Advisory Committee, and as an adviser and research partner with the Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, among many other state activities.
In 2013, Andrews published a definitive research study of the history and implementation of North Carolina’s landmark Clean Smokestacks Act.
“It means so much to me to have spent most of my adult life in a university that seeks to hold itself to such high values of public higher education, public service and collegiality in its daily life — and in helping to build strong communities of faculty and students in environmental studies and public policy,” Andrews said.
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Reznick, professor in the department of psychology and neuroscience, has focused his research on studying infant cognitive development and early development of autism. He received the Cognitive Development Society’s Achievement Award for founding that organization.
With colleagues, Reznick developed the well-recognized assessment tool known as the First Year Inventory, designed to identify infants who will eventually receive a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and to help find effective interventions.
In recent years, Reznick has turned his attention to researching amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Reznick was diagnosed with ALS in October 2013. Since that time, he has served on several national committees related to ALS and has been involved in or been the inspiration for a wide range of ALS events, including ice bucket challenges at UNC and beyond.
He and his wife Donna Kaye were participants in a fall UNC Program in the Humanities and Human Values seminar on “How Illness Changes our Lives and How the Humanities Change our Illness.”
Reznick served as associate dean for First Year Seminars at Carolina from 2007 to 2013. UNC has been
repeatedly recognized by U.S. News & World Report for its outstanding first-year seminar experiences.
He is the former director of the Developmental Psychology Program and the recipient of significant honors from UNC including the Order of the Golden Fleece and the C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award. He serves on and is former president of the UNC Faculty-Staff Recreation Association Board of Directors and is the former chair of the Faculty Athletics Committee.
Daniel Gitterman, chair and Thomas Willis Lambeth Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, was a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2013. He said of Reznick at his induction ceremony in November:
“Steve knows how to bring people together — and how to work for a common purpose. That’s his Carolina Way,” Gitterman said. “And now — confronting an unexpected diagnosis — he leads us again. He has transformed adversity into efforts to raise awareness and to educate us all.”
