Alumnus David Gardner Frey (AB ’64, JD ‘67), is an enthusiastic supporter of UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences and all things Carolina.
“Liberal arts are at the heart of the educational mission at any great public university,” Frey said in an interview for Carolina Connections in fall 1999. “The need for private sector support has never been more critical.”
Frey serves as chairman of the Frey Foundation, established in 1974 by his parents, Edward J. and Frances T. Frey. A gift from the foundation to establish the Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the College has brought more than 30 luminaries to campus for lectures, classes, screenings, workshops, panel discussions and other activities. On March 8, 2016, Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post columnist and CNN host, will visit campus as the 2016 Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor.
Frey’s support of the visual and performing arts includes three endowed distinguished professorships in dramatic art, music and American art, which has elevated the instruction of and access to the performing and fine arts for generations of students and faculty at Carolina. The current Frey professors are: Timothy Carter, David G. Frey Distinguished Professor of Music (2002); Karen O’Brien, David G. Frey Fellow of Dramatic Art (2009); and Maggie Cao, David G. Frey Fellow in American Art (2016).
In 2013, he was awarded the University’s highest honor, the William Richardson Davie Award. A member of the Carolina First Steering Committee, the Board of Directors of the Arts and Sciences Foundation and the Bicentennial Campaign Steering Committee, he also led solicitations for private funds to supplement an $8.4 million state appropriation to complete the Center for Dramatic Art. The Ackland Art Museum, Carolina Performing Arts, the Educational Foundation and other UNC-Chapel Hill entities have also benefited from his generosity.
In 2015, he was awarded the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Service to the College of Arts and Sciences which recognizes volunteers who have served the College with “exceptional vision and leadership.”
Excerpts taken from Carolina Connections “Frey Gifts Nurture American Art Studies” by Del Helton, fall 1999, and various articles on the Arts and Sciences Foundation website.
