Distinguished service awards were presented to former College of Arts & Sciences Dean Karen Gil and Alumna Barbara Hyde at a meeting of the Arts and Foundation Board of Directors on May 3.
Gil, the Lee G. Pederson Distinguished Professor of Psychology, received the 2017 William F. Little Distinguished Service Award, recognizing faculty, staff and volunteers who have served the College through their outstanding leadership.
Little was a member of the College faculty for more than 40 years, a distinguished chemist and one of the founders of the Arts and Sciences Foundation.
A proclamation praised Gil as a “devoted scholar, visionary leader and champion of the arts and sciences.” Dean Kevin Guskiewicz noted that she was a mentor to many in the College, including himself.
Gil joined the psychology faculty at UNC in 1995, served as senior associate dean for undergraduate education from 2001 to 2004, chair of the department of psychology from 2004 to 2007, and senior associate dean for social sciences and global programs from 2007 to 2009.
Some of her accomplishments during her tenure as dean from 2009 to 2015 include:
- Strengthening the academic core of the College.
- Dramatically improving Carolina’s four- and six-year graduation rates.
- Creating the first new science departments in 40 years.
- Expanding global educational offerings, adding a new master’s program in global studies.
- Enhancing the minor in entrepreneurship.
- Doubling the size of Honors Carolina.
- Encouraging institutional innovations.
- Appointing the first director of faculty diversity initiatives, and hiring more women in the sciences.
Hyde, who graduated from Carolina as a Morehead Scholar in 1983 with a double major in English and religious studies, received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Service, which recognizes those individuals who have served the College through exceptional vision, commitment and leadership. A proclamation praised her for serving “her beloved alma mater as an employee, benefactor and volunteer.”
Hyde served as executive director of the Arts and Sciences Foundation and associate dean of the College from 1987 to 1992. Guskiewicz recalled his and Hyde’s shared time serving on the search committee in 2012-13 that chose UNC’s next chancellor. “I think we did a good job picking Carol Folt; don’t you?” he asked the audience.
Some of Hyde’s accomplishments include:
- Along with her husband, Pitt:
- Providing a lead gift for Hyde Hall, the home of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, on historic McCorkle Place.
- Enhancing Honors Carolina by creating two professorships to provide the faculty necessary to increase the number of honors students.
- Endowing the IAH’s Ruel W. Tyson Academic Leadership Program in honor of her former UNC religious studies professor.
- Endowing a faculty fellowship in the IAH in 2015 that includes research funds for faculty.
- Serving in many leadership roles at the University, including:
- The external advisory board of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
- Co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Council.
- Member of the Carolina First Campaign steering committee.
- Member of the Chancellor’s Innovation Circle.
- Two terms on the Board of Trustees, including four years as vice chair.
The awards were presented by Guskiewicz and Board Chair G. Monroe Cobey.
