Women’s soccer team celebrates winning their 23rd national title since 2012. A $13.5 million gift from the Joan H. Gillings Foundation is supporting women student-athletes and programs at Carolina. (UNC Athletics)
In honor of …
In 2024, several gifts were made in honor of others, celebrating the connections and shared values that inspire generosity. These thoughtful contributions recognize the honorees while creating lasting impacts that reflect their legacies.
- An anonymous donor endowed a full-time conservator position at the Ackland Art Museum in honor of Dr. Ian Happer, ensuring the preservation of North Carolina’s largest art-on-paper collection. Read more about the conservator for art on paper.
- Sisters Laura Shwedo and Martha Johansson pledged over $1 million to establish the Van Weatherspoon Carolina Covenant Endowed Scholarship, honoring their late father and continuing their family’s tradition of philanthropy. Read more about the gift.
- A new professorship honoring the late Bob Ingram was awarded to Dr. Dan Reuland and will support his research on advancing cancer screening and early detection techniques. Read more about the professorship.
- A $10 million gift from Stephen H. Israel in honor of O.B. Hardison supports Honors Carolina students majoring in the humanities, aiming to spark a humanities renaissance at Carolina and enhance the future of liberal arts education. Read more about the humanities renaissance.
- The Joan H. Gillings Foundation donated $13.5 million to honor the late Joan H. Gillings’ commitment to Carolina. The gift enhances scholarships, facilities and wellness programs for women's athletics at UNC-Chapel Hill. Read more about the immediate impact of this transformational gift.
- The Elmore family established an endowment for mental health transformation in honor of psychiatrist Dr. Mary Virginia Elmore. The fund supports expanded mental health services in Western North Carolina through UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC. Read more about this force for positive change in mental health.
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Collective impact
When many people come together to give, even the smallest gifts combine to create extraordinary change. This collective generosity shows that every contribution, no matter the size, plays a vital role in achieving something great together at Carolina.
- GiveUNC 2024 was a day like no other! For 24 hours, the Carolina community came together to support a place like no other. More than 9,300 donors participated, raising over $8.6 million for UNC-Chapel Hill. Of those donors, more than 500 were student donors.
- The Pantry Bowl is an annual fundraising event where UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University come together to raise awareness of food insecurity and fundraise for their respective on-campus food pantries. In 2024, over 800 donors raised more than $70,000 for Carolina's Food Pantry Network. Since the first Pantry Bowl in 2021, this collaboration has raised $260,000+ for Carolina’s on-campus food pantries. Read more about how Pantry Bowl helps fight food insecurity on campus.
- The Carolina Student Impact Fund helped Tar Heel students who were impacted by Hurricane Helene. As of Jan. 13, 2025, the UNC Office of Scholarships and Student Aid has provided aid to more than 50 students affected by Hurricane Helene, with payments totaling $53,000. The Carolina Student Impact Fund will also be available to help Carolina students impacted by the wildfires in California. Read about why the Allisons chose to support this fund.
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Expanding research
Gifts that support research open doors to new areas of exploration and expand the boundaries of knowledge. These contributions foster innovation by providing the resources needed to deepen inquiry and pave the way for future discoveries.
- A gift from Royal Caribbean Group to the UNC Center for Galapagos Studies will support research and learning initiatives, enabling the expansion of research projects, community outreach programs and student engagement for the only university science facility of its kind in the archipelago. Read more about how this gift will enhance local programs and student experiences.
- A $1.5 million grant to the UNC Center for Galapagos Studies from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust launched the Kenan Galapagos Fellows Program. This program aims to propel research projects spanning disciplines, all aiming to help build healthy ecosystems on a changing planet. Learn about the first cohort for the Kenan Galapagos Fellows Program.
- A $1.3 million grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation is helping Carolina researchers pioneer an innovative and noninvasive way to bypass damaged brain circuitry. This extraordinary research has the potential to improve outcomes for people with brain damage. Learn about the discovery that sparked this research.
- For 40 years, The Foundation of Hope has been at the forefront of advancing mental health research, funding groundbreaking early-stage projects within UNC’s Department of Psychiatry. The Foundation has directed more than $10 million to Carolina to provide early funding for promising mental illness research. Read more about the Foundation of Hope’s support of psychiatric research.