Honors
Wegner Recognized for ‘Special Public Mission’
GAA presents Faculty Service Award to former law dean
For her work in heightening Carolina’s engagement sending them back and forth to the student attorney
with public service, Judith W. Wegner, former faculty general.
chair and dean of the law school, received the GAA’s Wegner’s public service extended off campus, as a
Faculty Service Award for 2008. Carrboro alderman and as president of the Association
The award, established in 1990, honors faculty who of American Law
have performed outstanding service to the University Schools. She is a mem-or the alumni association. Wegner received the award ber of the Orange
Jan. 18 at the GAA Board of Directors quarterly meet- County Planning
ing. Board and serves the
Wegner served as dean of the law school from 1989 UNC System as a dele-to 1999 after working as a teacher, legal scholar and gate to the Faculty
associate dean and serving on myriad committees in Assembly. She also
her more than 25 years at Carolina. She was the first helped start the African
former dean in more than 40 years to be elected UNC Law Initiative, an
faculty chair, serving from 2003 to 2006. exchange program for
“She believes deeply in the public mission of the students in 16 U.S. law
University,” said Anne Whisnant, director of research, schools and eight law
communications and programs for the Office of schools in Africa.
Faculty Governance. “She has a strong sense of justice Wegner has been
and a sense that things can be better than they are. lauded by colleagues as
She’s an incredible dynamo about almost anything she someone who immers-takes on.” es herself in whatever
During her tenure as dean, she worked to diversify she takes on. She can
the law school’s faculty and student body. “I really felt lead a roomful of peo-that we have a special public mission, which meant not ple through complex
only what we do academically, but how we recruit and issues, all the while
how we develop students and chances to think about stitching needlepoint,
who they’re going to be in the future,” Wegner said. which is meditative for her.
As faculty chair, Wegner addressed faculty retention “She has an amazing intellect and an ability to syn-and graduate student issues and helped ensure that logo thesize great amounts of material,” said Jane Brown,
licensing revenues would support merit-based academic professor in the School of Journalism and Mass
scholarships. Communication.
Wegner helped create the University’s Public Service Wegner graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the
Roundtable, a volunteer group of faculty, staff and stu- University of Wisconsin — transferring from Mount
dents that worked to establish the UNC Center for Holyoke College in Massachusetts because she sought
Public Service. She chaired the Committee on the more focus on public service — and went to the
Status of Women — putting women’s issues on the University of California at Los Angeles for law school.
map at UNC. Among other things, the status commit- Wegner said she was lured to Carolina by the committee held interviews to look into the experience of ment of former Chancellor William Aycock ’ 37 (MA,
women on campus. “It wasn’t that there were evil peo- ’ 48 JD) to fine teaching and the University’s public
ple out there trying to beat up on anybody in particu- dimension.
lar, but a lot of it was people that weren’t conscious of “He was so committed and so beloved as a teacher,”
all these things coming together,” she said. “It seemed she said. “I had a sense of possibilities here, and fair-important at that point that there were departments minded people.”
without women faculty.” Wegner’s previous UNC honors include the Mary
Wegner also co-chaired then-Chancellor Paul Turner Lane Award and the Cornelia Phillips Spencer
Hardin’s Committee on Community and Diversity, Bell Award, which recognize contributions to women
working to cross-pollinate efforts for racial and gen- on campus, and induction into the Order of the
der diversity. Before becoming faculty chair, she served Golden Fleece, UNC’s highest honorary society. She
on the Committee on Student Conduct, working to also has received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, one
draft the version of the honor code now in use. of North Carolina’s highest civilian honors. ■
Wegner once stayed up until 2 a.m. writing drafts and — Laura Oleniacz
DAN SEARS ’ 74
Judith Wegner was the first
former dean in more than
40 years to be elected
faculty chair at UNC,
serving from 2003 to 2006.
ONLINE: A list
of previous award
winners is available at
alumni.unc.edu/awards.
