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As a graduate student at Carolina, Thomas Wadden ‘81 (Ph.D.) studied under both Grant Dahlstrom, Kenan Professor of Psychology, and David Galinsky, professor and clinical supervisor of psychology. Wadden has followed in his mentors’ footsteps in not just becoming a distinguished professor of psychology, but giving back to Carolina.
Wadden established the Thomas A. Wadden Award for Training in Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology, which will provide partial support for a clinical psychology graduate student working in these fields while completing graduate studies. The award may also be presented to a faculty member to advance their knowledge in this area.
As part of the same gift, a second award, for distinguished research in behavioral medicine and health psychology, will be presented biennially to a clinical psychology graduate student for recognition of research achievement in the field.
“Starting research in graduate school is really a high-wire act,” Wadden said. “First, you’ve got to get a good idea, then you’ve got to turn it into an operational, testable hypothesis, and you need a mentor to help you do that. You need funding to conduct your research and hope that you’ll find results consistent with your hypothesis. I want to recognize these young investigators and encourage them to stick with it.”
Frank Ivy Carroll ’61 (Ph.D.) has led a celebrated career in chemistry — from starting off as a research chemist at the newly formed RTI International in 1960 to director of RTI’s Center for Organic and Medicinal Chemistry in 2007.
With over 500 publications and 50 patents to his name, Carroll claims that his greatest achievement is his work with postdoctoral researchers. “Teaching or mentoring the next generation was the best thing I did,” Carroll said. “That really is what I think was my biggest contribution to this world.”
Carroll has served on several professional and scientific boards at Carolina, including the Department of Chemistry Advisory Board and The Graduate School’s Graduate Education Advancement Board. He has been a longtime supporter of Summer Research Fellowships at The Graduate School; fellowships that provide summer financial support to doctoral students so they may focus exclusively on their dissertation research.
“It was a struggle for me to get an education,” Carroll said. “I wanted to help people out so they didn’t have to struggle as much as I did. I wanted to help our next generation of leaders. All of my contributions go to education.”
John Hood Summey ’62 and his late wife, Edith "Edie" Shuford Summey ’62, met as high school classmates in Gastonia, North Carolina. They both attended Carolina as undergraduates and began courting their junior years.
Despite being “Tar Heel born and Tar Heel bred,” John and Edie didn’t limit themselves to the Old North State, traveling extensively throughout their lives. They went to every continent and subcontinent, visiting over 80 individual countries.
John and Edie’s passions for travel and education are reflected in their accrued $4 million gift, which endowed the John Hood and Edith Shuford Summey Honors Carolina Scholarship Fund and the John Hood and Edith Shuford Summey Honors Carolina Study Abroad Scholarship Fund at UNC-Chapel Hill. The Honors Carolina Scholarship Fund will provide four years of support to undergraduates in the College of Arts & Sciences. The Study Abroad Scholarship Fund will support undergraduates who participate in Honors Carolina summer programs in international locations.
“We greatly valued the high quality of education we received and the experiences we had at Carolina,” John said. “It is our hope that the students who experience the opportunities provided by these scholarships will also value their education, become loyal alumni and alumnae, and perhaps someday establish a scholarship program of their own.”
