William C. Friday
William C. Friday | |
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Friday in 1961
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Born | William Clyde Friday July 13, 1920 Raphine, Virginia |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Bill Friday |
Alma mater | North Carolina State University University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Occupation | Educator, TV Host |
Known for | 1st President of the University of North Carolina System |
Term | 1956-1986 |
Predecessor | J. Harris Purks |
Successor | C.D. Spangler |
Spouse(s) | Ida Howell Friday |
William Clyde "Bill" Friday (July 13, 1920 – October 12, 2012) was an American educator who served as the head of the University of North Carolina system from 1956 to 1986. He was born in Raphine, Virginia and raised in Dallas, North Carolina.
Friday graduated from Dallas High School in Dallas, North Carolina, where he played baseball and basketball. He held a bachelor's degree in textile manufacturing from North Carolina State University and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While attending NCSU, Friday was elected president of the senior class of 1941.[1] He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Friday served in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II.
His entire professional life was spent in higher education. Friday was assistant dean of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1948 to 1951, assistant to the President of the Consolidated University of North Carolina Gordon Gray from 1951 to 1955, then Secretary of the University of North Carolina system, and acting president from 1956 to 1957, when he was chosen to take the position permanently.
Friday was the founding co-chairman of the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.[2]
After retirement, Friday remained an influential voice in North Carolina and hosted a public television talk show, North Carolina People, which he began while still president of the University system. In 2012, the show began its 42nd season.[3] When Friday endorsed Erskine Bowles as the new president of the University in 2006, it was seen as helping "seal the deal" for Bowles to get the post.
Several educational institutions, or units of larger institutions, are named in Friday's honor. William C. Friday Middle School is located in Dallas, in Gaston County, Friday's home county. The William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation is located on the campus of North Carolina State University at Raleigh. The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education is located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He died in his sleep on October 12, 2012, UNC's University Day, aged 92.[2]
References
External links
- Civil Rights Greensboro: William C. Friday
- UNC-TV Biographical Conversation
- North Carolina Now October 15, 2012: William C. Friday Remembered on YouTube
- Oral History Interviews with William C. Friday [1], [2], [3], [4] from Oral Histories of the American South
- Inventory of the William C. Friday Papers, 1942-1999, at the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation
- William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- 1920 births
- 2012 deaths
- North Carolina State University alumni
- Presidents of the University of North Carolina System
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
- People from Rockbridge County, Virginia
- People from Gaston County, North Carolina
- National Humanities Medal recipients
- American educators
- American television personalities
- American military personnel of World War II