Distinguished Service Awards
UNC Greensboro is built on a tradition of service. Not only is “Service” the University’s motto, it is our way of life. In honor of our unwavering commitment to service, the UNCG Board of Trustees annually confers upon deserving North Carolinians the University’s highest honors in recognition of exemplary public service and civic engagement.
UNCG’s Distinguished Service Awards celebrate those who embody the ideals of committed public servants. Past and future recipients inspire the University community toward greater service.
Charles Duncan McIver Medal
The Charles Duncan McIver Medal, named for the University’s founder and first chancellor, honors North Carolinians for exceptional service to the state or beyond.
Adelaide F. Holderness/
H. Michael Weaver Award
The Adelaide F. Holderness/H. Michael Weaver Award, named for Adelaide Holderness ’34, the first woman to serve on its Board of Trustees, and H. Michael Weaver, a long-time UNCG supporter who served the University in many capacities, recognizes a North Carolinian for outstanding service to the Triad or greater Greensboro community.
The 2025 Honorees
ED KITCHEN
2025 Holderness/Weaver Award Honoree
Ed Kitchen joined the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation in 2006 and currently serves as its vice president and chief operating officer and as a board member. His work there has focused on education, from early childhood development to enhancing Greensboro’s higher education assets. He was the founding chair of Gateway Research Park, which houses the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, and was also a leader of funding, design, and development of Union Square Campus in downtown Greensboro.
His work at the foundation follows a three-decade career with the City of Greensboro that included 10 years as city manager. In that role, he fostered the city’s financial security, advanced the revitalization of Downtown GSO, and implemented the city’s first comprehensive plan for growth management.
Kitchen has been a member of numerous organizations including the Cone Health Board of Trustees, Carolina Bank board, UNC Chapel Hill School of Government Foundation, Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Greater Greensboro, Action Greensboro, NC A&T Board of Visitors, UNC Chapel Hill Board of Visitors, Greensboro Sports Foundation, Greensboro Rotary, and the United Arts Council.
A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with an undergraduate degree in political science and a master’s in public administration, he has received awards and recognition including the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the Thomas Z. Osborne Award from the Chamber of Commerce, an honorary doctor of humanities from NC A&T, the Downtown Greensboro Ed Kitchen Leadership Award, the J. Edward Kitchen Public Administration Endowed Scholarship at UNC Chapel Hill, and honorary lifetime member of the NC City/County Management Association.
Linda Arnold Carlisle ’72
2025 Charles Duncan McIver Medal Honoree
Linda Arnold Carlisle – businesswoman, community volunteer, and leader – is recognized as a prominent public servant and influencer in North Carolina.
In her career at Bank of America, she began as a branch manager and finished as a vice president. Following her banking career, she and her husband established Copier Consultants, an office equipment dealership in central and western North Carolina. CCI was one of the most profitable copier dealers in the country and was sold to a Fortune 200 company.
As Secretary of the NC Department of Cultural Resources from 2009 until 2013, she worked on the local, state, and national levels to enhance understanding of the role of the arts in creating a dynamic environment for economic development. In 2012, she was appointed to the US Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. She also served on the boards of Marsh Furniture, Inc., and Our State Magazine and on the advisory board of Biscuitville, Inc.
Her community service includes service on the UNCG Board of Trustees and the Bryan School Advisory Board, in addition to the boards of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the Kenan Institute for the Arts, Triad Stage, and Lillian’s List. She also served on the UNC School of the Arts Board of Trustees, NC Education Lottery Commission, and UNC-TV Board of Directors and chaired the Tarheel Girl Scouts’ Capital Campaign.
At UNCG, she has chaired the Excellence Foundation and the Board of Visitors. She co-chaired UNCG’s Students First Capital Campaign.
She has three named funds at the University: The Linda Arnold Carlisle Research Endowment in Women’s Studies, The Linda Arnold Carlisle Graduate Fellowship Endowment, and The Linda Arnold Carlisle Distinguished Excellence Professorship for Women’s and Gender Studies. She received UNCG’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 2001, and, in 2019, she was awarded the UNCG’s Lifetime Achievement Award by the Alumni Association.