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The School of Communications on Wednesday announced the appointments of two associate deans, with associate professors Don Grady and Kenn Gaither assuming their new responsibilities on June 1. Associate professor Jessica Gisclair will succeed Grady as the school’s department chair.

Allen E. Gant Jr., chief executive officer of Burlington, N.C.-based Glen Raven, Inc., a global provider of innovative fabric-based solutions, was honored at a March 30 campus luncheon with the Frank S. Holt, Jr. Business Leadership Award, ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s highest honor for business leadership.

Rebecca Smith, a sophomore journalism major and features editor of The Pendulum student newspaper, was one of nine students nationwide to be selected for a Scripps Howard Foundation 10-day journalism study trip to Japan in its annual Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition.

North Carolina U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a first term Republican seeking re-election in November, is the most recognizable name and has the highest favorability ratings in a crowded field of candidates looking to win his seat, according to the latest ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Poll.

National Public Radio's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, delivering ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law's spring 2010 Bryan Leadership Lecture, said the Supreme Court had become more divided and more activist than at any time in recent memory, and that major policy objectives of the Obama administration could be dismantled in years ahead by federal courts largely populated by Republican era appointees.

With decision time nearing on healthcare legislation in Congress, North Carolinians continue to believe that the nation's healthcare system is in need of reform, according to the latest ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Poll.

Nina Totenberg, National Public Radio's award-winning legal affairs correspondent, will deliver the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ School of Law spring 2010 Joseph M. Bryan Distinguished Leadership Lecture on Tuesday evening, March 16.

Pamela M. Kiser, Watts-Thompson Professor in the Department of Human Service Studies and interim dean of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ College, the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s fourth Distinguished University Professor.

At its March 2 meeting, the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Board of Trustees approved faculty tenure and promotions and learned about faculty who will receive lecture track appointments. Read this note for the full lists.

Alison Morrison-Shetlar, vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla., has been named dean of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ College, the College of Arts and Sciences, and professor of biology at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ. Her appointment by Provost Steven House comes after a national search.