The North Carolina Award is the highest civilian award bestowed by the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is awarded in the four fields of science, literature, the fine arts, and public service. Sometimes referred to as the "Nobel Prize of North Carolina", the award has been given to up to nine individuals each year since 1964. The awards, provided for by chapters 140A and 143B of the North Carolina General Statutes, are chosen by the North Carolina Awards Committee appointed by the Governor of North Carolina and supervised by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
The award was designed by sculptor Paul Manship and was one of the last commissions he completed before his death.
History On June 22, 1961, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation creating the North Carolina Awards. The enacting statute provided for awards for "Literature, Science, the Fine Arts and Public Service" to be conferred upon five citizens and one former citizen of the state every year. The program was designed to be a overseen by a five-person commission appointed by the governor. The commission would in turn appoint committees for each awarding category who would select the awardees.
The award medal was designed by Paul Manship. The first five awards were issued in 1964.
Structure and process The North Carolina Award is administered by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Nominations are open to the public, though decisions are made by the North Carolina Awards Committee, which is made up of five persons appointed by the governor. Up to six awards may be conferred annually. Awardees are given a gold-plated silver medallion intended to be worn on a red, white, and blue ribbon around the neck.
Award winners
1960s 1964 Literature: Inglis Fletcher Science: John Couch Fine Arts: Francis Speight Public Service: John Morehead, Clarence Poe 1965 Literature: Paul Green, Gerald Johnson Science: Frederick A. Wolf Fine Arts: Hunter Johnson Public Service: Frank Porter Graham 1966 Literature: Bernice Kelly Harris Science: Oscar Rice Fine Arts: Arthur G. Odell Jr. Public Service: Luther Hodges 1967 Literature: Jonathan Worth Daniels Science: Carl W. Gottschalk, H. Houston Merritt Fine Arts: Benjamin F. Swalin Public Service: Albert Coates 1968 Literature: Vermont C. Royster, Charles Russell Science: Stanley Stephens Fine Arts: Hobson Pittman Public Service: Robert Lee Humber 1969 Literature: Ovid Pierce, Science: Kenneth Brinkhous Fine Arts: Charles Stanford, Jr. Public Service: May G. L. Kellenberger
1970s 1970 Literature: Frances Gray Patton Science: Philip Handler Fine Arts: Henry C. Pearson Public Service: Terry Sanford 1971 Literature: Guy Owen Science: no award Fine Arts: James Semans & Mary Semans Public Service: Capus Waynick, James E. Webb 1972 Literature: John Ehle Science: Edward David, Jr., Harold Hotelling Fine Arts: Sidney Blackmer Public Service: William Dallas Herring 1973 Literature: Helen Smith Bevington, Burke Davis Science: Ellis Cowling Fine Arts: Kenneth Ness Public Service: Samuel J. Ervin 1974 Literature: Thad Stem, Jr. Science: James Wyngaarden Fine Arts: William Fields Public Service: Ellen Black Winston 1975 Literature: Doris Betts Science: John Etchells Fine Arts: Robert Ward Public Service: William Friday 1976 Literature: Richard Walser Science: C. Clark Cockerham Fine Arts: Romare Bearden, Foster Fitz-Simons Public Service: Juanita Kreps 1977 Literature: Reynolds Price Science: Reginald Mitchiner Fine Arts: Joseph Sloane, Jonathan Williams Public Service: Elizabeth Duncan Koontz 1978 Literature: Manly Wade Wellman Science: David Sabiston, Jr. Fine Arts: Henry Kamphoefner Public Service: Robert Garvey, Jr., Harriet Tynes 1979 Literature: Harry Golden Science: Walter Gordy Fine Arts: Sam Ragan Public Service: Archie Davis, John deButts
1980s 1980 Literature: Fred Chappell Science: George Hitchings Fine Arts: Robert Lindgren Public Service: Dan Moore, Jeanelle Moore 1981 Literature: Glen Rounds, Tom Wicker Science: Vivian Stannett Fine Arts: Adeline McCall Public Service: Ralph Scott 1982 Literature: Willie Snow Ethridge Science: Floyd Denny, Jr. Fine Arts: Selma Burke, R. Philip Hanes, Jr. Public Service: Nancy Chase 1983 Literature: Heather Ross Miller Science: Frank Guthrie Fine Arts: Mary Keesler Dalton & Harry Lee Dalton Public Service: Hugh Morton 1984 Literature: Joseph Mitchell, Lee Smith Science: Robert Hill Fine Arts: Maud Gatewood, Andy Griffith Public Service: George Watts Hill 1985 Literature: Wilma Dykeman Science: Irwin Fridovich Fine Arts: Claude Howell Public Service: J. Gordon Hanes, Jr. 1986 Literature: A.R. Ammons Science: Ernest Eliel Fine Arts: Doc Watson Public Service: Joseph M. Bryan, Billy Graham Emmett McRae 1987 Literature: Maya Angelou Science: Robert Lefkowitz Fine Arts: Harvey Littleton Public Service: John T. Caldwell, Charles Kuralt 1988 Literature: Charles Eaton Science: Pedro Cuatrecasas Fine Arts: Edith London Public Service: David Brinkley, William Lee 1989 Literature: Ronald Bayes Science: Gertrude Elion Fine Arts: Loonis McGlohon Public Service: Roy Park, Maxine Swalin
1990s 1990 Literature: Leon Rooke Science: H. Keith H. Brodie Fine Arts: Bob Timberlake Public Service: Dean Colvard, Frank Kenan 1991 Literature: Robert Morgan Science: Mary Ellen Jones Fine Arts: William Brown Public Service: Elizabeth Dole, Jesse Meredith 1992 Literature: Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Science: John Madey Fine Arts: Chuck Davis Public Service: William McWhorter Cochrane, Maxwell Thurman 1993 Literature: John Hope Franklin Science: Oliver Smithies Fine Arts: Joe Cox, Billy Taylor Public Service: Eric Schopler 1994 Literature: Elizabeth Spencer Science: Marshall Edgell Fine Arts: Sarah Blakeslee Public Service: Richard Jenrette, Freda Nicholson 1995 Literature: James Applewhite Science: Clyde A. Hutchison, III, John Mayo Fine Arts: John Biggers, Kenneth Noland Public Service: Banks Talley, Jr. 1996 Literature: Betty Adcock Science: Joseph Pagano Fine Arts: Joanne Bath Public Service: Martha McKay, John L. Sanders, Robert Scott 1997 Literature: Clyde Edgerton Science: Robert Bruck Fine Arts: M. Mellanay Delhom Public Service: Thomas Kenan, III, Elna Spaulding 1998 Literature: Kaye Gibbons Science: Martin Rodbell Fine Arts: Robert Gray, Marvin Saltzman, James Taylor Public Service: Emily Harris Preyer, L. Richardson Preyer 1999 Literature: Allan Gurganus, Jill McCorkle Science: Robert Parr, Knut Schmidt-Nielsen Fine Arts: Frank L. Horton, Herb Jackson Public Service: Julia Jones Daniels, Frank Daniels, Jr., Henry Shelton
2000s 2000 Literature: William S. Powell Science: William Fletcher Fine Arts: S. Tucker Cooke Public Service: Henry Bowers, Harlan E. Boyles, James Goodmon 2001 Literature: Kathryn Stripling Byer, Shelby Stephenson Science: Royce W. Murray Fine Arts: Arthur Smith Public Service: W.W. Finlator, Robert Jordan, III 2002 Literature: Romulus Linney Science: William Anlyan Fine Arts: Cynthia Bringle, Martha Nell Hardy Public Service: Julius L. Chambers, H. G. Jones, Edwin Wilson 2003 Literature: Jaki Shelton Green Science: William E. Thornton Fine Arts: Etta Baker, Mary Ann Scherr Public Service: Frank Borden Hanes, James B. Hunt, Jr. 2004 Literature: Walter J. Harrelson, Penelope Niven Science: Annie Louise Wilkerson Fine Arts: William Ivey Long, Elizabeth Matheson Public Service: Voit Gilmore, LeRoy T. Walker 2005 Literature: Randall Kenan Science: Mansukh C. Wani Fine Arts: Bland Simpson Public Service: Joseph M. Bryan, Jr., Betty Debnam Hunt, Thomas Willis Lambeth 2006 Literature: Emily Herring Wilson, Michael F. Parker Science: Charles A. Sanders Fine Arts: William T. Williams Public Service: Roy Park, Jr., James E. Holshouser, Jr., Thomas K. Hearn, Jr. 2007 Literature: William Leuchtenburg Science: Viney Aneja, Darrel Stafford Fine Arts: Jan Davidson, Rosemary Harris Public Service: Jerry C. Cashion, Henry Frye, Burley Mitchell, Charlie Rose 2008 Literature: Charles Frazier, Margaret Maron Science: Maurice Brookhart Fine Arts: Gerald Freedman, Alexander M. Rivera Jr. Public Service: Ann Goodnight, James G. Martin, Dean Smith, Fred and Alice Stanback 2009 Literature: Gerald Barrax Science: Joseph M. DeSimone Fine Arts: Mark Peiser, Bo Thorp Public Service: Betty Ray McCain, Hugh L. McColl, Jr.
2010s 2010 Literature: Carole Boston Weatherford Science: F. Ivy Carroll Fine Arts: Robert Ebendorf, Donald Sultan Public Service: R. Michael Leonard, Margaret S. "Tog" Newman 2011 Literature: Ron Rash Science: Trudy Mackay Fine Arts: Branford Marsalis, Vollis Simpson Public Service: Charles E. Hammer, Jr., H. Martin Lancaster 2012 Literature: Gary Neil Carden Science: B. Jayant Baliga Fine Arts: Lou Donaldson, Thomas H. Sayre Public Service: Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Janice Faulkner 2013 Literature: John Hart Science: Myron S. Cohen Fine Arts: John Cram Public Service: Phil Kirk, John Harding Lucas, Walt Wolfram 2014 Literature: Lenard Moore, Alan Shapiro Science: Jagdish Narayan Fine Arts: Ira David Wood III Public Service: Betsy M. Bennett, Robert A. Ingram 2015 Literature: Anthony S. Abbott Science: Anthony Atala Fine Arts: A. Everette James, Patricia McBride Public Service: James T. Broyhill, Howard N. Lee 2016 Literature: Joseph Bathanti Science: Linda Birnbaum, Aziz Sancar, Paul L. Modrich Fine Arts: Assad Meymandi Public Service: Robert J. Brown, Jim Gardner 2017 Literature: Margaret Donovan Bauer Science: R.K.M. Jayanty Fine Arts: Philip Freelon Public Service: Loretta E. Lynch, Jane Smith Patterson, James H. Woodward 2018 Literature: Michael McFee Fine Arts: Bill Leslie, Barbara B. Millhouse Public Service: Carolyn Q. Coleman, William L. Roper, Gene Roberts 2019 Literature: Philip Gerard Fine Arts: Lawrence J. Wheeler Public Service: William J. Barber, W. Earl Britt, Deborah S. Proctor Science: Catherine M. Wilfert, M.D.
2020s 2020 Science: Ralph S. Baric, Francis S. Collins, Kizzmekia S. Corbett
2021 Fine Arts: David Holt Literature: André Leon Talley, Timothy B. Tyson Public Service: Dudley E. Flood, Maria F. Spaulding Science: Blake S. Wilson
2022 Fine Arts: Eric Church Literature: David Zucchino Public Service: Eva Clayton, Mickey Michaux Science: Priya Kishnani, Stanley Riggs
2025 Fine Arts: Woody Platt, Buddy Melton Literature: Wiley Cash Public Service: James Ferguson, Roy Williams Science: Kathie Dello
2026 Fine Arts: Beverly McIver Literature: Jason Mott Public Service: Richard Petty, Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, and Randy Woodson Science: Lindsay Zanno
See also Order of the Long Leaf Pine
References
Works cited