Richard Stevens elected to chair UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees; new members sworn in

(Chapel Hill, N.C. ­– July 15, 2019) – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees has elected Richard Y. Stevens of Cary to serve as chairman of the Board. During last week’s meeting, six other Board members were sworn in to begin their roles as trustees. The 13-member board is responsible for governing the University.

The following six trustees were sworn in to begin their four-year terms:

• Teresa Artis Neal of Cary;
• David “Dave” L. Boliek Jr. of Fayetteville;
• Gene Davis Jr. of Raleigh;
• Allie Ray McCullen of Clinton (reappointed);
• Ralph W. Meekins Sr. of Shelby;
• John P. Preyer of Chapel Hill.

A seventh board member is UNC-Chapel Hill senior Ashton Martin of Roxboro, who was sworn in May 30 and fills the ex officio seat held by Carolina’s student body president.

Terms for six of the Board’s 13 members expired this summer. N.C. Speaker of the House Tim Moore nominated Meekins Sr. to serve on the Board. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger nominated Preyer. The N.C. General Assembly elected Meekins Sr. and Preyer to the Board. The University of North Carolina System Board of Governors elected Artis Neal, Boliek Jr., Davis Jr. and McCullen to serve on the Board of Trustees.

Under Stevens’ leadership, the Board of Trustees will continue to support Interim Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiwicz and his team, including the continued implementation of the University’s strategic framework and its alignment with the UNC System’s strategic plan. The Board will also work to bolster the University’s comprehensive fundraising campaign, For All Kind: the Campaign for Carolina.

“I’m looking forward to working with this great group of individuals,” said Stevens. “We’ve had a great Board recently and those coming on today are bringing such a passion for the University.”

Richard Y. Stevens

Stevens is an attorney with the business law firm Smith Anderson in Raleigh, focusing much of his practice on government relations. A five-term state senator, Stevens represented N.C. Senate District 17 from 2003-2012. Prior to his service in the Senate, he was the county manager of Wake County and worked as a management consultant. Stevens earned his bachelor’s, master’s and J.D. degrees from Carolina, where scholarships were named for him at the UNC School of Law and the UNC School of Government. He previously served on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees from 1995-2003, including two terms as chair from 1997-1999. Stevens also served on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors from 1991-1995. He has chaired the UNC-Chapel Hill Endowment Fund, the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation, Inc., the UNC General Alumni Association, the Board of Visitors for UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Hospital and The Carolina Club. Stevens has been recognized with several distinguished awards for his service to the University and state including the UNC Distinguished Alumnus Award, the UNC General Alumni Association Distinguished Service Medal, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the William Richardson Davie Award and the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce Award for Distinguished Public Service. Stevens is a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of the Grail-Valkyries and the Order of the Old Well.

Teresa Artis Neal

Artis Neal is a media attorney at Trans World Radio in Cary, where she counsels on licensing and compliance matters, and an adjunct professor at Campbell Law School. Previously, she was vice president of business affairs at a Turner Broadcasting subsidiary in Atlanta, Georgia, and general counsel of Capitol Broadcasting Company in Raleigh. In her role at CBC, she had legal and regulatory responsibility for radio and TV stations, web and mobile entities, a satellite services provider and a Triple-A baseball team. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in economics and public policy from UNC-Chapel Hill and her MBA and J.D. from Harvard University. As a student at Carolina, she was a Pogue Scholar, active in Student Government, a resident advisor and a member of the Carolina Union Activities Board, N.C. Fellows and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. After graduating, she stayed involved at Carolina by serving on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors, the General Alumni Association Board, as chair of the Alumni Committee for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, and as a board member for UNC-TV. In 2016, Artis Neal was awarded Carolina’s Davie Award in recognition of extraordinary service to the University. As a current board member of UNC Rex Healthcare, she chairs the Quality, Patient Safety and Human Resources Committee and serves on the Audit and Compliance Committee.

David “Dave” L. Boliek Jr.

Boliek Jr. is an attorney and partner with Williford, Crenshaw, Boliek and Frangakis LLP in Fayetteville. His practice focuses on litigation and consults on healthcare issues, specifically those in the allied health field. Previously, he spent several years as an award-winning journalist, political consultant and public relations professional. Boliek Jr. also previously served as CEO of a government contracting firm and as a prosecutor in Cumberland County. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill and J.D. with honors and MBA from Campbell University. His community leadership roles have included serving on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors, Boy Scouts of America and youth sports. He currently serves as chair of the Southeast Regional Area Health Education Center and as an elder at Highland Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville.

R. Gene Davis Jr.

Davis is an attorney at Gene Davis Law PLLC in Raleigh and has more than 20 years of experience in real estate law, business formation, estate planning and estate administration. Davis earned his Bachelor of Arts with distinction in speech communications and political science and his J.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill. From 1989 to 1990, Davis served the UNC community as president of the UNC Association of Student Governments and as speaker of the UNC Student Congress. In law school, Davis was a founder and executive editor of the Banking Law Institute. He was also an editor for the Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation. Davis was inducted into the Order of the Grail, Order of the Old Well and the James E. and Carolyn B. Davis Law School Honorary Society in recognition of his service to the University. He currently serves as vice chair of the North Carolina Museum of Art’s board of trustees and as chair for the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency board of directors.

Allie Ray McCullen

McCullen is a lifelong resident of rural Sampson County and lives on a family farm in Keener. He is owner of The McCullen Group Inc., a real estate sales and appraisal firm in Clinton. He attended North Carolina State University and was inducted into the Phi Eta Sigma fraternity before transferring to UNC-Chapel Hill, where he graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. His service to the community has included serving on a number of state and federal boards and commissions, including the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Committee, and the State Banking Commission. McCullen also previously served as a member and chair of the board of Sampson Community College. Additionally, he served as a member of the Sampson Regional Medical Center board of trustees for more than 18 years and as chair for nine years. He currently serves as a member of the Sampson County Board of Health. He was first elected to the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees in 2015.

Ralph W. Meekins Sr.

Meekins Sr. is an attorney with Teddy, Meekins & Talbert, PLLC. in Shelby and has practiced for over 33 years, primarily in the area of personal injury and workers compensation. He is board-certified in civil trial advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and is also a board-certified mediator. Meekins earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Carolina in 1983 and his J.D., with distinction, from Campbell University School of Law in 1986. Meekins Sr. was a basketball manager for the Carolina men’s basketball team that won a national championship in 1982 and served as head basketball manager in 1983 for the Tar Heels. He has served on the Board of Governors for the North Carolina Bar Association, a State Bar Councilor for the North Carolina State Bar and he presently serves as a trustee for the North Carolina Bar Association’s Health Board Trust. Meekins Sr. also served as a chair for the Cleveland County YMCA, the Dover Foundation YMCA and for the Cleveland County Community Foundation. He recently served four years on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors.

John P. Preyer

Preyer is the co-founder and president of Restoration Systems in Raleigh. The environmental company specializes in wetland, steam, nutrient and habitat mitigation. Preyer previously worked in the U.S. Senate on environmental and defense issues as legislative director for Senator Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. From 2002-2006, Preyer served on the board of directors of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, a non-profit environmental group advocating for coastal rivers, creeks, and wetlands. He has been a member of the UNC Institute of the Environment’s board of visitors since 2011 and previously served on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors from 2012 to 2016.

To download photos from the swearing in portion of the Board of Trustees meeting and headshots of the newly appointed trustees, visit this link and enter the password media.

-Carolina-

About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 74 bachelor’s, 104 master’s, 65 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools including the College of Arts & Sciences. Every day, faculty, staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s nearly 336,000 alumni live in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories and 164 countries. More than 178,000 live in North Carolina.

University Communications: Carly Miller, 919-445-8555, mediarelations@unc.edu