NCBA Board of Governors Honors Bill Friday

Article Date: Friday, January 15, 2010

Written By: Russell Rawlings

Bill Friday accepts NCBA honor.

The Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association, convening on Thursday, Jan. 14, at the N.C. Bar Center, honored William C. “Bill” Friday during a special recognition luncheon.

Friday, who served three decades as president of the consolidated University of North Carolina system, is a Virginia native who spent his formative years in Dallas, N.C. Upon graduation from Dallas High School, he entered Wake Forest College and later transferred to what is now North Carolina State University, graduating in 1941. Following service in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II, Friday entered the UNC School of Law and graduated in 1948.

Although he never entered into the formal practice of law, Friday’s legal training undoubtedly served him well during an unprecedented tenure as president of the UNC system which spanned from 1956 to 1986. His lifelong commitment has indeed been in the field of higher education, where he remains a prominent voice and public figure as the host of North Carolina People on the UNC-TV network.

The recognition event featured remarks by Raleigh attorney John R. Jordan Jr., former chair of the UNC B1ard of Governors, and John R. Wester of Charlotte who currently serves as president of the NCBA.

John Jordan

Jordan’s eloquent address traced his enduring relationship with Friday back to their first day of law school in 1945. He spoke of the permanent bonds they formed with one another and many of their classmates, including Judge Dickson Phillips who was in attendance, former UNC Chancellor William Aycock who extended his regards, and the late William Dees of Goldsboro.

Similarly, Friday touched on eternal friendships that were established more than six decades ago. In closing, he made a point to accept the honor not for himself but more so for the Class of 1948, which has indeed made an indelible mark on the history of UNC and its law school.

Better still, as Wester later stated, “They changed the history of this state.”

To honor the occasion, the NCBA presented Friday with a contribution to The Betsy Friday Endowed Scholarship Fund at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. Bill and Ida Friday established the scholarship in memory of their daughter, Ida Elizabeth “Betsy” Friday, who died in 2002 at the age of 44.

In an eventful life that was all too brief, Betsy Friday gained acclaim as a Broadway producer and actress while also serving as a resident director at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art. She was also one of the School of the Arts’ most distinguished alumna, receiving her high school diploma from the School of Dance in 1975 and her bachelor’s degree from the School of Dance in 1978.

The recognition event traditionally highlights the NCBA’s winter meeting.

Friday joins a distinguished list of former honorees that includes N.C. Sen. Dan Clodfelter, John G. Medlin Jr., who chaired the Commission on the Future of Courts and Justice in North Carolina, U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., Superior Court Judge Howard Manning, AOC Director Ralph Walker and ABA President A.P. Carlton.


Note: Please excuse a brief disruption in the following video that occurs following the first speaker. This portion will be edited soon.