THOMAS WILLIS LAMBETH BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Tom Lambeth was born in Clayton NC in 1935. His North Carolina roots go back 300 years. He was educated in the public schools of High Point, Thomasville, Washington (N. C.), and Statesville. While a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he was tapped into membership in the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of the Grail, the Order of the Old Well, the Amphoterothen Society, and Phi Alpha Theta (honorary history fraternity).  After receiving his AB degree in history at Chapel Hill in 1957, Tom remained for a year in graduate school and served during that time as Director of the Graham Memorial Student Union.

After leaving Chapel Hill, he served on active duty with the U. S. Army and spent seven years as a member of the Military Police Corps of the U. S. Army Reserve. From 1959 to 1960 he was a member of the staff of the Winston-Salem Journal. He served on the campaign staff of gubernatorial candidate Terry Sanford and in the fall of that year was  assistant to the Chairman of the N. C. Democratic Party, helping manage the campaigns of nominee Sanford and presidential candidate John F. Kennedy.  From 1961 until 1965 he was Administrative Assistant to Governor Terry Sanford, being at that time the youngest principal assistant to a governor in the nation. From 1965 until 1969 he was a member of the administrative staff of the Smith Richardson Foundation in Greensboro.

In 1969 Tom became Administrative Assistant to U. S. Representative Richardson Preyer and remained in that post until 1978.  During those years he left the Preyer staff briefly to serve for several months as co-director of the successful campaign on behalf of the gubernatorial succession amendment in North Carolina.  For a brief period in 1977, in addition to his post on the Preyer staff, he also held the position of Acting Director of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U. S. House of Representatives.

From 1978 until 2001 Tom served as Executive Director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Foundation.

He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Consolidated University of North Carolina from 1969 to 1973; and served three terms on the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for two years being chairman of that Board. He holds honorary degrees from Pfeiffer University and Wake Forest University.  In 1988 the University of North Carolina presented him with a Distinguished Alumnus Award and in 1990 he was a recipient of the William Richardson Davie Award from UNC. In 1992 the University's Alumni Association presented him with a Distinguished Service Award. In 2000 UNC Greensboro awarded him the McIver Award for Public Service.  In the fall of 2001 the UNC System Board of Governors presented him with the University Award and in 2004 The NC Community College System presented him with the I. E. Ready Award. In 2002 the national Council on the Advancement of Education presented him its annual Fisher Award. In 2005 he was a recipient of the North Carolina Award in the field of public service. He holds Lifetime Achievement Awards from the North Carolina 4H Clubs and the North Carolina Action for Children and the Governor’s Award from Leadership North Carolina.

He is a trustee and officer of the Ruth Z. Fleishman Foundation and has served as chairman of the Southeastern Council of Foundations and as a member of the Board of the Council on Foundations. He was founding Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Family Philanthropy.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Reynolda House and is a member and former chair of the boards of the Public School Forum of North Carolina and of Leadership North Carolina and currently chairs the  NC Rural Center and is a member of the boards of the Center for Teaching Quality, the UNC Center for Civil Rights, North Carolina Chapter of the Environmental Defense Fund, the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation, the Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership, the North Carolina Foundation for Advanced Health Programs and the  advisory boards of the School of Social Work at UNC and the UNC Press. He is a Trustee of Winston-Salem State University.

He has served as a member of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. He served as first chairman (1985-1989) of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission. He served as Chairman of that Commission again from 1993 until 2001.  He served on the N. C. Legislative Commission on Jobs and Economic Growth, the Legislative Study Commission to study the possible conversion of Blue Cross of North Carolina from non-profit to for-profit status, the Rural Prosperity Task Force and was one of the founders of the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research. He served on the commission established by the North Carolina General Assembly to study the economic future of the state.  In 1993 he was a recipient of the Good Guys Award presented annually by the North Carolina Women’s Political Caucus

In 2002 the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation established the Thomas Willis Lambeth Distinguished Professorship at the University of North Carolina and in 2007 an anonymous donor established the Lambeth Lecture in Public Policy in his honor at the University.

He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the BB&T Funds Group, a collection of mutual funds associated with Branch Bank & Trust Company, and Chairs the Board of the BB&T Variable Insurance Fund.

Tom is married to the former Donna Brooks Irving of Raleigh and they are the parents of three children: Cathy (Mrs. Conn Michael Harrington), a 1987 graduate of Appalachian State University, who now lives in Apex; Mark Hunter, a 1989 graduate of the University of North Carolina, who lives in Lawrenceville GA; and Tom, a 1994 graduate of Lees-McRae College, who died in 2005. They have three grandchildren. The Lambeths are active members of Centenary Methodist Church in Winston-Salem.