On November 1, 2014, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education presented Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Senior Fellow Tom Lambeth with its Peabody Award, the School’s highest honor.
The Peabody Award recognizes outstanding individuals who have made extraordinary impacts on the field of education. Individuals chosen for this award demonstrate a commitment to local education issues of the state of North Carolina and/or national issues and problems confronting education. Previous recipients include Governor James B. Hunt, William C. Friday, Julius Chambers, and Dean Smith.
Lambeth has received countless awards throughout his career and his work has left a profound impact on generations of North Carolinians. During his 23-year tenure as executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation from 1978 until 2001, he helped facilitate more than 380 grants exceeding $27 million to the 16 UNC campuses, General Administration, UNC Press and UNC-TV, as well as many more millions to other educational institutions. In 2002, the Foundation established a distinguished UNC-Chapel Hill professorship in public policy in his name.
In his remarks upon receiving the Peabody award, Lambeth shared the indelible memory of a good friend, Ed Wilson, who was recently recognized by the NC Humanities Council for his distinguished career at Wake Forest University. "Ed payed tribute to his North Carolina history teacher, Mr. Jones, who would start every class by saying, 'the public schools are the glory of North Carolina.' He was right. I am grateful to have been a part of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation's commitment to strengthening that North Carolina treasure through the Foundation’s history," said Tom Lambeth.
Lambeth accepted the award during an annual dinner celebration in Chapel Hill. His remarks can be found here.