A former Chapel Hill Mayor was honored by Governor Pat McCrory earlier this month.

Howard Lee served as Mayor of Chapel Hill from 1969 through 1975. He was the first African – American to be elected of a predominantly white Southern town.

Lee was then appointed the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Community Development from 1977 – 1981.

Lee also served as the state Senate in two stints from 1990 – 1994 and 1996 – 2002 and was chair of the State Board of Education in 2003.

For all of these reasons, Lee was honored for his years of public service by Governor Pat McCrory with the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor.

Lee said he was not expecting the recognition.

“I was working in my office at home and got this call from the Secretary of Cultural Resources, which is now Natural and Cultural Resources, informing me that I had been chosen for the award,” he recalls. “Which was a surprise because, frankly, I hadn’t even thought about it and didn’t even know I had been nominated.

“But it was certainly a pleasant surprise and one that I cherish very much.”

Lee, who now serves on the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute Board, says, while this is by no means the first honor he has received for his years of service, it is likely the most impactful on him.

“I’ve been given hundreds of awards, and I’ve appreciated them all, but to be chosen to receive the North Carolina Award, in my opinion, is the holy grail of awards in North Carolina,” Lee says, “because it’s the highest civilian award.

“I, frankly, didn’t know that my contributions would reach that level because there have been some absolutely distinguished individuals who have received that.”

Lee notes that anytime you receive an award that has also been given to Frank Porter Graham, it places the recognition in rarefied air.

Lee says he gets reenergized traveling across the state and seeing those who are willing to sacrifice their time, energy and expertise for the good of their communities and the state, as a whole.

“We hear a lot about the negatives but there are an awful lot of good things going on,” he says. “I’m especially proud of Chapel Hill that has continued to carry on the legacy of trying to improve opportunities for people in our community and to respond to the very basic needs in our community.”

Lee says the award transcends what he has done and is representative of our community.

“I think the governor really said it in the perfect way,” Lee says. “He said, ‘You’re not getting this for you. You’re getting it because you’ve been such an inspiration to other people.’

“And I think that’s what it’s all about.”

Chapel Hill radiologist Dr. A. Everette James Jr., Anthony S. Abbott, of Davidson, Dr. Anthony Atala, of Winston – Salem, Senator James T. Broyhill, of Winston Salem, and Patricia McBride, of Charlotte, also received the honor earlier this month.

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