UNC’s General Alumni Association awarded three members with the 2016 Distinguished Service Medal.

The honorees were John Burress III, retired president of J.W. Burress, Inc. construction machinery; Charlie Loudermilk, retired owner of Aaron Rents furniture and equipment rental company; and Jordy Whichard, former publisher and editor of the Greenville Daily Reflector.

Burress was an original supporter of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in the 1980s and also an early contributor to the construction of the Dean E. Smith Center.

Loudermilk is the namesake of the Loudermilk Center for Excellence in Kenan Stadium, where student-athletes train and study.

Whichard led a comprehensive review of the fraternity system that brought about several reforms aimed at maintaining student safety and strengthening governance.

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