The University of North Carolina Wilmington will award honorary Doctor of Humanities degrees to three outstanding philanthropists during spring 2008 commencement ceremonies on May 10 in Trask Coliseum.

Irwin "Ike" Belk and Barbro and Bernard Osher will receive honorary degrees for their exceptional service to UNC Wilmington and their contributions in furthering educational opportunities for students and lifelong learners.

The Oshers

Barbro and Bernard Osher have been heavily involved in philanthropic work in the United States as well as Barbro's native country of Sweden. To support continued learning for older adults, they founded the Bernard Osher Foundation to support continuing education programs at colleges and universities across the nation.

To date, the foundation has established and funded 119 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI), including one at UNC Wilmington in partnership with the Division for Public Service and Continuing Studies. The Bernard Osher Foundation provided $1 million to endow the OLLI at UNCW, which provides non-credit university courses, seminars, lectures, travel excursions and other educational opportunities to adult learners. The Oshers also established an endowed scholarship at UNCW that provides financial assistance for non-traditional, re-entry students.

The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation supports Swedish-related cultural and educational projects in North America and Sweden. Bernard Osher is co-founder of Golden West Financial and founding director of World Savings, the second largest savings institution in the U.S., which recently merged with Wachovia.

Belk

Currently the chief executive officer of the Belk Group, Inc., Irwin "Ike" Belk has provided numerous gifts to the UNCW campus and recently established a distinguished professorship to recruit and retain outstanding School of Nursing faculty. As one of the most generous philanthropists in the state, Belk's individual contributions to higher education include hundreds of facilities, sculptures and other gifts to institutions across the country.

A former member of the N.C. House of Representatives, Belk served two terms on the UNC Board of Governors. He was appointed by former President Bill Clinton as the U.S. public delegate to the 54th United Nations General Assembly and was the president of the American Cancer Society Foundation for 40 years, for which he received its highest honor, the Merit Award, in 2002.

The Oshers will be honored during the 9:30 a.m. commencement exercise, while Belk will receive his honorary degree during the 5 p.m. exercise. Media interviews with Belk are available upon request.

Media Contacts:

Joy Davis, Marketing and Communications, 910.962.3616 or davisjc@uncw.edu