The UNC School of Education honored three alumni at its annual Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony held Saturday, Oct. 18, at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Recognized at the event were Kathlene Holmes Campbell (’99 A.B.Ed., ’04 M.Ed.), Ph.D., chief executive officer of the National Center for Teacher Residencies; Annie Goldberg (16 B.A., ’17 M.Ed.), a school counselor at Broadview Middle School in the Alamance-Burlington School System; and Willis Padgett Whichard (’62 B.A., ’65 LL.B., J.D.), a former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice, former state legislator, and lawyer.
“Our Alumni Awards recognize members of our School community whose leadership and service continue to shape education and strengthen lives across North Carolina and beyond,” said Jill V. Hamm, Ph.D., dean of the School and William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education. “This year’s recipients — educators and leaders whose dedication to students, fellow educators, and communities — are again exceptional and reflect the School’s mission to realize the transformative power of education.”
Kathlene Holmes Campbell (’99 A.B.Ed., ’04 M.Ed.), Ph.D.
Distinguished Leadership Award
As chief executive officer of the National Center for Teacher Residencies, Kathlene Holmes Campbell leads efforts to advance the national teacher residency movement. Through consulting, policy and advocacy, and research and evaluation, NCTR helps design, launch, and sustain high-quality teacher residency programs that prepare, support, and retain aspiring educators who reflect and serve their communities.
Since its founding in 2007, NCTR has supported the creation of more than 125 teacher residency programs across 30 states and the District of Columbia, reaching 1.9 million students taught by residency graduates.
A native of Stamford, Connecticut, Campbell began her academic journey at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in early childhood intervention and family support. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Texas at Austin.
Before becoming CEO of NCTR, Campbell served as dean of education at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. There, she oversaw the departments of educational leadership, special education, and teacher education, as well as the charter school authorizing unit and the Minnesota Institute for Trauma Informed Education.
Campbell also served as a program director at NCTR, leading initiatives that supported colleges of education in California transitioning to teacher residency or clinically based preparation models. She also held leadership roles at Florida State College at Jacksonville, where she directed alternative certification programs, revised curricula, and oversaw early childhood education courses.
A former classroom teacher in North Carolina and Florida, Campbell has taught at the elementary and university levels in several states, dedicating her career to preparing and supporting educators who make a difference in their communities.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards recognizes exceptional service in furthering the mission and programs of the School. The recipient will have demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing the learning opportunities available to the School’s community of alumni, faculty, and students.
Annie Goldberg (’16 B.A., ’17 M.Ed.)
Young Alumna Award
Since earning her bachelor of arts in psychology in 2016 and master of education in School Counseling in 2017, Annie Goldberg has dedicated her career to supporting students and strengthening the school counseling profession in North Carolina.
Goldberg serves as a school counselor at Broadview Middle School in the Alamance-Burlington School System, where she applies a strengths-based approach to help students and families recognize their abilities and build positive outcomes.
Beyond her school community, Goldberg has held leadership roles with the North Carolina School Counselor Association and the North Carolina Association of Educators’ Student Services Division, and she was appointed to Governor Stein’s Advisory Council on Student Safety and Well-being. She has presented at state and national conferences on trauma-informed practices, data use, and school counselor advocacy.
Nationally, Goldberg was selected for the U.S. Department of Education’s School Ambassador Fellowship program, collaborating with other educators to promote student mental health and academic success. She is also National Board Certified and one of only 57 school counselors in the nation to earn the prestigious ASCA-Certified School Counselor® designation in 2024.
Goldberg’s excellence has been recognized through numerous honors, including being named the 2023 Alamance-Burlington School System School Counselor of the Year, the 2024 North Carolina School Counselor of the Year, and a 2026 finalist for the American School Counselor Association’s National School Counselor of the Year award.
The Young Alumnus/Alumna Award recognizes a recent graduate from the UNC School of Education who has shown outstanding leadership and/or exceptional commitment to the education of children. The recipient of this award personifies the mission of the School of Education by emphasizing the interconnectedness of homes, schools, and communities through both professional and volunteer work.
Willis Padgett Whichard (’62 B.A., ’65 LL.B., J.D.)
Peabody Award
Willis Padgett Whichard has dedicated his life to public service, education, and the law, values inspired by his parents, both longtime educators. His father served as a teacher and principal for 36 years, and his mother taught for 21 years, instilling in him a lifelong commitment to learning and community.
A Durham native, Whichard attended the city’s public schools before earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1962 and a juris doctorate in 1965 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After serving in the North Carolina National Guard, he completed additional legal studies at the University of Virginia.
Whichard began his legal career as a clerk for Justice William Bobbitt of the North Carolina Supreme Court before entering private practice. He later served as an adjunct professor at the UNC School of Law (1986-1998) and as dean and professor at Campbell University School of Law (1999-2006).
Whichard is the only person in North Carolina history to have served in both houses of the General Assembly and as a judge on the state’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. From 1986 to 1998, he was an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court, where he helped make legal history with the landmark 1997 Leandro v. State of North Carolina decision. The ruling affirmed every child’s constitutional right to a sound basic education and continues to shape education policy and equity efforts across the state.
Beyond the bench, Whichard has remained a steadfast advocate for educators. Since 1998, he has served on the Development Foundation Board of the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, where he established the first of 58 endowed scholarships supporting professional development for teachers. He continues to chair NCCAT’s Honored Educator Scholarship Committee.
Whichard has also served on numerous boards and committees, including the UNC School of Education Board of Visitors and the Public School Forum of North Carolina, where he contributed 15 years of service. Among his many honors, he is especially proud to have been the founding president of the Durham County Library Foundation, reflecting his lifelong dedication to education and community enrichment.
The Peabody Award recognizes an outstanding individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the field of education. The recipient will have demonstrated a sustained and significant commitment to improving education in North Carolina and/or across the nation.
Recipients of each award are chosen by committee members of the School’s Alumni Council.