Remembering Life Trustee Pete Kulynych
Today the Wake Forest community celebrates the life and mourns the passing of parent, Life Trustee, and longtime University benefactor Petro ‘Pete’ Kulynych, who died on Saturday, Jan. 17 at the age of 93 (obituary).
Kulynych’s remarkable service to Wake Forest dates back to the mid-1970s when he served as chairman of the Parents’ Association. He was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1976 and served four terms before being named a Life Trustee in 1995. He also served on the Medical Center board of visitors and received an honorary degree from Wake Forest in 1997.
In 1998, Kulynych and his wife, Roena, were named North Carolina Philanthropists of the Year. His philanthropic legacy to Wake Forest includes several endowed scholarships, the Kulynych Faculty Support Fund, and the Roena Kulynych Center for Memory and Cognition Research at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Categories: University Announcement
WFU soliciting Commencement speaker nominations
Dear Wake Forest community:
As members of the Commencement Speaker Advisory Committee, we look forward to engaging our graduating students and other members of the university community in the selection process of our 2014 Commencement speaker. As we begin this exciting task, we look to you to provide us with speaker nominations for Commencement 2014.
Please submit your suggestions to CSAC@wfu.edu by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Submissions must include:
- Name of nominee
- Two to three paragraphs answering the following question: “Why do you think this person would be an exceptional Commencement speaker at Wake Forest University?”
- Any contact name(s) for your nomination (if possible) and/or any connection to Wake Forest.
We are especially interested in hearing from graduating students. Suggestions are also gratefully welcomed from faculty and staff.
As you can imagine, persons of this caliber are in high demand. While we hope to host a speaker from suggestions we receive, we cannot guarantee that our invitations will be accepted. Your thoughts will be vital to informing our approach and to selecting a speaker.
This committee is dedicated to the transparency of this process, but please understand that the actual invitation process must remain confidential. Announcement of the Class of 2014’s commencement speaker will follow a similar timeline as in years past.
We look forward to reviewing your nominations.
Sincerely,
The Commencement Speaker Advisory Committee
Rogan Kersh, Provost, Chair
Francie Fisher, Wake Forest Fellow, Provost’s Office
Mary Foskett, Professor, Religion
Jim O’Connell, Wake Forest Fellow, President’s Office
Samantha Perrotta, Event and Project Manager, Provost’s Office
Aubrey Peterson, President, Student Union
Mary Pugel, Chief of Staff, President’s Office
Jennifer Richwine, Assistant Vice President, University Events
Jay Sehgal, Student Trustee
Jacqueline Sutherland, Student Government President
Mark Welker, Professor, Chemistry
Categories: Events
Life trustee Medlin passes away
John Medlin Jr. (left) and Thomas K. Hearn Jr. at Convocation in 1990
John Medlin Jr., a former CEO of Wachovia and life trustee of Wake Forest, died Thursday, June 7, at the age of 78.
“John was a true friend of Wake Forest and provided tremendous leadership as a trustee, Chair of the Board, and as a life trustee,” said President Nathan Hatch. “I will miss his wise counsel and his friendship.”
Medlin was praised for his role as both a business and civic leader, and his guiding hand played a role throughout Wake Forest’s recent history.
Medlin served four terms on Wake Forest’s board of trustees and was one of three chairs of Heritage & Promise: The Campaign for Wake Forest in the 1990s. Wake Forest honored him in 1990 with an honorary doctor of laws degree and in 2004 by electing him as a life trustee.
“Wake Forest is a model for the kind of education that people in business should have,” Medlin said in 1989. “I see in Wake Forest graduates a good balance of professional skills, values and basics in the history and behavior of man.”
Medlin remained involved with Wake Forest, both as a donor (The Medlin Scholarship for undergraduates, The Medlin Masters in Management Scholarship) and a mentor through the Executive Partners Mentorship Program. Recently, he worked with Rob Duryea (’12), who said he would always treasure Medlin’s friendship and guidance.
Wake Forest’s motto of Pro Humanitate (“for humanity”) fit well with Medlin’s philosophy: “My involvement with Wake Forest comes because I try to be a caring person, and put something back into the society that has been generous and kind to me.”
Medlin and his wife, Polly, poured out their own generosity and kindness to many branches of Wake Forest, including WFDD, Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda House Museum of American Art. They volunteered and donated to the School of Medicine, as well.
The Medlins’ daughter, Elizabeth Hale, is a member of the Parent’s Council, and one of their grandsons, Thomas Hale, will be a junior at Wake Forest in the fall.
Categories: University Announcement
Trustees honor Pete Kulynych
Life Trustee Pete Kulynych and his family.
Life Trustee Petro “Pete” Kulynych was honored for his 40 years of service to Wake Forest by the University’s board of trustees during the board’s meeting Feb. 3.
At the same meeting, Kulynych’s daughter, Janice K. Story (’75), a current member of the board of trustees, announced a major gift to the University to name the auditorium in the new Admissions and Welcome Center in honor of her father.
The new admissions building is scheduled to open next month. The 260-seat auditorium will be used for presentations to prospective students and their parents, as well as lectures, performances and other campus activities.
An artist's rendering of Kulynych Auditorium.
“It is a pleasure to honor Pete Kulynych,” said President Nathan O. Hatch. “His name has become one of the most recognizable among Wake Forest philanthropists, but he is also a dear friend and wise counselor who has lived a life in the spirit of Pro Humanitate.
More on the Admissions and Welcome Center
Kulynych, 89, who lives in Wilkesboro, N.C., is a retired founding director emeritus of Lowes Companies, Inc. He first became involved with Wake Forest in the mid-1970s when he served as chairman of the Parents’ Association. He was elected to the board of trustees in 1976 and served four terms on the board before being named a Life Trustee in 1995. He also served on the Medical Center board of visitors. He received an honorary degree from Wake Forest in 1997.
Janice Story lives in Atlanta, Ga. Kulynych’s other daughter, Brenda Cline, is a past member of the Medical Center’s board of directors. She and her husband, Dale (MBA ’76), have two children who graduated from Wake Forest, Luke Cline (’99) and Laura C. Berry (’94).
Another rendering of Kulynych Auditorium.
Kulynych has made numerous gifts to the University and endowed several scholarships, including the Roena B. and Petro Kulynych Scholarship for undergraduates from Avery and Wilkes counties, N.C.; the Janice Kulynych Story Tennis Scholarship for a member of the women’s tennis team, and most recently, with Janice Story’s family, the Kulynych-Story Family Fund for students who are the first in their family to attend college. He has also funded the Kulynych Faculty Support Fund.
He also has generously supported the Medical Center, including funding for the Roena Kulynych Center for Memory and Cognition Research, named in memory of his late wife. He has also funded research in cardiology, interdisciplinary cancer research, leukemia, urology and other areas.
Provost Emeritus Edwin G. Wilson (’43) was among those recognizing Kulynych’s devotion to Wake Forest. “His wise counsel to presidents (James Ralph) Scales, (Thomas K.) Hearn, and now Hatch, his tireless work on trustee and Medical Center committees, and his remarkable philanthropy made Pete among the greatest University leaders over these last 40 years. I am particularly glad that he is a champion of students who have financial need, and that through the scholarship fund he has for many years supported students from the two mountain counties where he makes his home.”
New Admissions and Welcome Center
The son of Ukrainian immigrants, Kulynych grew up in modest circumstances in Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school in 1939, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps as it built the Blue Ridge Parkway. In 1942, he received an appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy and served as an engineer on ships in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres.
He settled in Wilkesboro, N.C., in the mid-1940s and became a bookkeeper for a small hardware store that he helped grow into Lowes Co., with more than 1,700 stores across the country. Kulynych retired from day-to-day management of the company in 1983, but he remained with the company as president and chairman of Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, guiding the company’s philanthropic philosophy and activities.
In addition to Wake Forest, Kulynych has supported numerous other organizations. In 1998, Kulynych and his wife were named North Carolina Philanthropists of the Year.
— By Kerry M. King (’85), Office of Communications and External Relations
Categories: Alumni News, University Announcement
Trustee Jim Judson killed in plane crash
Wake Forest trustee James “Jim” Judson Jr. (’80) and his wife, Beth, were killed Tuesday when their private plane crashed in Mississippi. He was 52.
Judson, a successful Atlanta businessman, served on the board of trustees from 2004 – 2008 and began a second term on the board this summer. He had previously served on the University’s Alumni Council and the Deacon Club Board of Directors.
“Jim and Beth have been wonderful members of the Wake Forest community and have served the University with distinction in many capacities,” said President Nathan O. Hatch. “We will miss them dearly.” Read more
Categories: Alumni News
