RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE IN THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Wesley Burks, MD, will present the 2026 Norma Berryhill Distinguished Lecture at the UNC School of Medicine Awards Ceremony on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at the Roper Hall Active Learning Theater.

Dr. Burks is a distinguished physician-scientist in pediatric allergy and immunology, recognized for his contributions to academic medicine, research, clinical care, and mentorship. In his seven years as CEO of UNC Health and dean of the UNC School of Medicine, he expanded the UNC Health hospital network statewide and increased the student class size. He developed medical education partnerships with Novant Charlotte and Wilmington and boosted research funding through major investments.

Nomination Guidelines

• Nominations may be submitted by individual faculty members or alumni.
• Departmental, divisional, or corporate nominations will not be accepted.

Eligibility

• Be a fixed-term, tenure-track, or tenured faculty member at any rank within the UNC School of Medicine.
• Primary appointment must be School of Medicine.
• Be actively employed at the time of selection.
• Fully retired faculty and newly appointed faculty who have not yet arrived in Chapel Hill are not eligible.

Selection Criteria

Nominees will be evaluated holistically and may excel in one or multiple areas. Consider nominating individuals whose work reflects the following qualities:

• Contributions to the UNC School of Medicine: Evidence of exemplary accomplishments that enhance the stature, visibility, and mission of the School of Medicine across education, research, clinical care, service, or leadership.
• Contribution to the Sense of Community: Demonstrated commitment to the School of Medicine community, including meaningful service, mentorship of learners and colleagues, and collaboration across disciplines.
• Role Model Qualities: Exemplary figure for faculty, trainees, and students demonstrating integrity, professionalism, generosity of spirit, and a commitment to excellence.

Contact Carrie Jackman-Hoyle, Director for Professional Development, for questions about the Berryhill Lecture.

Live Stream/Recording

Background

The Norma Berryhill Distinguished Lecture began in 1985. Established to honor the medical school’s “most able scientists and scholars,” the lectureship is named after the late Norma Berryhill, whose late husband, Dr. Walter Reece Berryhill, was dean of the school from 1941 to 1964. Along with her husband, she is considered the co-founder of UNC’s four-year School of Medicine. While honoring an eminent member of the School of Medicine faculty, the Norma Berryhill Distinguished Lecture series serves as an occasion to welcome new faculty members in an academic convocation and to further the sense of community created and nurtured by Mrs. Berryhill.

Goals

The Norma Berryhill Distinguished Lecture is our annual convocation. It is a time when we reflect upon our School’s splendid heritage of collegiality and excellence, to which Norma Berryhill contributed so much. It is also the occasion on which we welcome our newest faculty members.

The Dean and Advisory Committee of the School of Medicine established the Norma Berryhill Lectureship in September 1984. The Lectureship has two essential components:

1. a Lecture to be given annually by a member of the faculty of the Medical School; and
2. a convocation of the Medical School to be held at the time of the Lecture and at which new faculty members will be recognized.

The aims of the Lectureship are twofold. First, the selection of the Norma Berryhill Lecturer is meant to honor a member of the faculty whose accomplishments have added distinction to the Medical School.

Second, the convocation is intended to further a sense of community within the Medical School. Because Mrs. Berryhill was a major factor in developing this sense, the Lectureship was named in her honor.

Previous lecturers

2025 John Buse, MD, PhD (Medicine)
2023 Adaora A. Adimora, MD, MPH (Medicine)
2022 Nancy Raab-Traub, PhD (Microbiology & Immunology)
2021 Craig A. Fletcher, DVM, PhD (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine)
2020 Ralph S. Baric, PhD (Microbiology & Immunology)
2019 William L. Roper, MD, MPH (Former Dean of the School of Medicine, Interim UNC System President)
2018 Giselle Corbie-Smith, MD, MSc (Social Medicine)
2017 Nancy Chescheir, MD (OB/GYN)
2016 Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD (Biochemistry & Biophysics)
2015 J. Charles Jennette, MD (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine)
2014 Myron Cohen, MD (Medicine)
2013 Judith Tintinalli, MD, MS, FACEP (Emergency Medicine)
2012 Eugene Orringer, MD (Medicine)
2011 Ronald Falk, MD (Medicine)
2010 Jenny P. Ting, PhD (Microbiology & Immunology)
2009 Jeffrey L. Houpt, MD (Psychiatry)
2008 Richard C. Boucher, Jr., MD (Medicine)
2007 H. Shelton Earp, III, MD (Medicine)
2006 Robert C. Cefalo, MD, PhD (Obstetrics & Gynecology)
2005 Joel E. Tepper, MD (Radiation Oncology)
2004 Philip A. Bromberg, MD (Medicine)
2003 Harold R. Roberts, MD (Medicine & Pathology & Laboratory Medicine)
2002 Oliver Smithies, MA, DPhil (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine)
2001 Edward A. Norfleet, MD (Anesthesiology)
2000 George F. Sheldon, MD (Surgery)
1999 P. Frederick Sparling, MD (Medicine)
1998 Joe W. Grisham, MD (Pathology)
1997 Joseph S. Pagano, MD (Medicine)
1996 Frank C. Wilson, MD (Surgery)
1995 Christopher C. Fordham III, MD (Medicine)
1994 Judson J. Van Wyk, MD (Pediatrics)
1993 Stuart Bondurant, MD (Medicine)
1992 George Johnson, Jr., MD (Surgery)
1991 William B. Blythe, MD (Medicine)
1990 Carl W. Gottschalk, MD (Medicine)
1989 Colin G. Thomas, Jr., MD (Surgery)
1988 Mary Ellen Jones, PhD (Biochemistry)
1987 Floyd W. Denny, MD (Pediatrics)
1986 G. Philip Manire, PhD (Microbiology)
1985 John B. Graham, MD (Pathology)