Thomas K. Hearn Jr. (July 5, 1937 - August 18, 2008) was the 12th president of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hearn served as president from 1983 to 2005, which is the second-longest tenure in the university's history. During Hearn's time as president he oversaw the transformation of the school from a regional Southern Baptist college into one of the nation's premier independent universities. [1] [2]
Hearn was born in Opp, Alabama, on July 5, 1937. [2] He then went on to attend Birmingham-Southern College, where he graduated summa cum laude. Hearn also earned a divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as a Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. [1] Hearn went on to teach philosophy at the College of William and Mary. [2] In 1974 Hearn became the Chair of the philosophy department at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he hired James Rachels and Gregory Pence, each of whom would later become Chairs. At UAB, he went on to become the dean of the School of Humanities, vice president, and senior vice president for non-medical affairs. [1]
Hearn was appointed the 12th president of Wake Forest University in 1983. [3] He served as president until 2005. [1] During his time as president he oversaw the university grow from a regional Baptist school to a nationally regarded independent university. [1] Hearn was behind the university's break from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. [1] This was in order for the university to gain governing independence. [1] In addition, Hearn spearheaded the largest building project since the university's construction in order to provide more academic and living spaces for students. [1] Hearn worked to expand the school and grow its nationwide recognition. [3] This was recognized when the U.S. News & World Report ranked Wake Forest as a top 30 university in the country in 1994. [3] Wake Forest has continuously been ranked in the top 30 by U.S. News & World Report every year since then. [1] During Hearn's tenure the number of applications Wake Forest was receiving increased by 75% between 1983 and 2005. [1]
Hearn's legacy at Wake Forest was honored by the renaming of the main quad from University Plaza to Hearn Plaza following his retirement. [4] Additionally, The Brain Tumor Center of Excellence at Wake Forest School of Medicine named their research operations the Thomas K. Hearn Jr. Brain Tumor Research Center in honor of the work Hearn did to expand the funding for brain tumor research during his tenure at Wake Forest University. [5] The Center for Creative Leadership posthumously published his essays in 2022 on life and leadership. [6]
Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina, the third-largest urban area in North Carolina, and the 90th-most populous city in the United States. With a metropolitan population of 675,966, it is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. Winston-Salem is home to the tallest office building in the region, 100 North Main Street, formerly known as the Wachovia Building and now known locally as the Wells Fargo Center.
Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, has been located north of downtown Winston-Salem since the university moved there in 1956. The Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist medical campus has two locations, the older one located near the Ardmore neighborhood in central Winston-Salem, and the newer campus at Wake Forest Innovation Quarter downtown. The university also occupies laboratory space at Biotech Plaza at Innovation Quarter, and at the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials. The university's Graduate School of Management maintains a presence on the main campus in Winston-Salem and in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Wait Chapel is a building on the campus of Wake Forest University. The first building constructed on the university's Reynolda campus, in October 1956, it is named for Samuel Wait, the university's first president. Its steeple reaches to 213 feet. The chapel stands on the northeastern side of T. K. Hearn Plaza, opposite Reynolda Hall.
The Demon Deacon is the mascot of Wake Forest University, a school located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Probably best known for its slightly unorthodox name and appearance, the Demon Deacon has become a mainstay in the world of U.S. college mascots.
Bowman Gray Sr. was president and chairman of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a major benefactor of the medical school of Wake Forest College which now bears his name.
The Old Gold & Black is the student-run newspaper of Wake Forest University, named after the school's colors. The newspaper was founded in 1916 and is published in print every other Thursday, with the exception of school holidays and exam weeks. The Old Gold & Black's office is located on the fifth floor of the Benson University Center on Wake Forest's main campus.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is an academic medical center and health system located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and part of Charlotte-based Atrium Health. It is the largest employer in Forsyth County, with more than 19,220 employees and a total of 198 buildings on 428 acres. In addition to the main, tertiary-care hospital in Winston-Salem known as Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Health system operates five community hospitals in the surrounding region. The entity includes:
Wake Forest University School of Medicine is the medical school of Wake Forest University, with two campuses located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, the academic medical center whose clinical arm is Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked Wake Forest School of Medicine 48th best for research in the nation and 80th best for primary care. The School of Medicine also ranks in the top third of U.S. medical schools in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The Wake Forest University School of Business is the graduate business school of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It offers undergraduate program, management-related masters programs, and executive education programs.
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin is an Irish poet and academic. She was the Ireland Professor of Poetry (2016–19).
Wake Forest Baptist Church is two churches in North Carolina, United States. One church is in the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina. It has been operating for almost 200 years. The other church was on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was active from 1956 to 2022, but has now closed.
Eben Alexander Jr (1913–2004) was an American academic neurosurgeon and a native of Knoxville, Tennessee. He is known for his notable education and training of neurosurgeons, his many recognition awards, and for his editorship of Surgical Neurology — An International Journal of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience from 1987 to 1994.
Edwin Graves Wilson is an American retired professor of English literature at Wake Forest University. His professional academic and administrative tenure at Wake Forest spanned from 1951 until his retirement in 1993.
Corey D. B. Walker is a professor who specializes in African American social, political, and religious thought. He is the author of A Noble Fight: African American Freemasonry and the Struggle for Democracy in America, published by the University of Illinois Press. Walker also acted as editor of a special issue on "Theology and Democratic Futures" of the journal Political Theology and was the Associate Editor of SAGE's Encyclopedia of Identity. He is a Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities in the English department at Wake Forest University, where he is the director of the African American Studies program.
Len B. Preslar Jr. is an American business educator who has been a Distinguished Professor of Practice at Wake Forest University since 2009.
Ben C. Sutton Jr. is an American investor and philanthropist and the founder and Chairman of Teall Capital, a private equity fund and portfolio holding company that helps colleges in their athletic operations.
Washington Manly Wingate served as the fourth president of Wake Forest College, from 1853 to 1862, and then after the Civil War from 1866 until his death in 1879. He is also the namesake for Wingate University, located in Wingate, North Carolina.
Linda Sue Carter Brinson is an American writer, journalist, and editor. She was the first woman assistant national editor at The Baltimore Sun and the first woman editorial page editor at the Winston-Salem Journal.
Julie Ann Freischlag is an American vascular surgeon and current CEO of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. She was the first female surgeon-in-chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the first female chief of vascular surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2017, Freischlag was appointed Interim Dean of Wake Forest School of Medicine and CEO of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. During the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, Freischlag was named chief academic officer of Atrium Health, Inc., and appointed the President-Elect of the American College of Surgeons.
Samuel Wait was a Baptist minister and educator. He served as the first principal of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He was also the Institute's first president, serving from 1834 to 1845. Wait Chapel, on today's college campus, in Winston-Salem, is named for him.
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