C.D. Spangler Jr., 86, died Sunday, July 22; the Charlotte business executive served as UNC System president from 1986 to 1997. During his tenure, he oversaw the installation of UNC Charlotte Chancellor James Woodward in April 1990.
In a Charlotte Observer article, UNC President Margaret Spellings said that Spangler, also known as "Dick," helped to "change lives and transform a state."
"The first in his family to go to college, Dick never forgot who our public universities were meant to serve," Spellings said in a statement. "North Carolina is the prosperous, growing state that it is because of principled leaders like Dick."
During his 11-year tenure, Spangler advocated for keeping tuition low at UNC System institutions. The UNC System noted that Spangler also implemented minimum admissions requirements and athletic reforms. He helped increase the system's budget and external funding for research.
"Low tuition is not a gift," Spangler told the Associated Press in 1997. "It's an investment in these students. They go to work and pay that back over a lifetime."
The article’s reporter cited an interview in which Spangler said low tuition helped him to attend UNC Chapel Hill from 1950 to 1954. He also attended Harvard Business School. Spangler was a generous contributor to both universities.
Spangler, through his family foundation, also helped start a number of professorships at UNC Charlotte. Those established through matching gifts from the Spangler Foundation are the:
- Anne R. Belk Distinguished Professorship in Music (Primary gift was from Ike Belk)
- Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professorship in Urban Education (Primary gift was from Ike Belk)
- Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professorship of Bioinformatics and Genomics (Primary gift was from Ike Belk)
- Marshall A. Rauch Distinguished Professorship of Political Science (Primary gift was from Ike Belk)
The Russell M. Robinson II Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare and the Howard C. and Sara H. Bissell Distinguished Professorship in Engineering also were established with gifts from the Spangler Foundation.
Photo: C.D. Spangler, center, presided at Chancellor Woodward’s installation in 1990.