Justice Henry E. Frye, Life Fellow, was selected as one of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients from the UNC Law Alumni Association. The award celebrates members of the Carolina Law community who embody the School’s mission to serve the legal profession, the people and institutions of North Carolina, the nation, and the world with ethics and dedication to the cause of justice.
He served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and was inspired to pursue law when denied the right to register to vote due to unjust literacy tests. He was the first African-American student to complete three years of coursework and graduate with his Juris Doctor from Carolina Law and became the first African-American justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1984, then shattered another barrier in 1999 as the first African-American Chief Justice of the state’s highest court.
He had served two terms on the UNC General Alumni Board, contributed to the Board of Visitors, and led the UNC Law Alumni Association as president. He has shaped North Carolina’s future by serving five years as chairman of the Rural Infrastructure Authority under the Department of Commerce and five years as a board member of the Golden LEAF Foundation.
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