April 2001

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John Kerr III has created a $1 million professorship at the School.

Kerr establishes professorship in father's memory

John T. Kerr III of Durham has contributed 65 acres of land to establish a $1 million distinguished professorship in the School.

Kerr is creating the professorship in memory of his father, John T. Kerr Jr., who came to the University in 1918. Kerr’s contribution of $666,000 from the sale of the property will be used to seek a matching state grant from the North Carolina’s distinguished professors endowment trust fund. To establish a $1 million professorship, a donor pledges a minimum of $666,000 to qualify for a $334,000 grant from the trust fund.

In addition, Kerr has established a scholarship endowment of $350,000 in his estate. The scholarship will enable students from Canada or the British Isles to study in the School.

"John has been a devoted friend to our School and University, and we can’t thank him enough," Dean Richard Cole said. "Named professorships allow us to reward and retain outstanding faculty members. They’re one of the most important things a school can have."

Kerr, 75, graduated in economics in 1947 from the University and wanted to give back to the alma mater he loves.

"I wanted to repay the University for what it had given me," he said. "The School of Journalism and Mass Communication was selected because real democracy depends on well-informed voters who make up their own minds in elections, as opposed to those who vote according to a sheet of paper given them by some political or union boss."

The Kerr family has a longstanding history with Carolina. Kerr’s great-grandfather attended the University, and his grandfather started Durham Foundry & Machine Works in 1888. Kerr’s father came to Carolina in 1918 after he attended Davidson College for two years.

Kerr’s father joined a four-month program with the Student Army Training Corps, an officer candidate program for World War I. He then took over the family-run operation in the late 1930s, started by John Kerr Sr. in 1888. John T. Kerr III closed the business shortly after his father’s death in 1959.

While at Carolina, Kerr was desk editor of The Daily Tar Heel in 1943 and managing editor in 1944. He was associate editor of Carolina Magazine in 1943 and a member of the Union Publications Board in 1944. After serving in World War II, he returned to Carolina in 1947 as sports editor of Yackety Yack, the yearbook.

Much of his life has been devoted to public relations and mass communication.

"I have a love for writing, editing and photography and, in a pinch, being an artist," Kerr said. Proud of his Scottish ancestry, Kerr established the Kerr Family Association of North America, which comprises 400 paid members. He also is editor of Borderline, a quarterly newsletter for members of the association.

"Without the support of alumni and friends such as John, our School could not maintain its national reputation as one of the best journalism and mass communication programs in the country," Cole said.

Jennifer Lamb is assistant dean for development and alumni affairs.