Beyle receives GAA
Faculty Service Award

The 1970s were a volatile time at Carolina, with no shortage of unusual personalities. A political science professor was likely to encounter a wide range of students and a wider range of ideas -- some radical, others conservative.

One of Chapel Hill's most visible characters was Nyle Frank, the infamous graduate student who declared himself king of the Invisible University of North Carolina, all while wearing a bizarre getup that included a long blue cape and blue brogan boots.

A colleague of Thad Beyle recalls that King Nyle pronounced Beyle one of the few faculty members with the credentials to be a member of his kingdom. It is a testament, no doubt, to his skills as a teacher and to his political acumen, but also to his trademark unpretentiousness, his laid-back attitude and his inclusiveness.

For all of these qualities and for his commitment to academics at Carolina, Beyle is the recipient of the 2003 Faculty Service Award from the General Alumni Association (GAA).

The award, given since 1990, honors faculty members who have shown outstanding service to the University or the GAA. Past winners include English Professor Doris Betts; former Provost Richard "Dick" Richardson; historian and Professor Emeritus William S. Powell; journalist and Professor Chuck Stone; religious studies Professor Ruel W. Tyson Jr., who also directs the Institute for the Arts and Humanities; and historian and Professor William E. Leuchtenburg.

As the Thomas J. Pearsall Professor of Political Science, Beyle is considered an authority on political matters in North Carolina and the South, a revered professor and community servant and a thinker who is in the Rolodex of political reporters across the United States.

"Thad is an example of what a good faculty member at a public university ought to be: dedicated to teaching, dedicated to publishing and data gathering, but also vitally interested in and ready to pitch in to improve the society around him by connecting their scholarly activities with the life of the community and the state," says colleague and political observer Ferrell Guillory.

Beyle earned degrees from Syracuse University and the University of Illinois. His late father, Herman, was a political science professor at Syracuse, and it was from him that Beyle gained his devotion to the study of politics. Beyle taught briefly at the University of Illinois and at Denison University, then moved in 1964 to North Carolina, where he worked with then-Governor Terry Sanford and later as a research associate at Duke University.

Beyle came to the University in 1967. Over the years, he's helped shape solid public policy-making in the state by serving as a consultant to several public and private agencies. He helped establish the Southern Growth Policies Board, served as director of the Center of Policy Research and Analysis of the National Governor's Conference, then went on to chair boards of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research and the N.C. Institute of Political Leadership. He is co-editor of numerous books about politics.

Beyle doesn't look much like the rest of us. He tools around Chapel Hill on a Kawasaki 305 motorcycle looking more like a graduate student than a professor of 35 years. Few have seen him in a necktie. His acts of generosity are numerous and usually secret, but he is known for standing close by his fellow faculty members in their darkest hours.

Richardson, former provost and political science professor at Carolina, characterizes him this way: "He's an absolutely delightful guy with a tremendous sense of humor, and I think his most distinguishing personality characteristic is his acceptance of people regardless of who they are and where they are. You can be a Republican, a Democrat or a Socialist; you can be a Christian, a Buddhist or a vegetarian.

"This means he has been put in contact with lots of people in his life, and some strange people. Some professors say they don't like to suffer fools gladly, but Thad has suffered fools I think often and gladly and generously, and I mean fools in their broadest sense. Different kinds of folks have been his students and friends."

But perhaps most importantly, Beyle has mentored more up-and-coming leaders than anybody can count. His two basic classes at Carolina -- State and Local Politics and North Carolina Politics and Public Policy -- routinely draw a sell-out crowd of 80 students who partake in lively discussions, particularly about what's in that morning's newspaper.

"He cares deeply about his students," says Gordon Whitaker of the School of Government, "and he cares deeply about helping them all get an appreciation of the role that politics can best play in our democratic system."

Beyle was presented with the award on Jan. 17 during the quarterly meeting of the GAA Board of Directors.