Longtime UNC administrator Douglass Hunt dies at 86

Chancellors asked his advice. Students sought his help.

For years, Douglass Hunt was the man the University looked to in times of need.

“He was in many ways the keeper of the flame,” said James Moeser, chancellor from 2000 to 2008. “He knew the history of the place, he knew the culture of the University and the state.

“If I ever had a question about why something was the way it was, Doug Hunt was certainly the key person I could get that information from.”

Hunt died Jan. 1. He was 86.

Hunt graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University in 1946 and returned to serve as vice chancellor for administration in 1973. From 1980 to 1996, Hunt served as special assistant to the chancellor.

He partially retired in 1996 but continued working part time as the assistant to the chancellor until 2002.

Hunt worked closely with Paul Hardin, chancellor from 1988 to 1995. Hardin said Hunt was one of the first people to greet him upon his arrival.

“I was a newcomer to Carolina, and Douglass Hunt knew more about the University historically, but also the then present-day organization and the people who were key,” Hardin said.

“He made sure I knew everybody.”

Hardin said respect for Hunt’s expertise extended to the student body.

“When the students had concerns, they would often go to Douglass even before they came to the vice chancellor of student affairs or one of our other deans,” Hardin said.

“He had been a student here himself and he was very fond of students,” he added.

“He made it a point to get to know them.”

But Hardin said Hunt had more than just a professional impact on his life.

“More interesting to me than what he did was who he was and what he represented,” Hardin said. “He was a gentleman of the old school. He always dressed with a coat and tie. He was almost courtly in his behavior — an old fashioned gentleman. But not to sell him short, he was also bright and up-to-date in his understanding of things.”

In a statement issued Jan. 4, Chancellor Holden Thorp celebrated Hunt’s illustrious service to the University.

“Doug Hunt was one of Carolina’s model citizens,” Thorp said.

“His love for and knowledge of the University was especially intense. The University community has lost an incredible resource.”

Moeser echoed his successor’s sentiments, saying Hunt was a persistent servant of the University.

“We’ll remember him as a person who loved his University dearly, who really understood its values and its culture and was a steadfast and stern defender of those values,” Moeser said.

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