Michael Hooker (1947-1999) and the Michael Hooker Research Center
This public health research center is named for Michael Hooker, who served as chancellor from 1995 to 1999. He graduated from Carolina in 1969 with highest honors in philosophy and went on to earn a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He taught at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins before turning to a career in university administration. He continued to study problems in medical ethics, philanthropy, and education while serving in high-level positions at Bennington College, the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, and the University of Massachusetts. While he was chancellor of UNC, he promoted a program to improve the campus intellectual climate, established a bus tour of North Carolina for new faculty, and created the university’s first online courses and websites for public education.