Urban Institute receives first endowed gift to establish forum series

Professor Emeritus Norm Schul and his wife, Marianne ’73, recently made a major gift to the Urban Institute to establish the Marianne and Norman W. Schul Urban Institute Forum Series.

Chancellor Philip L. Dubois announced the institute’s first endowed gift Tuesday, Nov. 13, at UNC Charlotte Center City, where nationally recognized writers James and Deborah Fallows discussed their new book “Our Towns: A 100,000 Mile Journey into the Heart of America.” The talk was sponsored by the Urban Institute.

The Marianne and Norman W. Schul Urban Institute Forum Series will be an annual event, designed to bring regional leaders together with national experts to examine policy issues impacting the Charlotte region, informed by research that will be conducted by the Urban Institute and other University researchers. The inaugural series will be held in late 2019 or early 2020 and will be one of the signature events associated with the Urban Institute’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Schul devoted his career to building programs at UNC Charlotte. During his four decades at the University, Schul was involved in founding a host of pioneering programs, primarily in the social and behavioral sciences and engineering, which have distinguished UNC Charlotte as a major urban research university. In addition to serving as chair of the Geography and Earth Sciences Department and dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (now the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences), Schul was instrumental in the development of the Urban Institute.

UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute is a nonpartisan, applied research and community outreach institute seeking solutions to the social, economic and environmental challenges facing local communities.

University Archives contributed content to this article.