Gordon DeFriese is the 2026 recipient of the Jonathan B. Howes Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Retired Faculty and Professionals Association.
DeFriese received the award at the association’s April 8 Lunch & Learn and annual business meeting. In his remarks, he shared his insights on his journey to UNC-Chapel Hill and the many ways in which he served the University, the state and beyond.
DeFriese was director of the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC-Chapel Hill for 27 years. He also served the University as a member of multiple departments, including Sociology, Social Medicine, Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Administration, and Dental Ecology. He was co-director of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars program and a founding director of UNC’s Institute on Aging.
External to UNC-Chapel Hill, DeFriese was appointed to the first United States Preventative Services Taskforce. He served as editor of several medical journals, including the North Carolina Medical Journal and the Health Services Research Journal, and he has been president/CEO of the North Carlina Institute of Medicine.
Internationally DeFriese has been an advisor to the World Health Organization and the state of Israel. He has been elected to fellowship in multiple professional societies, including the Association for Health Services Research, the National Academy of Medicine, the New York Academy of Medicine and the Gerontological Society of America.
In retirement he has remained active in teaching and research, serving as the acting director of the Health Promotion Institute of the AARP and the American Federation for Aging. DeFriese also has been the president/CEO of FutureCare North Carolina, a non-profit foundation working to improve care in North Carolina nursing homes.
The Jonathan B. Howes Lifetime Achievement Award, established in 2015, is presented in alternate years by the RFPA to recognize a retired UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member “whose service and achievements, both within the University and beyond in the wider community, have consistently exceeded the professional expectations for faculty, and who has been recognized by faculty and administrative colleagues for his or her judgment, ethical values and courage in the pursuit of worthy goals.” Previous recipients are Jane D. Brown, Ray Dooley, Joe Grisham, John Sanders and William Leuchtenburg.
Jonathan Howes was a professor of City and Regional Planning in 1970-2010, and long-time director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies. His contributions beyond the university included service as alderman and later mayor of Chapel Hill; secretary of the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources; and interim director of the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
He also served the broader community as WUNC Executive Director, board chair of the Carol Woods Retirement Community, and Faculty Council representative for UNC-Chapel Hill retired faculty. Howes was an active member of the RFPA and its president-elect in 2014-2015.
Established in 1986 as the Retired Faculty Association (RFA), the name was changed to the Retired Faculty and Professionals Association (RFPA) in 2023 to align itself more closely with its mission and bylaws. It helps its members maintain meaningful connections to the University community through intellectual and social engagement, representation and advocacy. Members are retired faculty and professional staff from UNC-Chapel Hill and those living in the area from other institutions of higher learning. For more information, go to rfpa.unc.edu.
Story provided by the Retired Faculty and Professionals Association.