Nominations - C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Awards

The criterion is unusual, meritorious, or superior contribution made by an individual employee, current or retired, to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

You may make your nomination by filling out and submitting the online form. You will be required to enter your ONYEN and password to access this form.

Deadline for 2026 nominations is December 13, 2025. Nominations are accepted year-round, and any received after the deadline will be held for consideration in 2027.

CLICK HERE TO USE THE ONLINE FORM

Please contact Brandy Polo with any questions at brandy.polo@unc.edu.

C. Knox Massey

The late C. Knox Massey of Durham attended the University in the early 1920s and then founded an advertising agency in Durham now considered one of the South’s advertising pioneers.

After retiring from the ad firm in 1967, Massey became a special assistant to then UNC Chancellor Carlyle Sitterson—working another 25 years essentially as a volunteer—at a salary of “$1 a year.”

Massey established scholarship programs and faculty teaching awards in addition to the C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award.

He earned:

The School of Medicine’s Distinguished Service Award in 1957

The Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Medal in 1979

The University’s William Richardson Davie Award in 1988

Massey died in 1993 at the age of 90.