{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/"},"author":{"name":"Tommy Hamzik","@id":"/#/schema/person/436cc028930c91a0291f1511cdf17488"},"headline":"Public Service Awards go to 8 individuals, 3 teams","datePublished":"2025-04-17T18:42:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T22:45:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/"},"wordCount":681,"publisher":{"@id":"/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/PSA_NewHero2025.jpg","articleSection":["Accolades","Public Service","University News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/","url":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/","name":"Public Service Awards go to 8 individuals, 3 teams | UNC-Chapel Hill","isPartOf":{"@id":"/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/PSA_NewHero2025.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-17T18:42:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T22:45:01+00:00","description":"This year’s honorees include the first recipient of the Eric Montross Public Service Award, Tylee Craft.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/#primaryimage","url":"/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/PSA_NewHero2025.jpg","contentUrl":"/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/PSA_NewHero2025.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Chancellor Lee H. Roberts poses with winners of the Robert E. Bryan Public Service Awards at an event April 16. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"/posts/2025/04/17/public-service-awards-go-to-8-individuals-3-teams/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Public Service Awards go to 8 individuals, 3 teams"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"/#website","url":"/","name":"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","description":"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","publisher":{"@id":"/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"/#organization","name":"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","url":"/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"/#/schema/logo/image/","url":"/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo.svg","contentUrl":"/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo.svg","caption":"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill"},"image":{"@id":"/#/schema/logo/image/"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/uncchapelhill/","https://x.com/unc","https://www.instagram.com/uncchapelhill/","https://www.linkedin.com/school/3757","https://pinterest.com/uncchapelhill/","https://www.youtube.com/user/UNCChapelHill"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"/#/schema/person/436cc028930c91a0291f1511cdf17488","name":"Tommy Hamzik","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"/#/schema/person/image/","url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cbc430dcf3612561fb4906396d9a0e42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cbc430dcf3612561fb4906396d9a0e42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tommy Hamzik"},"url":"/posts/author/tehamz/"}]}

Adverse

Adverse: !TEST! !TEST! 2025-04-08 08:50:20

University News

Public Service Awards go to 8 individuals, 3 teams

This year’s honorees include the first recipient of the Eric Montross Public Service Award, Tylee Craft.

By the Carolina Center for Public Service, Thursday, April 17th, 2025
Chancellor Lee H. Roberts poses with winners of the Robert E. Bryan Public Service Awards at an event April 16. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Chancellor Lee H. Roberts poses with winners of the Robert E. Bryan Public Service Awards at an event April 16. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

The Carolina Center for Public Service honored 11 Carolina faculty, staff, students and organizations for their outstanding contributions to the campus and broader communities with the 26th annual Public Service Awards. The center, along with Chancellor Lee H. Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens, presented the awards at a ceremony April 16.  

Tylee Craft was recognized posthumously as the inaugural recipient of the Eric Montross Public Service Award. Craft, a former Carolina football player, received the award for increasing awareness of the high rates of lung cancer and low rates of screening in North Carolina. He inspired others through Team Draft, the White Ribbon Project, LiveLung and the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative. The award was accepted by his mother, September Craft. 

The new honor will be given annually to a student-athlete who exemplified outstanding engagement and service to the state of North Carolina through a specific effort. Montross ’94, a former Carolina basketball player, supported UNC Children’s Hospital through his annual Father’s Day basketball camp, funding the creation of a teen room and rooftop garden for pediatric patients as well as many other efforts. Laura Montross accepted a framed certificate in honor of her late husband and his legacy of service.  

Sarah and Laura Montross present the Eric Montross Public Service Award to September Craft

Sarah (left) and Laura Montross (right) present September Craft with the Eric Montross Public Service Award, awarded posthumously to September’s son, Tylee Craft. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

The other winners are listed below.  

Ned Brooks Award for Public Service: Mollie Scott, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Asheville Campus. Scott established community-centered, nationally recognized, special residency programs that both inspire students and address unmet needs; addressed barriers and improved access to health care in rural and underserved areas in North Carolina; collaborated with community partners and with Hurricane Helene relief efforts.  

Robert E. Bryan Public Service Awards 

  • (Undergraduate student) Rotimi Kukoyi, a junior majoring in health policy and management in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, for public health work and leadership through the Student Health Action Coalition and Get Covered Carolina. 
  • (Graduate student) Lily Chen, master’s student in the UNC School of Nursing, for her leadership of United Chinese Americans-Wellness Advocacy Voices Education Support and dedication to mental health advocacy and support.
  • (Staff) Addie Imseis, project director for UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s public health leadership and practice department, for serving as project director for the Healthy Vets Community Project.
  • (Faculty) Hilary Lithgow, teaching professor in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ English and comparative literature department, for leading the Vets for Words book club for military veterans.
  • (Student organization) Magic of Science makes science accessible and enjoyable for children from many backgrounds, including those traditionally underserved or facing challenges.
  • (Special recognition) Place-based health concentration, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, for the team’s work with the community before and after Hurricane Helene.
A group of Public Service Award winners poses with Chancellor Lee H. Roberts

Chancellor Lee H. Roberts, Provost Chris Clemens and the Carolina Center for Public Service presented the Office of the Provost Engaged Scholarship Awards on April 16. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Office of the Provost Engaged Scholarship Awards 

  • (Teaching) Dr. Caroline Roberts, director for rural education, UNC School of Medicine’s family medicine department, for her dedicated service to rural health care access through the Kenan Rural Scholars program since 2016 and as the director of Fully Integrated Readiness for Service Training. 
  • (Research) Leah Frerichs, associate professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s health policy and management department, for partnering with communities in eastern North Carolina to develop sustainable programming for adolescent youth engagement in local health-improvement initiatives.
  • (Partnership) Fort Bragg Public Health Partnership, for addressing important health needs among military families in Fort Bragg for the past six years. Its members are the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Fort Bragg Department of Public Health, the Cumberland County Department of Health, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, and the University of Tennessee nutrition department.

You May Also Like...