UNC Greensboro conferred an honorary degree upon David Sprinkle during Friday’s Commencement ceremony.
Honorary degrees recognize extraordinary individual achievements, highlight UNCG’s institutional values and the contributions the individual makes to the University community or the broader society, and provide positive acknowledgement of the importance of these contributions to the University, its mission, its principles, and its people.
An active volunteer and loyal donor to UNCG for more than 30 years, David Sprinkle views philanthropy as a way of life. He has contributed over $1 million to Light the Way: The Campaign for Earned Achievement, the major fundraising initiative to strengthen the future of the University.
In addition to serving currently on the Light the Way Campaign Cabinet, he has served UNCG in many capacities. He served on the UNCG Board of Trustees from 2010 to 2021, including two years as board chair. Both David and Pam, his wife, have served together on UNCG’s Board of Visitors and the UNCG Excellence Foundation Executive Committee.
They were recognized as Greensboro’s Outstanding Philanthropists by the Association of Fundraising Professionals NC Triad Chapter last autumn.
“Pam and David have been longtime leaders and advocates, lending their time, expertise, and passion to causes that have not only benefited students at UNCG, but also the greater Greensboro community,” said Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. “They are also among the most kind-hearted and thoughtful people I know.”
The Sprinkles’ impact at UNCG can be seen in many programs and spaces across campus. Their generous contributions during the Light the Way campaign have included support of over ten different initiatives.
Through their generosity, the College of Visual and Performing Arts was able to renovate a performing arts venue in the Brown Building, a space now known as the Pam and David Sprinkle Theater. The Pam & David Sprinkle Children’s Book Author and Storyteller Series is also made possible by their generosity.
David Sprinkle leads by example. He served in the U.S. Army in South Vietnam and received a Bronze Star Medal. Now retired, he was the president and CEO of The Todd Organization and a leading salesperson for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Charitable and community organizations throughout Greensboro list him among their benefactors. They know his ability to motivate and engage others to join him in giving back.
Sprinkle received a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree, bestowed for contributions to the humanities or to human welfare.
Previous Honorary Degree awardees include innovative business leaders Dennis Quaintance and Nancy King Quaintance, Tony Award recipient Beth Leavel, Grammy Award winning artists Emmylou Harris and Rhiannon Giddens; singer-songwriter-producer Ben Folds; artist William Mangum; research pioneer Dr. Maunuskshi Wani; former Ambassador to Finland and businesswoman Bonnie McElveen-Hunter; former NC Poet Laureate Fred Chappell; former NC Chief Justice Henry Frye; former NC Governor Jim Hunt; and author Maya Angelou.
Learn more about UNCG’s May 5, 2023, Commencement.
By Mike Harris, Advancement Communications