Greensboro College Confers Honorary Degrees Upon Roy and Vanessa Carroll

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Greensboro College conferred honorary degrees today upon Roy and Vanessa Carroll of Greensboro in honor of their service to the college and the community.

At the college’s Commencement ceremony, Roy E. Carroll II ’85 received the honorary Doctor of Business degree while Vanessa Yount Carroll received the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

“Roy and Vanessa Carroll have modeled and demonstrated what it is to be  engaged, committed and active civic leaders for more than a generation,” college President Lawrence D. Czarda, Ph.D., said. “We honor them for their remarkable commitment to Greensboro and the many organizations that are the foundation of the quality of life in this community.”

Roy Carroll’s service to the college includes service on the Board of Trustees and its executive committee and co-chairing the Greensboro College Society leadership-giving group with the couple’s daughter Brittany, a 2012 Greensboro College graduate.

The Carrolls have made financial commitments to the college totaling more than $1 million, placing them among the top 10 donors in the college’s 178-year history. Their gifts include funding the Brittany Carroll ’12 Leadership Fund to benefit the college’s Student Government Association.

Roy Carroll is CEO of The Carroll Companies, a business begun with his father that is now a major regional property developer. The group’s eight companies develop and build apartment complexes, shopping centers, multi-use retail, campus facilities, hotels, commercial properties, high-end storage facilities, multi-modal transportation, print and electronic media companies and more.

The Carroll Companies are a significant employer in numerous cities including Greensboro, Charleston, Nashville and Austin. The Carroll Companies have directly invested more than $100 million in Downtown Greensboro, proving catalytic in the renaissance of downtown. Those projects include include Center Pointe, Carroll at Bellemeade, City View, and more.

Roy Carroll’s community citations include induction into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame; designation as “Father of the Year” by the local Father’s Day Council, benefiting the American Diabetes Association; induction into the Old North State Boys Scout Council Hall of Fame; and perennial inclusion in the Triad Business Journal’s annual compilation of the Piedmont Triad’s most influential people.

Vanessa Carroll holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and an M.S.W. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has taught collegiately and has served on the Board of Trustees of UNC Greensboro.

The Carrolls also have supported charities and causes including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund, the American Heart Association, the Boy Scouts of America, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, the United Way of Greater Greensboro, the Greensboro Symphony, and the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts.

In addition to Greensboro College and UNC Greensboro, the family supports Caldwell Academy, Wake Forest University, High Point University, Emmanuel College, and UNC Chapel Hill.

“There is every reason to believe that their community leadership will continue for at least another 25 to 30 years or more, and for at least another generation through their daughters Brittany, Madison and Hayleigh’s commitment to philanthropy and business development,” Czarda said.

Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and, spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.

Founded in 1838 and located in downtown Greensboro, the college enrolls about 1,000 students from 29 states and territories, the District of Columbia, and seven foreign countries in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and four master’s degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features an 18-sport NCAA Division III athletic program and dozens of service and recreational opportunities.

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Media Contact:
Lex Alexander, Director of Communications
lex.alexander@greensboro.edu

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Joshua Fitzgerald photo

“I loved the GC Honors program and Greensboro College. I felt safe and a sense of genuine belonging at the college. I worked closely with my thesis advisor and professors who helped inspire me to define my path and passion of interest. That path has led me to my doctoral studies in Engineering Mechanics.”

- Joshua Fitzgerald, Class of ’19, Mathematics Major

Joshua currently studies astrodynamics at Virginia Tech University and is an Engineering Mechanics Ph.D. Candidate.