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Jordan’s $10 million UNC gift creates scholarships and names center for his mother
Michael Jordan’s donation to UNC-Chapel Hill will support social work programs and establish scholarships for graduate students facing financial barriers. Ten students received the first Jordan Family Scholar awards, worth $12,500 apiece.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Michael Jordan has donated $10 million to the University of North Carolina School of Social Work, the largest single gift in the school’s history, in honor of his mother, Deloris P. Jordan.
The donation will expand the work of the Jordan Institute for Families and the Global Social Development Innovations Center. The center will be renamed the Deloris P. Jordan Global Social Development Innovations Center.
The funding is intended to make social work education more accessible and strengthen the workforce serving children, families and communities. It also establishes the Jordan Family Scholars program to help Master of Social Work students who face growing financial barriers to graduate study.
Ten students were named the program’s inaugural scholars at a celebration marking the gift. Each received a $12,500 scholarship.
The celebration coincided with the center’s Global Research Symposium, held Oct. 6-7 at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill.