By Steve Gilliam, University Relations
Rebecca A. Lloyd, a 1950 graduate of Woman's College, served 22 years in the U.S. Navy.
Rebecca A. Lloyd is giving her alma mater its largest-ever alumni gift – a $4 million commitment that will provide an endowment for the institution’s International Honors College.
“Rebecca Lloyd’s gift represents a dramatic step forward for the International Honors College,” said Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan in announcing the gift.
“It will allow UNCG to compete in recruiting the best students in the state and nation, and to provide wonderful opportunities for study here and abroad.
“Rebecca is an alumna who has never lost her love for this campus. Through her gift, the International Honors College will become a program that can transform students’ lives and prepare them for life in a global society. Her generosity will have a huge impact on the lives and academic careers of students for years to come.”
Lloyd’s gift has been made through The Students First Campaign, UNCG’s $78.2 million capital fund drive that is currently under way.
UNCG Trustees are expected to take action on Thursday, Feb. 2, to name the program for her parents. It will be called the Aubrey Paul and Georgia Garrison Lloyd International Honors College. Lloyd grew up in Greensboro but has lived in San Diego since the 1960s.
Lloyd said that she has two reasons for making the gift. She already has given $1.3 million to establish a venture fund in her parents’ names. The remainder of the commitment is an estate gift.
“How do you say thank you to people who loved you?,” Lloyd said. “I’m recognizing the two people who were most important to my life – they both worked hard and neither came from money. They were very proud of what I accomplished. I’m just saying ‘Thank you, folks’ with this fund. ”
The other reason is her belief that students have a critical need for an international perspective in their education before they graduate.
“Having traveled as widely as I have, and having met the people I’ve met around the world, I feel that if we knew each other just a little better that the world would be a better place,” Lloyd said.
“The International Honors College, it seems, has been planned to give students the international viewpoint that’s needed in their education. To the extent that my gift could help world peace come about, I’m happy to be making it.”
Goals for the International Honors College include increasing the number of students in honors-level courses to 900 from the current total of approximately 400; increasing the involvement of students from UNCG’s six professional schools; enhancing the honors curriculum and activities with international perspectives; and enhancing the academic environment of the entire campus as well as the students enrolled in the IHC.
“This gift will be invaluable in establishing the International Honors College as a signature program for UNCG,” said Dr. Dennis Leyden, director of the new program. “The College’s mission recognizes the need to prepare students to be active global citizens in a rapidly-changing world where borders and boundaries are increasingly unclear.
“Their success is dependent upon acquiring global skills and understanding; conversely, the future of our planet may depend on leaders and activists with wisdom and commitment to humankind’s unity rather than its individuality.”
A 1950 graduate of Woman’s College (now UNCG), Lloyd spent 22 years in the U.S. Navy. Her service included four years, 1953-57, working at the Naval Reactors Branch, the project that was headed by Adm. Hyman Rickover and ultimately produced the nuclear navy.
She "greatly enjoyed" a two year tour in Yokohama, Japan, where she traveled on weekends within Japan and was also able to visit Thailand, the Philippines, Okinawa and Guam. Her final location from 1964-73, was at the Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, Calif., where she served as comptroller first at the base and later on the staff of the Commander, Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet. She retired at the rank of commander.
From 1972 to 1999, she was president of her own real estate firm, Rebecca Lloyd Inc. In 1986, she was elected president of the National Council of Exchangors, an association of real estate professionals specializing in working with investor clients, and served in that position for four years. In 1991, she was a member of the San Diego Problem Solvers, an association of real estate professionals who specialized in investment properties.
Rebecca's father (1883-1974), known as “A.P,” grew up in the White Cross community of Orange County. As a young man he taught school in Oklahoma, then returned to Carrboro to be a bank cashier. Her mother (1890-1970), known as “Georgie,” grew up in Alamance County, became a master milliner and worked in Johnson City, Tenn., for several years.
After their marriage, the Lloyds lived in Bluefield, W.Va., where her father taught school. When her mother found the coal dust in Bluefield too much to contend with, they moved to Greensboro in the mid-1920s. There, her father found a position as stockroom manager for Patterson Brothers Grocery and her mother continued her career.
When Patterson Brothers closed, her father bought the U-Save-It Food Store in downtown Greensboro. Her mother took great pride in being a Suffragette and in having voted in the 1920 election, the first in which women could vote. Both were hardworking people who loved their heritage, their families and their neighbors.
The International Honors College offers enhanced academics, international and global perspectives, and a variety of extra-curricular activities that will give its students the skills and knowledge needed to be admitted to the most prestigious graduate schools, to compete for nationally competitive awards like the Fulbright, and to start exciting careers in the United States and abroad.
Students in any major can choose from among its three different programs. All of these programs can be completed in the time it takes to earn a regular degree and offer a wide variety of small, innovative seminar-style courses that are the hallmark of a quality honors experience.
A special characteristic of the IHC is its emphasis on international and global perspectives. In today’s world, international and global perspectives are a necessary part of a solid, complete university education. At IHC, these perspectives are not isolated in a single course or two.
Instead, students can find those perspectives throughout the College’s programs – in most of its courses, in its honors residence hall, and in a variety of extra- and co-curricular activities. For honors students who study abroad at one of UNCG’s partner universities, a $1,000 travel fund is available.
Finally, the IHC operates on the principle that while courses are important, its students’ education is too important to be limited to the classroom. It offers its students a variety of special activities both at UNCG and abroad – an honor residence hall, special advising, student symposia, guest lectures and performances, informal coffees, internships and enhanced study abroad experiences.
