Dave DeWitt

A Duke University faculty member has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Doctor Robert Lefkowicz is a researcher and faculty member at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University Medical Center.

The Nobel Committee made the announcement earlier this morning. Lefkowicz said on the phone during the announcement that the middle-of-the-night call was unexpected.

Dr. Robert Lefkowicz: And so my wife gave me an elbow. Call for you. And there it was, a total shock and surprise.

A controversial private school in Raleigh is closing its doors. The Upper Room Christian Academy High School opened in 2001.

Players, staff, and others who earn a living from professional hockey in the Triangle are bracing for a long, protracted labor dispute.  One year after the entire 2004-2005 season was lost due to the last contractual dispute between team owners and players, the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.

The resolution came out of a closed-door meeting of the Trustees last night. It describes the Board’s “unanimous” support for Thorp and “emphatically” requests that he reconsider his decision to resign.

Thorp announced that resignation on Monday, saying he believed it was in the best interests of the university and his family. Thorp was on the teleconference with the Trustees and has not indicated whether he will reconsider.

Families in Wake County will soon have to learn the particulars of yet another student assignment plan.

The resignation of UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp is drawing a variety of reactions from those on-campus and off. Thorp has been at the helm for four years. During the last two, he faced growing criticism for how he has handled a series of scandals in the football program and the African and Afro-American studies department. And then last week, the school’s top fundraiser abruptly resigned after being confronted with a number of personal trips he took at university expense.

Holden Thorp has resigned as the chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill. His four-year tenure was marked by historic budget cuts and significant accomplishments in research and student achievement. But it will likely be the three scandals that occurred on his watch that will be most prominent in his legacy.

They involved academic integrity issues in the football program and the African-American studies department. And just last week, Thorp accepted the resignation of the school’s top fundraiser for using university funds for personal travel.

The UNC Board of Governors voted today to change the way new tuition revenue can be allocated to need-based financial aid. The new rules allow individual campuses to determine what percentage of tuition revenue can be used to help low-income students. The old policy said 25 % of new tuition revenue had to be set aside for financial aid. The Board also fielded a lot of questions on the future of UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp. Thorp has dealt with scandals involving football, the department of Afro and African-American studies, and the school's top fundraiser.

This week, UNC-Chapel Hill was rocked by yet another scandal – this one involving the travel of two of the school’s top fundraisers. It follows high-profile incidents in the football program and the Afro and African-American Studies department.

That has led some to question the leadership of the school’s chancellor. In a conversation earlier today, Chancellor Holden Thorp talked with WUNC reporter Dave DeWitt. Thorp first addressed the school’s short-term fundraising prospects after the resignation of Vice Chancellor Matt Kupec.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is adding a new member. Notre Dame will join the league in the next few years – as soon as it can get out of its current league, the Big East.  But Notre Dame’s most celebrated athletic program, football, isn’t coming with the other sports. Instead, the Fighting Irish football program will remain an independent, in order to retain its ability to negotiate its own TV contract. When Notre Dame eventually joins to ACC in all other sports, it will bring the number of conference members to 15 – and again expands the league’s geographic footprint.