Kenan Convocation

The Kenan Convocation is a gathering of Kenan-endowed professors held every two to three years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It features speakers and discussion on a topic determined by its Planning Committee. It is sponsored by the William Rand Kenan, Jr., Charitable Trust, which endows professorships at universities throughout the United States. The first Kenan Convocation was held in 1980; subsequent ones have been held in 1982, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1993, and 1996.

The Kenan Convocations were gatherings of Kenan Professors from around the nation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They were supported by a grant from the William Rand Kenan, Jr., Charitable Trust, which endowed the various Kenan chairs. As of the mid-1980s, there were some 110 Kenan Professors in over fifty universities nationwide. These included William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professors (of whom there were 85 in 1982 at 53 universities), Kenan Professors at the UNC-Chapel Hill, Sarah Graham Kenan Professors in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, and Graham Kenan Professors in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.

The first Kenan Convocation was held 30 May-1 June 1980 in Chapel Hill and proved successful enough to merit the creation of a committee of Kenan Professors to arrange a second. Held 3-5 June 1982, the second convocation featured thematic speakers and group discussions on the topic of The State vs. Academe. A third convocation was held 31 May-2 June 1984 on The Computer Revolution and Universities: The Effect of New Technologies on Teaching and Learning. Subsequent convocations were held 23-25 October 1986, on Citizenship, Education, and the Media, 19-21 October 1989, on University/Industry Relations: New Alliances, 22-23 April 1993, on The Modern University: Its Present Status and Future Prospects, and 26-27 April 1996, on The American South.