About the Center

History

The Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity was started in February 2005 as a joint effort between the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the UNC School of Law and Senator John Edwards.  Sen. Edwards directed the center until December 2006.  Professor Marion Crain was subsequently appointed as the new director, a position she held until June 2008.  The third and current director, Professor Gene Nichol, came aboard in the fall of 2008.

Staff

Gene Nichol, Director

Gene Nichol is a professor of law at the University of North Carolina.  He has written and taught extensively in the areas of constitutional law, federal courts, civil rights, economic injustice and election law.  He has published in many of the nation's top law journals, including the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, University of Chicago Law Review, Michigan Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, California Law Review, Duke Law Journal,   Virginia Law Review and an array of leading legal journals. He has also published extensively in the popular press -- writing for The Nation, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The News & Observer and The Denver-Rocky Mountain News.

Nichol has held numerous leadership positions including dean of the UNC School of Law from 1999-2005.  He then assumed the presidency of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.  He also served as law dean at the University of Colorado from 1988-1995 and the James Gould Cutler Professor and Director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law at William & Mary from 1985-1988.  Nichol founded the Byron White Center of Constitutional Law at the University of Colorado (1990) and the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina (2001).

Nichol attended Oklahoma State University, where he received a degree in philosophy in 1973. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Texas, graduating Order of the Coif, in 1976.

Heather Hunt, Assistant Director

Heather Hunt holds a B.A. in history from Columbia University and earned her J.D. from the UNC School of Law in 2002.  She served as a Fellow for the UNC Center for Civil Rights and has worked as a consultant and with numerous nonprofits. 

Wendy Spitzer, Administrative Assistant

Wendy Spitzer is a 2002 graduate of UNC, where she received a national merit scholarship and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, she worked in nonprofit arts management and in an administrative capacity at the UNC School of Law.  An active musician, she is involved in both classical and rock ensembles.

Advisory Board

    Contact Us

    The Poverty Center mailing address is:

    Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity
    UNC School of Law
    School of Law Annex
    CB #3382
    Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3382