CHARLOTTE, N.C. — UNC Charlotte is honoring retiring Chancellor Philip L. Dubois and his wife, Lisa Lewis Dubois, by renaming the school’s uptown Charlotte Center in their honor.
Moving forward, the 11-story glass building on the corner of 9th and Brevard Streets will be known as the Dubois Center Charlotte Center City or The Dubois Center.
The Dubois Center
The $50 million facility opened in fall of 2011 and was specifically as a classroom building, which was designed to serve the business, organizations and people in an urban center.
Chancellor Dubois completed over $1billion in construction and renovations during his 15-year tenure.
“Phil came to me with this audacious idea of starting a new campus right in the middle of uptown Charlotte,” said Erskine Bowles, president of the UNC System when the concept was first proposed. “Over time, we were able to convince the legislature this building could make an enormous difference, that it could drive business and opportunities for Charlotte and the region for decades to come.”
The Dubois Center offers proximity to the UNC Charlotte’s part-time MBA evening program and continuing education programs for people who live and work uptown. It also saves as a communal space for over 1,800 of the university’s corporate and community events.
“We knew we needed to have a more substantial and visible presence,” Dubois said. “That led to the decision to make our No. 1 campus construction priority a new building in Center City.”
First Lady Lisa Lewis Dubois served as co-chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Women’s Summit, whose outcomes guided the implementation of the Women+Girls Research Alliance, housed at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, as well as other education and cultural endeavors, which have enriched the community.
“The legacy of Chancellor Phil Dubois and First Lady Lisa Lewis Dubois is not limited to their leadership within the walls of the UNC Charlotte campus,” said Michael L. Wilson ‘93, chair of the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees. “They have worked diligently to connect UNC Charlotte to the greater Charlotte community; as the city grew, UNC Charlotte grew with it.”
