This Day in the History of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

William Battle Phillips earned the first doctor of philosophy degree (Ph.D.) given by the University and the first to be awarded by a public university in the South. In addition, Henry Horace Williams received the University's first "earned" master of arts degree (M.A.). Previously, the University gave M.A. degrees to any graduate who had practiced a profession (law, medicine, or the church) for three years and paid the requisite fee.