UNC chemistry professor Joseph L. Templeton was recently honored with the General Alumni Association’s Faculty Service Award at the association’s board of directors quarterly meeting.

The award was established in 1990 to honor faculty who have performed outstanding service for the University or the General Alumni Association.

Templeton joined the faculty in 1976 after earning his degree in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1971. He served as chair of the chemistry department from 1990 until 1995 while also teaching classes, mentoring graduate students, applying for grants and running his own research projects.

In 2009, Templeton was appointed the leader of Carolina Counts, an organization that reports on the campus operating structure and how to make it more efficient. The report reflects input from the campus community and is posted at the University’s budget information website.

Templeton served as the chair of the Faculty Council from 2006 to 2009, and has served as chair of the Summer Reading Program Book Selection Committee. He has also been a member of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee, the Faculty Executive Committee and the most recent chancellor selection committee, which chose Holden Thorp, current chancellor of UNC.