Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

While Drs. Waltz and Louise Maynor have a Masters’ Degree from Appalachian State University, a Doctoral degree from Duke University, and have dedicated 35 years of their lives to North Carolina Central University (NCCU), the couple cares most for their alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNC-P). Both Waltz and Louise both have a special interest in American Indian Studies, and they have pledged $50,000 to the department at UNC-P.

Waltz and Louise both have a rich history when it comes to education and the Pembroke area.

Previously, Waltz taught at Sandhills Community College, UNC-P and Appalachian State. He is a former member of the board of directors of the UNC-P Alumni Association and also led a community effort to build a public library for the town of Pembroke. While at NCCU, Waltz taught math and served as chair of the Education Department. He was even honored by UNC-P with the Distinguished Service Award in 2004.

Louise also taught at Appalachian State, along with Carson-Newman University and the University of Georgia, before finally settling in at NCCU, where she taught English and was the chair of the English Department. She is also the former chair of the North Carolina Advisory Council on Indian Education. Like Waltz, Louise was honored by UNC-P in 2004, receiving the Outstanding Alumni Award.

As UNC-P has the only free-standing department of American Indian Studies in the state of North Carolina, the “Drs. Waltz and Louise Maynor Family Endowed Fund” will be used to enhance initiatives within the department. UNC-P Chancellor Robin Cummings said that the fund will strengthen the program and advance the shared vision of becoming the premier institution of the study of Southeast American Indians.