By BOB MYERS
Homefolks say new univer¬
sity chancellor some day will
be governor.
William B. Aycock
When the trustees of the University
set out to find a new Chancellor at
Chapel Hill, they not only sought a
man of scholarly and administrative
abilities, but hoped for something
extra.
The consensus is that they have
chosen well, for William Brantley Ay-
cock is a scholar who has proved his
administrative capacity. Beyond this,
his thoroughness in teaching, conscien¬
tious determination to hard work, de¬
voted family life, sense of humor and
ability to express himself arc the ex¬
tras that assure vigorous leadership.
Bill Aycock, at 41, takes over this
month, succeeding Robert B. House,
retiring after 12 years in his present
capacity.
No one is more prideful of the se¬
lection than the people of Selma, home
to Aycock since the age of six when
his parents, Myrtle Moore Aycock and
the late William P. Aycock, moved
there from Lucama, his birthplace.
While Bill Aycock was enjoying the
Ilifc typical of a small town boy, the
people of Selma were making prophe¬
cies that he would scale the Everest
to success. He hasn't let them down.
Recently, “William Brantley Ay¬
cock Day" was proclaimed in Selma
and the Johnston County hometown
folk turned out in large numbers. Their
tributes were genuine and tender. In
this mixture of sentiment the people
talked about Bill Aycock.
"It was prophesied long ago that
Bill Aycock would not only be head
of the University, but would also be
Governor of North Carolina," one man
said.
Another, taking into account Ay-
cock's military record in World War II
•THE STATE. JULY J3. 1957
and his present status as a reservist,
remarked that "before he's through
he will be a general.”
And former playmates and school
chums spilled little childhood secrets
about Aycock’s rooster that never
would crow, and that he was the only
boy in the school who enrolled in a
home economics course.
The personable Aycock took the re¬
enactment of his life from the cradle
to the present in good spirit, admit¬
ting that he took the course in "cook¬
ing," but hesitated to enroll in the
"sewing” class once he got a look at
what the others were sewing.
Aycock left the grocery store, filling
station and drugstore, where he
worked in his teens, to enroll at State
College in 1932. There he took courses
in teaching high school history and
English, was active in many student
organizations and received a B.S. de¬
gree in education in 1936. At 21,
Aycock entered Carolina in the fall
of 1936 and received his M.A. degree
in history and political science in 1937.
He taught at Greensboro High School
until 1940.
Although the illness of his father,
who died in 1954, and war intervened,
Aycock never lost sight of plans to
enter the law field. Called to active
military duty in 1942, Lt. Aycock
trained Japanese - American soldiers
for combat more than two years, then
distinguished himself in battle as a
battalion commander in the 346th
Regiment, 87th Infantry Division serv¬
ing in Germany.
In his first combat experience in
December of 1944, Aycock displayed
two personal qualities that charac¬
terize him as a leader: quiet courage
and good judgment. His performance
in fighting during the Battle of the
Bulge was recognized by the Silver
Star medal; his overall military career
by his rising from lieutenant to lt.-
coloncl. He is now a reserve colonel
in the Judge Advocate General’s
Corps.
Aycock was 10 days late enrolling
in the UNC Law School in the fall of
1945, but he knew what he wanted
to do and applied himself three busy
years, graduating with a J.D. degree
in February, 1948.
It had long been his hope to return
to Selma to practice law with his father,
but his senior's faltering health pre¬
vented this. He turned to teaching law,
because what Aycock's professors
thought of his ability was evident in
their actions. He was invited to join
the Law School faculty and accepted
in 1948.
He likes teaching, as evidenced by
this sound philosophy:
"I think teaching, more than any¬
thing else, gives a man a chance to
develop his own talent. You have
more control over your success or
failure. It's really up to the individual
to be a good teacher or a bad teacher."
He installed military law at Chapel
Hill and is teaching it at the Uni¬
versity of Virginia this school year as
visiting professor. Aycock is also co¬
author of a book, Military Law Under
the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Colleagues, students and neighbors
of Aycock describe him as "an early
riser who sometimes gets to work two
hours ahead of anyone else . . "a
painstaking and lucid teacher . . ." "a
man with an abundance of drive
and determination, yet relaxed and
friendly with a quick and ready smile
. . "one who plunges deeply into the
detailed work of his profession and
docs not spare himself.”
He is a devoted family man, active
in law associations and is a member
of the Community Church in Chapel
Hill. Married in 1941 to Miss Grace
Mcwborn of Snow Hill, the Aycocks
have two children. W. P. Aycock, II,
and Nancy. Aycock expressed his
family devotion in a remark to a friend
who had noticed that the grass in the
Aycock front yard was taking a beat¬
ing under the feet of the romping
children.
"Right now I'm raising children,"
Bill said, "When I get through raising
children. I'll raise grass."
1 5
