Left, Uncle Jack and Aunt Cassie Cowell. Center, H. Bryan Ives III '80. Right, Horace Bryan Ives Jr. 1942 senior class Yackety Yack photo.
Left, Uncle Jack and Aunt Cassie Cowell. Center, H. Bryan Ives III ’80. Right, Horace Bryan Ives Jr. 1942 senior class Yackety Yack photo.

By Jess Clarke

The decision by H. Bryan Ives III, Gibbs C. Ives and their family to create a scholarship endowment at UNC School of Law is rooted in Bryan’s father’s potato farming as a teen during the Great Depression.

Uncle Jack and Aunt Cassie Cowell.
Uncle Jack and Aunt Cassie Cowell.

Ives’ father, Bryan Jr., known as H. B., lost his own father at 14, and was thus required to manage his family’s small rural Pamlico County, N.C., farm operation in the height of the Depression, which included growing tubers for Bay River Potatoes. The Pamlico company’s owner, John “Jack” Cowell, paid for H. B. to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. H. B. referred to Mr. Cowell as Uncle Jack and Mr. Cowell’s wife as Aunt Cassie, although they had no relation to H. B. or his family.  Without the generosity of Uncle Jack and Aunt Cassie, H. B. would have been unable to continue his education beyond Stonewall High School in Pamlico County.

H. B., a 1942 UNC graduate, recognizing the value of his UNC education, followed Uncle Jack’s example and covered the costs for Ives and his three siblings to attend Chapel Hill, including Ives’s three years at Carolina Law. Ives followed his father’s example by paying for the Chapel Hill education of his son, Bryan IV, currently a producer for ESPN’s ACC Network. 

The Ives Family, Matthew and Genevieve Ives Hayes (Furman); Gibbs (BA '78) and Bryan (BSBA '77, JD '80) Ives III; Caroline (BA '12, MAC '14) and Bryan (BA '10) Ives IV.
The Ives Family, Matthew and Genevieve Ives Hayes (Furman); Gibbs (BA ’78) and Bryan (BSBA ’77, JD ’80) Ives III; Caroline (BA ’12, MAC ’14) and Bryan (BA ’10) Ives IV.

With the new $250,000 Ives Family Scholarship, the Ives family pays tribute to H.B. and Uncle Jack and Aunt Cassie Cowell and highlights the importance of UNC-Chapel Hill and Carolina Law in the family’s history.

“My father wouldn’t have had a successful career but for his undergraduate degree at Chapel Hill, and he wouldn’t have had that if not for Uncle Jack. Part of this is to say ‘thank you’ to Uncle Jack’s family,” says Ives, a partner at Alston & Bird LLP.

Uncle Jack and Aunt Cassie’s family includes John Cowell, the Cowell’s grandson, who was a star tight end for three of the Dooley era UNC football teams.

The scholarship is for students with an undergraduate degree from the Kenan Flagler School of Business, like Ives, a ’77 Chapel Hill graduate, or for students interested in pursuing a career in corporate or tax law. Recipients will receive tuition assistance all three years at Carolina Law.

The scholarship endowment is the largest single gift the Ives family has ever bestowed.

Horace Bryan Ives Jr. 1942 senior class Yackety Yack photo.
Horace Bryan Ives Jr. 1942 senior class Yackety Yack photo.

His longtime philanthropy to Carolina Law and Chapel Hill was sparked initially by partners at the Charlotte based law firm where he first began his career. “I was taught as a very young lawyer that being a lawyer is a privilege, and with the privilege comes a duty…to give back to the community,” Ives says. “The community includes particularly the law school where you got the degree that enables you to practice law.”

At Carolina Law, Ives was articles editor of North Carolina Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.

“I’ve done well, and the reason I’ve done well is the excellent education I got as both an undergraduate and at Carolina Law,” says Ives, who was co-chair of Alston & Bird’s corporate transactions and securities group, served as its financial partner and on its governing partners’ committee.

“Law school trains your brain and teaches you how to think and be logical. That basic underpinning is crucial to a successful practice of law. All those baseline skills I got from Carolina Law,” he says.

His philanthropy to Carolina Law is motivated partly by Dean Martin Brinkley’s ’92 initiatives, some of which have resulted in an increased ranking among law schools in U.S. News & World Report. “I want the great reputation of the law school and the overall university to continue and be enhanced. I’m absolutely dedicated to what UNC-Chapel Hill stands for,” Ives says.

He wants his dedication to Carolina Law to inspire other alumni to give to the school.

“I hope people will think about how fortunate they are to have a law degree,” he notes, “and make that opportunity available to the next generation.” 

Gifts to the law school count toward the Campaign for Carolina, the most ambitious public University fundraising campaign in the Southeast and in University history. UNC School of Law aims to raise $75 million to increase the competitiveness of the school and develop lawyer-leaders who impact North Carolina and beyond. Help us reach this goal and preserve Carolina Law’s future as a cherished public institution. Give now!