Last week, Greensboro lost a passionate and stalwart leader in Jim Melvin.
As the city mourns his passing, UNC Greensboro remembers how Melvin supported our University mission and students, grew the workforce our graduates aspire to join, and helped to build the vibrant community around us.
“Jim Melvin has roots on our campus that date all the way back to his father’s grocery store on Tate Street,” said Chancellor Frank Gilliam. “His life mirrored UNCG’s motto of service and his legacy will live on in the Spartan scholars his work supported and the local industry he brought to the area, which will employ our graduates for years to come.”
A Servant’s Calling
Known around the state as “Mr. Greensboro,” Melvin gave a lifetime of unwavering support for the city where he was born and raised. In addition to a career in banking that spanned four decades, he held Greensboro’s longest term as mayor, serving ten years from 1971 to 1981. After Melvin retired, Joseph M. Bryan tapped him as a founder and early leader of his foundation, which not only supported the growth in the Greensboro area, but also contributed to educational funding at UNCG. To date, 370 students have benefitted from Joseph M. Bryan Foundation scholarships, primarily in the Bryan School of Business and Economics (Bryan School).
Melvin’s contributions to the University extended beyond his leadership as CEO and president of the Bryan Foundation. He also chaired the UNCG Board of Trustees and served on many other University boards and committees. He was awarded an honorary degree in 2007, received the UNCG Charles Duncan McIver Medal in 2005, and joined the UNCG Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.
Always in the Game
Melvin’s passion for sports and recreation in Greensboro led him to spearhead projects like Bryan Park and the First Horizon Bank Park (home of the Grasshoppers), developing Greensboro’s “Tournament Town” moniker.
It also made him a big supporter of UNCG athletics. Melvin’s obituary noted that “you could always find him in the stands at Spartan basketball games.”
As one of the Greensboro business leaders known as the “Big Five,” he was important in establishing UNCG’s NCAA Division I athletic program, and he also funded his own scholarship. Since 1999, the Jim Melvin Athletic Scholarship has supported 18 scholar athletes at UNCG.
“Jim Melvin was a friend to UNCG athletics and was instrumental in our move from Division III to Division I in 1991,” said Athletic Director Brian Mackin. “UNCG athletics has seen record fundraising numbers in the last three years with Jim cochairing the scholarship and operating initiative. He will be missed by the UNCG Athletic Department, as well as the University and Greensboro communities.”
What’s Good for Greensboro Is Good for Spartans
Perhaps Melvin’s most enduring legacy is his recruitment of industry in and around the city of Greensboro, which in turn uplifts UNCG and its graduates.
Melvin understood that empowering communities meant not only funding education but also building industry to drive employment. He always kept his eye on emerging businesses to support the next generation of college graduates. In recent years, he was a primary supporter of Piedmont Triad International as an aviation hub, helping to attract HondaJet, the Boom Supersonic plant, and Toyota’s battery manufacturing plant.
“After Joseph M. Bryan, it would be difficult to name a greater champion of Greensboro than Jim Melvin,” said Dean Joy Bhadury of the Bryan School.
Bhadury further praised Melvin’s impact on UNCG students’ success and noted that being a champion of industry and urban growth didn’t keep him from making time to get to know the people who would benefit from his work at the yearly Bryan Scholars and Fellows dinner.
“In all my years at UNCG, I have never known Jim Melvin to have missed one of those events,” said Bhadury. “And at every event, including the most recent one in February 2025, he made a point to speak to students, find out more about them and their career aspirations, and encourage them onwards.”
“In his passing, a true giant of our city is gone and will be irreplaceably missed,” Bhadury continued. “UNCG joins the rest of our city in mourning his loss, but this also strengthens our resolution to ensure that we continue to work to bring to fruition the dreams of Mr. Melvin.”
Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications.
