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Editor’s note: The department of history recently posted this memorial tribute to Jim Ferguson, who taught the beloved “EATS 101” class through Honors Carolina. Ferguson passed away on Jan. 27.

headshot of James "Jim" Ferguson
James “Jim” Ferguson

Jim Ferguson passed away on Jan. 27, 2025. He was a Tar Heel through and through, having earned both his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in psychology from UNC during the 1960s. Jim also had a long association with Honors Carolina. As an undergraduate, he was part of a select group of students who were invited to join the program when it was much smaller than it is today. Jim also served on the planning committee that designed the renovation of Graham Memorial in 1999-2000, and for more than two decades taught a legendary honors seminar on food and society, colloquially known as “EATS 101.” For much of that time, he held an adjunct faculty appointment in the department of history. Jim’s course was the first of its kind at a major American university, and it earned a reputation well beyond the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Indeed, prospective students sometimes wrote about it in their admissions essays. Jim touched the lives of his students in profound and lasting ways, and that legacy will endure for generations to come. Shortly before his death, he and his wife Ellie established an endowment to support the Ferguson Family Honors Carolina Program in Food Studies. That is a most fitting tribute to Jim’s devotion to teaching and his love for our University. 

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