Albert Coates
Founder and Director, Institute of Government
1931 to 1961

Career Milestones

1923—Joined UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Law faculty. As an assistant professor of law, Coates wrote, taught, and consulted extensively in the fields of criminal law, municipal law, legislation, and family law.

1923-30—Developed the organizational plan for the Institute of Government.

1932—Founded the Institute of Government as a private organization and launched Popular Government as a digest of attorney general opinions for local government units.

1933—Hired the first full-time Institute faculty members including Henry Brandis, later dean of the UNC Law School; Buck Grice; and Dillard Gardner.

1935-38—Offered first series of training sessions by the Institute of Government for local and state government officials.

1939—Secured private funding from Julian Price, Gordon Gray, and Bowman Gray to complete the Institute’s first building on Franklin Street.

1942—Persuaded the UNC Board of Trustees to formally accept the Institute of Government as part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after receiving financial support from Spencer Love for the Institute’s operations.

1943—Reader’s Digest publishes an article on the Institute of Government.

1943-54—Recruited new Institute of Government faculty members.

1953—Secured a $500,000 matching grant from the General Assembly after receiving a $500,000 grant from the Joseph Palmer Knapp Foundation to finance the Knapp Building.

1955—Received first ongoing appropriation from the North Carolina General Assembly for the Institute of Government.

1959—Created management development workshops for counselors at the request of the North Carolina Employment Security Commission.

1962—Retired as director of the Institute of Government at the state’s mandatory retirement age for administrators.

1962-68—Continued to teach at the UNC Law School.

1962-68—Founded the Institute of Civic Education through the University Extension Division.

1980—Received approval from the State Board of Education to create the Albert Coates Citizenship Education program.

“Albert Coates is an authentic genius, with matchless words upon his tongue, peerless magic in his pen, lofty ideas in his heart, and iron purpose in his soul.”