As he finished a mastering session for rap supergroup Public Enemy’s “Apocalypse 91 … The Enemy Strikes Back” album, Young turned the studio into a classroom, seamlessly explaining the how and why of what he was doing.

More than three decades later, Young is still offering music production lessons. He just finished his first semester as a full-time faculty member in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ music department, teaching two sections of MUSC 156: Beat Making Lab as well as MUSC 212, a one-credit-hour class for students participating in the UNC Hip-Hop Ensemble.

Both courses are natural fits for Young. He said his students’ enthusiasm is what stands out the most from the semester. “They’re excited about making beats,” Young said, “and they rise to the occasion and get it done.”

The same can be said about Young in a career characterized by longevity and variety.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, he was a saxophonist in his youth and began DJing in the late 1980s, working at a popular Long Island nightclub as a teenager. Around the same time, Young started hanging out in the studio with Public Enemy and by the summer of 1989 was producing for the Bomb Squad, the group’s in-house production team.

His beats are on multiple Public Enemy projects, and he also produced solo projects by group members Chuck D (a childhood neighbor), Professor Griff and Flavor Flav. Young has worked with legendary acts like Ice Cube, Busta Rhymes, Eric B. & Rakim and Mobb Deep among others. Several movies, including “Sister Act 2 (Back in the Habit)” and Spike Lee’s “He Got Game,” feature his beats, too.

“I worked with everybody,” Young said.

Displeased with the commercialization of rap and changes in lyrical content, Young decided to focus more on music composition in 1994 after working as a composer on the first season of the TV series “New York Undercover.”

“I didn’t get into it for the money. I just love making music,” he said. “Once I started composing, I was like, ‘Man, I want to do more of this.’”

That desire led Young to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music composition. He’s composed several orchestral works and created the world’s first hip-hop concerto, “The Five Elements,” in 2024.

Young also serves as a hip-hop ambassador for Next Level, a U.S. Department of State program run in association with the UNC-Chapel Hill music department that took him to Egypt in 2017 and will send him to Italy next year.

Young directs the UNC Hip-Hop Ensemble Fall Concert at Hill Hall on Nov. 11, 2025. (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Inside the classroom

Young teaches students the fundamentals and history of the craft and encourages them to really listen to songs. “Isolate what’s going on, and figure out what sounds are being used,” he said. “Is there a hi-hat? Or what’s keeping the pulse?”

He also challenges students with in-class beat assignments on computer software Ableton. Their creations range from hip-hop and R&B to techno and house music.

Web Allen, a junior business administration major, enjoys the “hands-on” nature of the course. Allen, who sings and beatboxes in a cappella group Psalm 100, also appreciated that Young came to hear his group perform.

“I was like, ‘Heck yeah, thank you!’” Allen said. “It was fun having him.”

Young had a great semester, but he said teaching — like beat making — is trial and error.

“You have to see what sticks and what works,” he said.

“They’re excited about making beats,” Young said about his students, “and they rise to the occasion and get it done.” (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Each researcher has authored multiple papers that rank in the top 1% by citation for their field and publication year in Clarivate’s Web of Science platform over the past 11 years. The list is then refined using quantitative metrics, as well as qualitative analysis and expert judgment.

This year, 6,868 individuals across 60 countries earned the distinction.

The University’s most-cited researchers include:

Biology and biochemistry

Xi-Ping Huang, UNC School of Medicine

Clinical medicine

Dr. John B. Buse, UNC School of Medicine

Dr. Lisa A. Carey, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dr. Sidney C. Smith Jr., UNC School of Medicine

Cross-field

Gianpietro Dotti, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Rachel L. Graham, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Sarah R. Leist, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Nigel Mackman, UNC School of Medicine

Evan Mayo-Wilson, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Alexandra Schafer, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Jenny P.Y. Ting, UNC School of Medicine

Chao Wang, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Wei You, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Yuling Zhao, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Engineering, environment and ecology, materials science, and physics

Jinsong Huang, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Immunology

David van Duin, UNC School of Medicine

Mathematics

David Wells, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Microbiology

Ralph Baric, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Lisa E. Gralinski, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Timothy P. Sheahan, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Nutrition

Barry M. Popkin, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Pharmacology

Bryan L. Roth, UNC School of Medicine, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Pharmacology and toxicology

Alexander V. Kabanov, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Plant and animal science

Jeffery L. Dangl, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Hans W. Paerl, UNC College of Arts and Sciences and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Psychiatry and psychology

Margaret A. Sheridan, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Social sciences

Noel T. Brewer, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Stephen R. Cole, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Yan Song, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Nine additional researchers were also cited for work conducted while at UNC-Chapel Hill:

Cross-field

Bo Chen, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

John McCorvy, formerly with UNC School of Medicine

Zhenyi Ni, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Dinggang Shen, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Qi Wang, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Haotong Wei, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Xun Xiao, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Elena V. Batrakova, emeritus, UNC School of Medicine

Social Sciences

Byron J. Powell, formerly with UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

DuVal, the Carl W. Ernst Distinguished Professor of History in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences, was one of several historians featured in “The American Revolution,” the 12-hour film from documentarians Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt that debuted nationally on PBS last week.

“I have been in documentaries before, but a Ken Burns film is a whole different level,” DuVal said. “It’s really quite incredible to be featured in a documentary that huge numbers of people will see. I’m getting messages from people all over the state and the country about how they learned new things from what I said.”

Kathleen DuVal and Ken Burns. (Submitted photo)

DuVal’s connection to “The American Revolution” goes back to 2022. That’s when Botstein, Schmidt and another producer contacted her about her research and ultimately invited her to come to New York for an on-camera interview.

One of the film’s objectives is showing how the Revolutionary War’s impact extended well beyond the familiar conflict between the British and independence-seeking colonists. Duval, who won the Pulitzer Prize in May for her book on Native American nations and communities, helped further that effort.

“The film uses my expertise on Native American history, Spanish and French involvement in the war, and women’s history,” DuVal said. “I talked about how women were central to the war, from the battlefield to the homefront. And I talked about the international aspects of the Revolution through both Native nations and European empires.”

DuVal is at least the third historian with ties to Carolina to be featured in a Ken Burns documentary. Alumnus Shelby Foote ’39 was a fixture in the 1990 film “The Civil War” and William Leuchtenburg, William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of History, appeared in 2014’s “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History” and 2011’s “Prohibition.” He also consulted on several other Burns projects through the years.

(PBS/Florentine Films)

“I count myself so fortunate,” Leuchtenburg said in 2014. “It is the most exhilarating thing I do and have done. To have a very first reading of the script of a new film, to have a chance to suggest ways that it might be changed, to be closely listened to by Ken, who, of course, makes the final decision, as he should. It’s just a terrific experience.”

Leuchtenburg consulted on “The American Revolution” until the time of his death in January at age 102. DuVal was grateful to have one last connection to a fellow historian from Carolina through their work on Burns’ most recent project.

“It was fascinating to learn about the long and generative relationship that he [Leuchtenburg] had with Ken Burns,” DuVal said. “It’s wonderful to see his name along with mine in the list of scholarly advisers at the end of each episode.”

DuVal hopes the release of “The American Revolution” just before America marks a major milestone helps the film strike an even more important tone.

“The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is an important time to reflect on the creation of our country and what it meant back then and still means today,” DuVal said. “Sometimes we take our republic for granted, but countless men and women struggled to create this country and, ever since, to try to help it live up to its promises.”

“The American Revolution” is available for streaming on pbs.org and other platforms. DuVal will deliver the keynote address at Carolina’s Winter Commencement on Dec. 14.

Katz, who is also the founding director of the Next Level Cultural Diplomacy Program, uses the power of music in this new project to support the rehabilitation of incarcerated individuals across North Carolina.

Developed in close collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, as well as currently and formerly incarcerated people, CPMI offers music instruction, performance opportunities and training in music-related skills. The program not only fosters creative expression and pro-social behavior within correctional facilities, but it also works to equip participants with valuable skills to support successful re-entry into society.

The program’s full launch begins this fall with two courses, Introduction to Music and Songwriting, which will culminate in public performances.

Re-entry activities will include career coaching to develop entrepreneurial and networking skills, provide access to recording studios and craft individualized action plans for participants. Guest artists and speakers will supplement rehabilitative and re-entry activities.

CPMI stands out for its bold, collaborative approach, bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders, including prison staff, volunteers, musicians, faith leaders and members of the Carolina community. With its emphasis on dignity, creativity and equal partnership, CPMI aims to humanize and empower prison-impacted individuals, while also promoting social cohesion, lowering recidivism rates and improving public safety and understanding.

“The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction is committed to developing and offering a wide array of rehabilitative opportunities for those incarcerated in our state, and we are excited and grateful to partner with the Carolina Prison Music Initiative to open doors to the transformative power of music within our institutions,” said Charles Mautz, NCDAC director of rehabilitation services.

Katz’s award recognizes not only the academic excellence of the proposal but also its real-world impact and potential to transform lives across the state.

“Through CPMI, we aim to connect the resources of UNC with the creativity and resilience of people impacted by incarceration,” Katz said. “Receiving the Harvey Award affirms the importance of this work and the value of building bridges between the University and the community.”

Proposals for the 2026 Harvey Award are due by Jan.12, 2026, and may be submitted via the Carolina Center for Public Service application portal.

C. Felix Harvey III ’43 and his family endowed the C. Felix Harvey Award to Advance Institutional Priorities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In creating this award, the family fulfilled its longstanding mission of social service and intended to recognize exemplary faculty who reflect the University’s commitment to innovative engagement and outreach for the benefit of communities on a local and statewide level.

The family gift has been groundbreaking from its inception, funding projects in the humanities and social sciences that take exemplary faculty scholarship and move it out into the community to address real-world challenges. The award takes a model of scholarly engagement and outreach that is familiar in business and science and extends it to disciplines that have not been encouraged to grow or reach out in the same ways. Central to the family’s mission is support for the University’s commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation.

“I love pediatrics, I love kids and it’s for an underserved population,” she said when she saw the posting. “There’s a need for advocacy, and I have a strong voice for others who may not have one. It’s leadership but also clinical. It’s the best of both worlds. I would do complex care coordination, and I can come in and make a positive change. It’s my dream job. I’ve got to do it.”

Her previous experience included being a medic in the U.S. Army and the medication and diabetes care manager for the Lee County School System, and she has a degree in health care management.

Hill is also a natural leader, and the position at the clinic combines her medical and organizational skills — a perfect fit.

Managing a busy clinical environment

Since she started, Hill has created a special place for patients and their families, as well as for staff, faculty and doctors.

“The doctors would describe me as a ‘chaos coordinator,’” she said. “They call me ‘boss lady.’ I’m very regimented in my approach. It’s almost like the craniofacial clinic is an orchestrated performance, with so many specialties seeing patients in one visit. I have to coordinate each step, and it’s organized, beautiful, chaos.”

“Her management techniques combine a tough love with a tender heart, which tends to motivate to action those in our team,” said Dr. Allen Samuelson, director of the Geriatrics and Special Care Clinic. “I give Jessi high praise for her work and creativity. She also has a fun side and tries to keep up the morale of our team members and does this well given all our circumstances.”

Hill has also created a strategic plan for the craniofacial clinic to address areas she feels need attention and to support outreach for patients, families and students. She hopes to create a support network for patients and families with cleft palates and craniofacial conditions. She plans events to help foster a sense of community among that same population, including Carolina Cheer Day, which spreads awareness about craniofacial issues.

(Submitted photo)

Sharing her knowledge

Scholars and dental students reap the benefits of Hill’s planning and foresight. Health care management interns from within the UNC System spend time in the craniofacial clinic during the summer months, learning about clinic operations, customer service, quality improvement and patient dignity. The clinic also hosts a rotational site visit for dental students to help expose them to new populations within the oral health sphere.

“Students may not have interactions with other kids who are affected by clefting or craniofacial conditions. It’s important that they understand the importance of cleft and craniofacial care,” she said.

She has a similar philosophy for health care administrators. “My philosophy regarding health care administrators: Build relationships and make informed decisions,” she said. “If you want to be a successful and accepted administrator, you first need to identify and consider whom and how the changes you make will impact someone. At some point, you will find yourself responsible for advocating for patients, caregivers, staff, and doctors. If you are going to be the future of health care, you need to understand health care from the bottom up.”

When she’s not in the clinic, Hill can be found teaching her 16-year-old twins how to drive, ferrying her 14-year-old daughter to various activities and engaging in favorite activities like going to concerts, the beach and paddleboarding.

Read more about Jessica Hill.

Tell me about your area of research and what drew you to do this at Carolina? 

Much of my research has focused on the role of third parties in international conflict. This work looks both at how third parties become actively involved in conflicts through military intervention, as well as how they can help manage and resolve conflicts. More recently, my research has expanded to the realm of political economy. I wrote a book called “Market Power Politics” with my colleague, Mark Crescenzi, that investigates how competition over natural resource markets drives the expansionist behavior of countries like Russia and China. We are working on a sequel to this book that examines the market power politics of critical minerals and green energy.

UNC has one of the best political science departments in the country, and I feel fortunate to have been able to spend the past two decades here.

What makes your department special/unique?  

No other university in the country provides an interdisciplinary program quite like it. With our academic faculty, students learn how to study questions of peace and conflict through a variety of social science, historical and humanistic lenses. At the same time, our professors of the practice bring their professional experience in public service, the military and diplomacy into the classroom. This provides UNC-Chapel Hill PWAD students with a special academic experience that they couldn’t find anywhere else.

What’s coming up for PWAD this year that you are excited about? 

We are having Ambassador Jennifer Davis and Admiral Dennis Blair on campus as our Knott Distinguished Visiting Professors this year. It’s particularly exciting to have Ambassador Davis teach a class for PWAD for the first time. She is a “double” Carolina alumna with over two decades of experience as a diplomat in the State Department. I am thrilled that UNC-Chapel Hill students will have the opportunity to engage with these accomplished foreign policy practitioners both inside and outside the classroom.

If you had to choose just one, what’s been the favorite class you’ve taught? What made it special?  

A few years ago, Mark Crescenzi and I co-taught a course-based undergraduate research experience class that we created called “Peace Science Research.” Students came into the class with little or no social science research experience. But over the course of the semester, they worked in small groups to develop their own research project complete with original data analysis that they then presented at a University-wide poster session. It was a rewarding experience to see the students get so excited about doing research. On top of that, it was also a chance to collaborate with a colleague in the classroom, which is not something we often get to do.

Who in your life has inspired you?  

My parents. They encouraged and fostered my lifelong love of learning from an early age, and they instilled in me the importance of education and service. I definitely would not be where I am now without them.

Where is your favorite place on campus?  

Probably Meantime Coffee and the Anne Queen Lounge in the Campus Y. You can’t beat a nice cup of coffee and a chance to do a little work in a space away from “beautiful” Hamilton Hall.

It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon. Where would we find you?  

I’d probably be in a movie theater. I’m a pretty big film buff.

Learn more about Gent’s research. 

Tell us a bit about your career so far. What drew you to Carolina and Detachment 590?

I’ve served 18 years in the U.S. Air Force, and I also graduated and earned a commission through U.S. Air Force ROTC. ROTC was truly a formative experience in my undergraduate years, and it was in no small part due to the many professors and advisers within the university and the aerospace studies department who invested time and effort in my growth both as a student and as a human. I keep in contact with many of my peers and mentors from undergrad today.

We chose Carolina because of the school’s reputation for academic excellence and, while I did not attend UNC for my undergraduate study, I wanted to give back to an institution that gave so much to me and be part of a tradition-rich school. I appreciate the attention the students receive here at Carolina. Plus, who wouldn’t want to live in Chapel Hill — it’s simply phenomenal!

In just a few sentences, what makes the aerospace studies department unique?

The aerospace studies department serves two purposes. First, to develop leaders of character to serve in the U.S. Air Force through the ROTC program. Second, to teach an interdisciplinary program that complements the College’s curriculum in peace, war and defense and articulates what the U.S. Air Force provides to national security and defense.

What’s coming up for aerospace studies this year that you are excited about?

Each year we offer a variety of immersion programs within the U.S. Air Force, including internships, base visits, basic flight instruction and global studies. We’re hoping to get students up to the National Capital Region this year for immersion in various organizations in the national security enterprise.

What is a stand-out experience that Det 590 cadets have while they’re Tar Heels?

Without a doubt, our officer development opportunities and summer programs. Det 590 cadets have experienced so many, but just to name a few: Pentagon internships, Special Warfare immersion training, Cyber Camp, jumping out of planes, and cultural and language immersion in countries such as Taiwan, South Korea and Morocco.

Who in your life has inspired you?

My father. He’s a university professor, and I grew up around the academic environment through his profession. He’s been a tremendous resource for me in this role, and he continues to inspire me with his passion for learning, reading, teaching and research.

Where is your favorite place on campus? Why?

Outside of the Naval Armory and the Beach Café, probably the Carolina Inn. It’s such an iconic and unique treasure to have on campus.

It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon. Where would we find you?

Weaver Street Market or anywhere we can be outdoors and let our son play while we enjoy a cold beverage.

For DuVal and the students she teaches, America’s early days are a living, breathing thing, with untold stories and perspectives to consider that can illuminate our past and shape our present.

Her latest book, “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America,” was recently awarded a 2025 Pulitzer Prize, recognized for its “panoramic portrait of Native American nations and communities over a thousand years, a vivid and accessible account of their endurance, ingenuity and achievement in the face of conflict and dispossession.”

The book previously received the prestigious Cundill History Prize, the Bancroft Prize and the Mark Lynton History Prize.

So much of common knowledge about Native Americans begins with the arrival of Europeans and the colonization of many Native tribes, DuVal said. Those stories often center the destruction, displacement and sadness Native Americans experienced.

But who were they before that flash point in history, and how did they survive colonization? This is the story DuVal wants to tell.

“What people often say to me when they learn what I teach and write about is, ‘Oh, it was so sad.’ And it was. But that takes Native peoples out of the story,” said DuVal, the Carl W. Ernst Distinguished Professor of History. “We seek to understand them as making their own choices in the world and having successes and failures — and should not assume that they were always taken over by someone else.”

DuVal wrote the book to extend to wider audiences the vibrant history she teaches in her undergraduate course Native North America, where she reaches further back in time and bridges that history to the present day, covering 1,000 years of Native life and culture. Before the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans built urban cities and governments, and later smaller societies, and had agency as the protagonists of their own lives.

By pairing archaeological facts about that millennium with oral histories from that time, she invites students to explore Native American history through the rise and fall of urbanized communities, the design of environmentally and economically sustainable ways of life and the movement of tribes across America.

“It’s been a puzzle — how did it happen?” she said. “And I think history tells us, yes, people were making these decisions for themselves.”

DuVal, who came to Carolina in 2003 and has taught the survey class on and off for two decades, said the evolution of her work has been inspired by the process of teaching, engaging with her students and taking in their new questions and curiosities.

Her teaching and her scholarship are “completely intertwined.”

“I love teaching and working with UNC students,” she said. “They are so giving and open, and just about every time I teach, I learn more about their ideas. And I chose the particular nations that I focus on, in large part, because of colleagues who are citizens of those tribes, so they could introduce me to sources to make sure I didn’t get things wrong.”

America is constantly changing, and students are more interested than ever in examining the country’s earliest centuries to make sense of how people lived then and now, particularly in her courses U.S. History to 1865 and The American Revolution. Where the 18th century once felt relevant simply for Americans’ beginnings, students can connect that to their lives now, DuVal said.

“American history and Native American history absolutely have everything to do with today and help not only explain how we got here, but also help us understand where we want to be.”

“We take inspiration from nature’s designs, like blooming flowers or growing tissue, and translate them into technology that could one day think, move and adapt on its own,” said Freeman, who won the 2025 Faculty Mentoring Award from the Carolina Women’s Leadership Council.

She and her colleagues recently used unfurling flower petals, pulsing coral and the intricacies of living tissue formation as inspiration for a new technology: microscopic soft robots shaped like flowers that can change shape and behavior in response to their surroundings, just like living organisms do.

These tiny “DNA flowers” are made from special crystals formed by combining DNA and inorganic materials. They can reversibly fold and unfold in seconds, making them among the most dynamic materials ever developed on such a small scale.

Each flower’s DNA acts like a tiny computer program, telling it how to move and react to the world around it. When the environment changes, such as when acidity rises or falls, the flower can open, close or trigger a chemical reaction. That means these DNA-based robots could one day perform tasks on their own, from delivering medicine to cleaning up pollution.

“People would love to have smart capsules that would automatically activate medication when it detects disease and stops when it is healed. In principle, this could be possible with our shapeshifting materials,” Freeman said. “In the future, swallowable or implantable shape-changing flowers could be designed to deliver a targeted dose of drugs, perform a biopsy or clear a blood clot.”

The key to their success is how the DNA is arranged inside the flower-shaped crystals. When the surrounding environment becomes more acidic, parts of the DNA fold tightly, causing the flower to close. When conditions return to normal, the DNA loosens, and the petals open again. This simple but powerful motion can be used to control chemical reactions, carry and release molecules, or interact with cells and tissues.

Although the technology is still in early testing, the team envisions exciting future uses. One day, these DNA flowers could be injected into the body, where they would travel to a tumor. Once there, the tumor’s acidity could cause the petals to close, releasing medicine or taking a tiny tissue sample. When the tumor resolves, the flowers would reopen and deactivate, ready to respond again if the disease returns.

Beyond medicine, these smart materials could be used to clean up environmental disasters, releasing cleaning agents into polluted water, and then dissolving harmlessly when the job is done. They could even store massive amounts of digital information, up to two trillion gigabytes in just a teaspoon, offering a greener, more efficient way to store, read and write data in the future.

This breakthrough marks a major step toward materials that can sense and respond to their environment, bridging the gap between living systems and machines.

Learn more about the Freeman lab’s research.

Read more research stories from UNC-Chapel Hill