UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL — UNC has received a $1.5 million gift from GlaxoSmithKline, supporting the conversion of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s historic Star Theater from analog to fulldome digital video technology.

In recognition of the gift, the theater will be renamed the GlaxoSmithKline Fulldome Theater. University officials announced the gift and renaming Tuesday at an event at the planetarium.

“GlaxoSmithKline has stepped forward with an extraordinary gift to advance Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s mission,” UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said.

The donation extends a long history of GlaxoSmithKline support for educational programs at Morehead, including planetarium shows “Magic Tree House Space Mission” and “Destination: Space”; “Science in the Summer” enrichment camps at community sites throughout central North Carolina; the movie “DNA: The Secret of Life;” and “Science LIVE!” demonstration programs.

“GlaxoSmithKline is committed to making positive contributions to the communities where employees live and work and to invest in health and education programs,” said Janice Whitaker, GSK senior vice president for quality, global manufacturing and supply.

“We are pleased to award this gift in support of Morehead’s efforts to transform the Star Theater. We hope this gift will help a historic science resource continue to develop and fuel a love of science and the stars in millions more visitors.”

Other speakers at the gift announcement included N.C. Speaker of the House Joe Hackney and Gerald “Rudy” Rudisill Jr., deputy chief secretary of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. Third-grade students from McDougle Elementary School in Carrboro and Charles E. Perry Elementary School in Roseboro were the first schoolchildren in North Carolina to watch a fulldome digital video planetarium show at Morehead.