The National Academies bring together committees of experts in all areas of scientific and technological endeavors to address - pro bono - critical national issues and to give advice to the federal government and the public. Stegman's committee is the National Research Council/Institute of Medicine Committee on Environmental Health Research on Housing and the Built Environment: Ethical Issues Involving Children and Families.

Stegman, the MacRae Professor of Public Policy and Business and chairman of the Department of Public Policy, also was recently awarded the University's Ned Brooks Award for Public Service. The award recognizes a UNC faculty or staff member who has built a sustained record of service to the community through individual efforts and the involvement and guidance of others.

"Throughout his career, Mike Stegman has risen to the challenge of making his teaching and research relevant to solving the problems of real people," said Lynn Blanchard, director of the Carolina Center for Public Service. "In addition, he has served as mentor and champion for untold young faculty members and graduate students - he personifies what we mean by servant leadership.

" The Center for Community Capitalism, which Stegman created and directs, engages in multidisciplinary research and outreach focused on applying private-sector knowledge to revitalizing distressed communities.

Stegman, who joined the UNC faculty in 1966, also leads a major initiative to improve UNC's outreach to low-income employees and to provide free tax services on federal tax benefits.

Stegman's research on electronic banking, savings strategies for the poor and efforts to attract private capital to America's emerging neighborhood markets was stimulated by a tour of duty in the Clinton Administration. From 1993-97, he served as assistant secretary for policy development and research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., where he had broad urban policy responsibilities. In 1997, The National Journal named him one of Washington's 100 most influential decision-makers.