WILSON, N.C. — The Barton College Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the Honorable Sidney S. Eagles, Jr., has been named a Trustee Emeritus of Barton College. Judge Eagles was elected to this distinguished role on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the annual fall Board meeting. A past chair and vice chair of the Barton College Board of Trustees, he served on the Board for 24 years, retiring in fall 2014.
The Trustee Emeritus honor follows on the heels of Judge Eagles receiving the Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa, from Barton College during the 2015 commencement ceremonies held earlier in May.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome the Honorable Sidney S. Eagles, Jr., into this prestigious circle of trustee emeriti who have distinguished themselves through their steadfast leadership and service to the Board of Trustees and to Barton College,” said Gregg A. DeMar, chair of the Barton College Board of Trustees. “Judge Eagles’ tenure on the Board has been a true testament of his leading with focus, integrity, and clarity, and the achievement of enduring positive impact and increased capability and growth for Barton.”
During Judge Eagles’ tenure as chair of the Barton College Board of Trustees, he encouraged fellow trustees to be fully involved in the life and story of the College. During his watch, the College celebrated its historic Centennial Celebration in 2002 and, later, the dramatic win of the Men’s Basketball Team at the NCAA DII National Championship in 2007. Barton also made great strides in strengthening alumni and community ties under Judge Eagles’ leadership of the Board. Those efforts included the establishment of the Barton Society, the Torchbearer Society, the BB&T Heritage Lecture in American History, the Wilson-Barton Partnership, the Joyce T. Boone Southern Authors Series, the Barton College Friends of Visual Arts, and the Leman and Marie Barnhill Endowed Chair in Religious Studies.
Born in Asheville and reared in Saratoga, Judge Eagles is the son of the late Mildred Truman Brite Eagles and the late Sidney S. Eagles. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest University and a Juris Doctor degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law.
Now retired as Chief Judge for the North Carolina Court of Appeals, he served as a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals for over 20 years. Judge Eagles currently practices law in the Raleigh office of Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP.
Earlier in his professional career, he served in roles as revisor of statutes, special deputy attorney general, and as counsel to the N.C. Speaker of the House. Judge Eagles regularly argued cases before the N.C. Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and also argued in the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. He also served for 32 years as an adjunct professor in the Campbell University School of Law.
Judge Eagles has served in distinguished leadership roles for numerous organizations including, but not limited to, the American Bar Association, the Executive Club of Raleigh, the North Carolina Bar Association, and the Kiwanis Club of Raleigh. His professional memberships have extended to the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Association of Defense Lawyers, the Wake County Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys, and the 10th Judicial District Bar. An active member of Hillyer Memorial Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Raleigh, he has served his church as an elder, deacon, trustee, and chair of the board. He also currently serves on the Wake Forest University School of Law’s Board of Visitors and has served as president for the Wake County Bar Association and the 10th Judicial District Bar.
Among his many recognitions, Judge Eagles has been presented with the James Iredell Award for service to legal education by the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity chapter at Campbell University. He was named the Kiwanian of the Year in 1988. And, in 1982, Wake Forest University School of Law named Judge Eagles as the school’s Alumnus of the Year. In 2008, he was presented with the Joseph Branch Professionalism Award by the Wake County Bar Association, which recognized Judge Eagles as an attorney who best exhibits the qualities of professionalism displayed by the late Joseph Branch, former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. In 2013, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
A retired Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve, Judge Eagles was honored with the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit.
He currently makes his home in Raleigh with his wife, the former Rachel Phillips of Nashville, Tenn. They have two adult daughters: Virginia Brite Eagles of Raleigh; and Judge Margaret Phillips Eagles, who also makes her home in Raleigh, with husband Don Carlos “Trey” Flowers III, and their son, Charles Thornton Eagles Flowers.
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