FedEx Global Education Center
FedEx Global Education Center
Location and Hours
301 Pittsboro Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Monday to Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Locate the FedEx Global Education Center using Google Maps.
Parking & Transportation
Paid visitor parking may be available in the McCauley Deck, located below the building, and the Beard Parking Lot, to the east of building, on the weekends and after 5 p.m. on weekdays. To access these parking areas, turn onto Pharmacy Lane from McCauley Street. For other parking options, visit the UNC Transportation and Parking or call the UNC parking information line at +1.919.962.3951.
The FedEx Global Education Center is located near several bus stops serving Chapel Hill and surrounding areas. The closest stops are located on Pittsboro Street at State Employees’ Credit Union and S. Columbia Street at Sitterson Hall/UNC NROTC Naval Armory.
Chapel Hill Transit buses are free, but buses serving other areas of the Triangle and park and ride lots may have fees. For more information on bus routes serving the area, please visit Town of Chapel Hill Transit, GoTriangle or UNC Transportation and Parking’s page on local transit options.
A Hub for Global Education
A list of all building units and their staff can be found in the FedEx Global Education Center directory.
The FedEx Global Education Center is a tangible demonstration of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s commitment to global education. The building offers students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the community a place for journeys of understanding of the world. It is an inviting space where this diverse community can work to further the University’s public service mission domestically and abroad. The center was funded in large part by the 2000 North Carolina Higher Education Bond Referendum, a generous gift from the FedEx Corporation, and support from other Carolina alumni and friends.
The center brings together three major components of global education: student and faculty services, academic instruction, and programs and research. Centers, institutes and offices housed in the building work pan-university to support global activity across campus. Students are introduced to international issues through an exciting array of courses and daily global activity in the building.
This 80,000 square-foot, mixed-use space is home to globally focused units and includes classrooms, seminar rooms and events and exhibition space. The building hosts hundreds of events each year, with community programming ranging from lectures to performances to art exhibitions.
Architect and Design
Constructed in 2007, the FedEx Global Education Center was designed by award-winning architect Andrea Leers of Leers Weinzapfel Associates, a firm known for modernist designs that harmonize with their surroundings.
Andrea Leers graduated from Wellesley College in 1964 with a B.A. in art history. In 1966, she received a master’s in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She founded Leers Weinzapfel with her colleague, Jane Weinzapfel, in 1982. Based in Boston, the firm has garnered an international reputation for its beautiful and innovative designs.
In December 2006, Leers became the first woman owner of a practice to receive the American Institute of Architecture Firm Award, the organization’s highest honor.
Leers, who in 1995 was elected to the Colleges of Fellows at the American Institute of Architects, has also designed a number of other university projects, including the expansion and restoration of the Hasty Pudding Theater and the new Weismann Preservation Center at Harvard University. In association with Fumihiko Maki, the 1993 Laureate of the Pritzker Architectural Prize, the firm is also designing the Media Laboratory at MIT.
Leers’ other university projects have included the expansion of Josep Lluis Sert’s celebrated 1970 Science Center at Harvard and the University Pavilion at the University of Cincinnati.