In the early 1960s, then-UNC President William Friday had to deal with a point-shaving scandal involving basketball players at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State.

Now long retired, Friday, 90, has been thinking about those bad old days a good bit lately as he follows the scandal enveloping the football program at Carolina.

"For people who care about the university, this is a moment of great sadness," Friday said today. "We've gone 50 years without even the remotest allegation of wrongdoing at Chapel Hill.

Athletic ethics is an issue dear to Friday's heart. For more than 15 years, he co-chaired the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, a collection of university leaders that has recommended reforming college sports.

"What we're seeing is a manifestation of what's going on all over college athletics," he said. "It's pretty clear the time has come for the people who care about intercollegiate athletics to put a stop to this."

A very happy birthday today to Bill Friday, the longtime former head of the UNC system.

He turns 90 and will be feted at an afternoon open house at the alumni center at UNC-Chapel Hill. Feel free to stop by. It's open to the public.

Friday, who presided over the university system from 1956 to 1986, spoke to us recently about his views on a few key issues of the day.

Have a look.

For generations, the notion of an enrollment cap for public universities has long been the third rail of higher education politics - something nobody has wanted to touch.

But a special provision in State House's spending proposal, released last weeks, dares to go there. It suggest a 1 percent cap on enrollment at the state's public universities, an unprecedented notion that has university leaders vexed.

Though plenty of other fiscally-challenged states are turning to enrollment caps or are even lowering student headcount, the idea is a tough one here in North Carolina, which has long held two core education principles dear: access and affordability.

But the House budget writers who broached the cap say it is a necessary step in order to provide some better enrollment planning.

UNC President Emeritus William Friday is home from the hospital today, less than a week after he had heart surgery at UNC Hospitals.

"He's doing well; everything went great," said Virginia Taylor, Friday's special assistant."Now he just has to get his strength back."

Friday had his aortic valve replaced. Surgeon Brett Sheridan did the operation.

Friday now faces at least six weeks of recovery. The surgery came just two months after Friday, 88, had a minor heart attack.

The heart attack prompted Friday to scale back his schedule. He will likely not do much public speaking anymore, Taylor said. But North Carolina People, the UNC-TV show he has taped for 35 years, is still in the front of his mind.

He'll resume those tapings as soon as he's strong enough, Taylor said.

Friday led the university for 30 years, from 1956 to 1986. In retirement, he has kept an office at UNC Chapel Hill and serves as a formal and informal sounding board and dispenser of wisdom for students, administrators and pretty much anyone else who calls on him.

It's a role he will likely never totally relinquish.

"He'll still be doing stuff in the office," Taylor said. "Just not as much."

UNC President Emeritus William Friday is recovering from open heart surgery.

The N&O's Jane Stancill has details here. 

Friday had a minor heart attack in December, after which he pledged to scale back his schedule. 

UNC President Emeritus William Friday is being honored on two UNC system campuses.

Bronze busts of the longtime public university president were commissioned by a group with ties to the university and are being placed on campus at N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill, reports Metro Magazine.

One bust has been placed outside NCSU's Nelson Hall, the former site of the textile school where Friday studied as an undergrad, the magazine reports.

The second will be placed outside UNC-CH's Manning Hall, the former home of that university's law school. Friday earned his law degree there.

Friday, 88, is on the mend after recently suffering a minor heart attack. You can read more about that here.

Friday presided over the university system from 1956 to 1986.

UNC President Emeritus William Friday is home, recovering and feeling better after suffering a minor heart attack last week.

Friday, who presided over the university system from 1956 to 1986 and still, at age 88, keeps a busy schedule, was hospitalized for two days last week, said Virginia Taylor, his special assistant.

"He's home and resting and doing well," Taylor said, adding that she got the go-ahead from Friday to answer some questions about his condition because word has been going around that he had fallen ill and some folks had gotten bad information.

For example, he did not have a stroke, as Taylor said one person had suggested to her.

He did not need surgery, Taylor said. He will likely spend the next month or two relaxing and recovering and will be scaling back his many activities, she said.

Friday works about four days a week, often from his office in the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence on McCorkle Place. He meets with students, fields phone calls and acts as an all-purpose advisor for everyone from politicians to journalists to UNC administrators.

And he still tapes his weekly "North Carolina People" show that airs on UNC-TV. 

"He's making some lifestyle changes, one of which is not working quite so much," Taylor said. "He'll still be meeting in his office but probably cutting out speaking engagements."