Wade Hargrove, the chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, will chair the search committee to recommend a successor to Chancellor Holden Thorp.
Hargrove, who was re-elected to a second term as chair of the Board of Trustees in July, discussed details about the 21-member search committee at a regular board meeting. Search committee members represent the Board of Trustees, students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community.
The search committee will recommend a slate of finalists to the full Board of Trustees, who vote on recommending candidates to UNC President Tom Ross. Then Ross will recommend a candidate to the UNC Board of Governors, which elects the new chancellor.
Ross will give the committee its charge at its first organizational meeting on Monday, Oct. 8, at the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center. The meeting will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Lowdermilk Hall, Magnolia Room C.
Lowdermilk Hall is part of the Rizzo Center, located at 150 DuBose Home Lane in Chapel Hill.
“We are launching a national search to identify the most qualified person to lead the University,” Hargrove said. “This is a challenging time for the University and public higher education in general, and our goal is to build upon the University’s 200-plus years of academic excellence.”
Thorp, Carolina’s 10th chancellor, notified UNC President Tom Ross on Sept. 16 that he planned to step down, effective June 30, 2013. Thorp, a Kenan Professor, will take a research leave to prepare to resume his research and teaching in the chemistry department faculty.
Hargrove said the search committee planned to hold public forums to provide campus community members, alumni and the public with opportunities to share the characteristics they hope to see in the next chancellor. Details will be announced later. The University also soon will launch a website, www.chancellorsearch.unc.edu, to keep the Carolina community and public informed about the committee’s work.
Hargrove of Raleigh is a partner with the law firm of Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP. He was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2009 and has earned two UNC degrees. Serving as vice chairs of the committee are Trustees Barbara Hyde of Memphis, current vice chair of the board and president of the J.R. Hyde III Family Foundation and director of the J.R. Hyde Sr. Foundation; and Felicia Washington of Charlotte, a partner and lawyer at K&L Gates LLP. Hyde and Washington also are UNC alumnae.
Read more for the full list of search committee members.
Published September 27, 2012.