Collegecarol foltunc-chapel-hilldartmouth college

Carol Folt Named UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor

UNC-Chapel Hill Selects First Female Chancellor
Open Image Modal
By 

Senior Editor/Reporter, The Huffington Post

Open Image Modal

Carol Folt will be the next chancellor of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, according to news reports.

Folt, 61, currently the interim president of Dartmouth College, will be UNC-Chapel Hill's first female chancellor, the News & Observer newspaper reports. The UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor is the chief executive of the 29,000-student campus, the flagship institution in UNC's 17-school system.

The UNC president, Thomas Ross, will present Folt at a meeting of the Board of Governors Friday afternoon for confirmation, according to The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper.

Students showed excitement on Twitter Thursday night at news of Folt's selection.

Folt, previously a provost at Dartmouth, is serving a one-year stint as interim president of the Ivy League school after her predecessor, Jim Yong Kim, was tapped in 2012 to head the World Bank. She first became a faculty member at Dartmouth in 1983 in the department of biological sciences, according to The Daily Tar Heel.

Folt's biography on Dartmouth's website says she earned a her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her Ph.D. from UC Davis.

Folt becomes the 11th chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, taking over for Holden Thorp, who held office since 2008 and has announced he'll step down at the end of this school year to become provost at Washington University in St. Louis.

Thorp's tenure was marked by multiple scandals, including probes of academic fraud involving star student athletes, federal complaints about how UNC handles sexual assaults on campus, hazing investigations and accusations of improper benefits for football players.

UNC-Chapel Hill is among the so-called public ivies -- top state-supported schools that provide an education rivaling Ivy League universities.

Support HuffPost

At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.

Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.

Would you join us to help keep our stories free for all? Your will go a long way.

Support HuffPost

Before You Go

The Most Popular College Presidents & Chancellors In America: Glassdoor.com Ratings
Wallace D. Loh -- University Of Maryland (100% Approval Rating)(01 of10)
Open Image Modal
(credit:Twitter)
Richard C. Levin -- Yale University (100% Approval Rating)(02 of10)
Open Image Modal
FILE - In this May 28, 2007 file photo, Yale University President Richard C. Levin waves as he arrives at his office on the Yale campus in New Haven, Conn. before the start of the university's commencement ceremonies. Levin, 65, announced Thursday, Aug., 30, 2012, that he will step down at the end of the academic year after 20 years at the Ivy League school. (AP Photo/Bob Child, File) (credit:AP)
Amy Gutmann -- University Of Pennsylvania (100% Approval Rating)(03 of10)
Open Image Modal
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, center, looks up with Amy Gutmann, left, president and Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, and Michael A. Fitts, Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law, during an event a the University of Pennsylvania Law School Thursday, April 5, 2012 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (credit:AP)
John Hennessy -- Stanford University (100% Approval Rating)(04 of10)
Open Image Modal
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and John Hennessy, the President of Stanford University walk around the Stanford University campus during her visit to the US in Palo Alto, California 15, April 2010. Chancellor Merkel will meet with business people and academia through out her visit to northern California. AFP PHOTO / Pool / Monica M. DAVEY (Photo credit should read MONICA M. DAVEY/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Mark S. Wrighton -- Washington University In St. Louis (96% Approval Rating)(05 of10)
Open Image Modal
392959 03: Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton Of Washington University In St. Louis Looks Over The Excepted Flight Path Of Solo Spirit Minutes Before Liftoff August 5, 2001 At Washington University In St. Louis, Missouri. The Hot Air Balloon, Solo Spirit, Piloted By U.S. Adventurer Steve Fossett, Set Off On It's Voyage To Circumnavigate The Globe Today From Australia. This Will Be Ritchie's Sixth Attempt To Complete The Trip. A Previous Bid Was Fouled By Storms As He Flew Over The South Pacific. (Photo By Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Mary Sue Coleman -- University of Michigan (94% Approval Rating)(06 of10)
Open Image Modal
In this Nov. 4, 2010 photo, Michigan University President Mary Sue Coleman addresses the media in Ann Arbor, Mich. The University of Michigan will invest $50 million to develop innovative ideas about global challenges and opportunities as well as up to $25 million as it directly puts money into its own startup businesses for the first time, the school's president announced Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011. The 5-year, $50 million "Third Century Initiative" will aim to develop innovative, multidisciplinary teaching and scholarship approaches to such topics as climate change, poverty and malnutrition, energy storage, affordable health care and social justice challenges. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) (credit:AP)
Gordon Gee -- The Ohio State University (94% Approval Rating)(07 of10)
Open Image Modal
FILE - This July 13, 2007 file photo shows Ohio State University President Gordon Gee in Columbus, Ohio. A newspaper investigation finds that Gee has spent $7.7 million on top of his record-setting compensation to travel, entertain, and maintain his 9,600-square-foot mansion. The Dayton Daily News review published Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, detailed spending by the 68-year-old Gee. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) (credit:AP)
Michael McRobbie -- Indiana University (92% Approval Rating)(08 of10)
Open Image Modal
The President of the Indiana University Michael A. McRobbie speaks next to a replica of the painting "Flagellation of Christ" during to the official restitution ceremony between the Indiana University and the the Foundation for Prussians Palaces and Gardens at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Created by a Cologne master, the painting dates to the late 15th century and originally formed part of a wing of an altarpiece. It was one of more than a dozen paintings that disappeared from the Berlin museum during the summer of 1945, looted by Russian and British soldiers. The IU Art Museum acquired the painting in 1985 as a gift from former IU President Herman B Wells. IU officials said Wells purchased the work in good faith from a London art gallery in 1967. In due of conservation and security reasons the original painting was not shown at the ceremony. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) (credit:AP)
Drew Faust -- Harvard University (91% Approval Rating)(09 of10)
Open Image Modal
Harvard University President Drew Faust jokes with photographers before the start of Harvard's commencement exercises on the schools campus, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, May 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (credit:AP)
Morton Schapiro -- Northwestern University (90% Approval Rating)(10 of10)
Open Image Modal
(credit:Northwestern University)
Suggest a correction
|
Submit a tip