North Carolina's largest public university has a new leader. The UNC Board of Governors and UNC System President Peter Hans have named Kevin Howell the next chancellor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
Howell is a 1988 graduate of N.C. State. He earned a degree in political science and was the first Black student body president in the school's history. Now, he is making history again, this time as N.C. State's first Black chancellor.
鈥淭his university shaped my life in profound and generous ways, and I am honored for the chance to lead my alma mater,鈥� Howell said in a statement. 鈥淣.C. State is a brilliant and inspiring place, just like the state we serve. There are exciting days ahead for the Pack, and I鈥檓 ready to make a difference.鈥�
In his announcement, Hans said Howell is "the personification of what makes N.C. State an extraordinary institution."
"The kind of place where a talented young man from Cleveland County can find a home, break ground as the first-ever Black student body president and then choose to devote his life to the upkeep and uplift of public education," Hans said. "So many of the leaders we remember best in North Carolina history share that full circle story 鈥� coming from humble beginnings, recognizing the role of strong public institutions in changing their lives for the better and choosing to pay it forward with a lifetime of service and mentorship and reinvestment. That's the Kevin Howell story, and that's the N.C. State story."
Howell is a double-UNC System graduate, earning his Juris Doctorate from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1992. Early in his career, he was a legislative liaison for two North Carolina governors and served as director for governmental affairs for the NC Bar Association.
Howell has spent most of his career working within the UNC System. He , serving in various roles within the university's external affairs department.
He was also briefly a senior vice president in the UNC System's external affairs office, where he advised former System President Margaret Spellings. Most recently, he worked at UNC Health as its chief external affairs officer.
Hans said he believes Howell's experience will be crucial to fostering important relationships with diverse coalitions and, in turn, helping N.C. State flourish.
"I believe this institution, marvelous as it is, has the potential for a truly transformative era," Hans said at the BOG meeting. "... we're on the cusp of big changes in how we work, how we learn, how we make discoveries and share them with the world. The Wolfpack is ready to run in this new and formidable age, and I believe Kevin Howell is ready to lead them."
Howell's background, however, is missing one attribute university chancellors typically share 鈥� a background in academia.
Historically, leaders of public universities in North Carolina and across the country, have worked their way up through faculty ranks before becoming chancellors. This includes roles like assistant or full-time professors, deans, to vice chancellors and university provosts.
But more recently, Hans and the BOG have appointed non-academics to run the two largest public universities in North Carolina. This includes his decision to hire former BOG member Lee Roberts to lead UNC-Chapel Hill, a move that was and community members.
In an interview discussing the System's chancellor search process last year, Hans told 瓜神app he was "open-minded" about whether a successful chancellor needs to come from academia.
"I'm looking less for somebody to teach in the classroom than somebody who has both those attributes that I'm seeking and the campus community is seeking and is able to lead the institution to greater heights," Hans said. "Than to say on the front end, 'Well, it has to be an academic or it has to be a business person.' I'm not wedded to either one. I have approached that with an open mind."
The head of N.C. State's American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) chapter disagrees.
"Our position has always been that to be the chancellor of a research university, you need to have experience being a research faculty member," said David Ambaras, a professor of history at NC State. "This is not a business in the sense that many people say universities should be run like a business. We provide a public good in very specialized ways and we need leadership that really understands what the faculty do and the importance of working with the faculty."
Ambaras, who's been a professor at N.C. State since 1998, said it is especially important to have a leader who advocates for faculty interests as there's been an ongoing erosion of academic freedom in recent years.
He said this includes in hiring processes like chancellor searchers and a like setting curriculum.
"Universities across the country are under attack right now, and academic freedom is very fragile in many places," Ambaras said. "We need an administration from the chancellor on down, who not only understands the threats that we're facing, but are willing to stand up and face those threats with us."
Howell will succeed Randy Woodson in May. Woodson is currently the longest serving chancellor in the UNC System and has been N.C. State's chancellor since 2010.
Woodson has a long career in academia, starting as a horticulture professor, then dean of agriculture, and eventually provost at Purdue University before coming to N.C. State.
During his tenure at N.C. State, the university has welcomed several of its largest incoming classes, sponsored research that鈥檚 led to nearly 200 company startups, and quadrupled its endowment 鈥� which sits at about as of June 2024.
Woodson has also navigated the university through several high-profile challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and 鈥� half by suicide. In athletics, Woodson also played a crucial role in , casting the deciding vote that paved the way for the ACC to expand to 18 members by adding Cal, SMU and Stanford.
Howell is set to inherit several ongoing challenges at the university, from renovations of a campus building that tested positive for several toxic chemicals, to the Trump administration's threats to university's federal research funding.
It's unclear if Howell will be involved in the hiring of a new men's basketball coach, which will take place before his tenure officially begins. Athletic Director Boo Corrigan fired coach Kevin Keatts earlier this month 鈥� less than a full year after the Wolfpack went to the Final Four.
In the past year and a half, UNC System President Peter Hans has announced new chancellors at seven of the state's 16 public universities. This includes Appalachian State, UNC-Chapel Hill, and UNC Asheville, and almost all of the state's public HBCUs 鈥� with new chancellors at NC A&T State, NC Central, and Winston-Salem State.
There's one more ongoing search in the UNC System at Elizabeth City State University. Hans is looking for a replacement for Karrie Dixon, who left the HBCU to become chancellor of NC Central University.
Howell will start as NC State's chancellor on May 5 and his salary will be $600,000, according to an N.C. State spokesperson.
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