A&T Chancellor Search Advisory Committee Announced

Editor's note: The news release below was issued by the University of North Carolina System on Wednesday, Oct. 4.

RALEIGH, N.C. – University of North Carolina System President Peter Hans and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Board of Trustees Chair Kimberly Gatling today announced the formation of a 13-member committee to launch the search for the next chancellor of the university. Immediate past Board of Trustees Chair Hilda Pinnix-Ragland will lead the committee.

“North Carolina A&T is an exceptional university that will attract an outstanding pool of candidates,” Hans said. “The members of this committee are devoted to A&T, its proud history and dynamic future. I know they will invest their time and energy to find the university’s next great leader, and I appreciate Hilda Pinnix-Ragland answering my call to chair the committee.”

“The opportunity to lead our university is one that I’m certain will interest strong candidates across the nation,” said Pinnix-Ragland. “The members of our search advisory committee share a commitment to identifying outstanding leaders who are well prepared to continue the growth and development of this singular institution. North Carolina A&T deserves the best, and we are dedicated to helping ensure that is exactly what this search process delivers.”

“We are fortunate to have a committee of individuals who well understand the needs of North Carolina A&T and who have a significant depth of knowledge regarding our state, higher education and our university community,” said Gatling. “We will be laser-focused on the challenges and significant opportunities that this search represents, understanding the power of strong leadership to further the strategic, transformational evolution of A&T that we have all experienced over the past 15 years.”   

The search advisory committee is expected to begin meeting in the near future. The committee will identify high-quality candidates and make recommendations to the full North Carolina A&T Board of Trustees. The trustees will vote on a slate of candidates to send to Hans for consideration. Hans will then nominate a finalist to the UNC Board of Governors, which will elect a chancellor.

The next leader of North Carolina A&T will succeed Chancellor Harold L. Martin, Sr., who announced his retirement Sept. 22 after 14 years of leading the institution. Martin will remain in office through the end of the 2023-24 academic year.

Under UNC policy, the search advisory committee is composed of up to 13 voting members, including representatives of the trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni. The policy also calls for a current or former chancellor of a UNC constituent institution, the president, and representatives of the UNC Board of Governors to serve on the committee.

The members of the committee are:

• Hilda Pinnix-Ragland ‘77, immediate past chair of the North Carolina A&T Board of Trustees and search advisory committee chair
• Jasmine Amaniampong, North Carolina A&T Student Government Association president, Board of Trustees member, and honors senior economics student and Cheatham-White scholar from Concord, North Carolina
• Kimberly Gatling ‘96, chair of the North Carolina A&T Board of Trustees
• Pearl Burris-Floyd, secretary of the UNC Board of Governors and Board of Governors liaison to North Carolina A&T
• Willie A. Deese ‘77, former member and chair of the North Carolina A&T Board of Trustees
• Michael S. Fox, President and CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership
• Peter Hans, president of the UNC System
• Scott H. Harrison, North Carolina A&T Faculty Senate chair and associate professor of biology
• Timothy King ‘76, former member and chair of the North Carolina A&T Board of Trustees
• Mario Lewis ‘03, North Carolina A&T Staff Senate chair and technology support technician
• Gina Loften, ‘90, member of the North Carolina A&T Board of Trustees
• Randy Ramsey, chair of the UNC Board of Governors
• Randy Woodson, chancellor of NC State University

For more on the search, please see https://www.ncat.edu/about/leadership/chancellor-search.php, where there is an online form available for public input on key leadership characteristics and priorities for the next chancellor https://ncat.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eKCZHtoMP9KfCUC. All North Carolina A&T stakeholders are encouraged to provide input through the online survey.

More opportunities for campus input will be available during the process, including on-campus listening forums to be held later in the fall semester. 

About the UNC System

The University of North Carolina System enrolls 242,000 students at 17 institutions, including the state’s 16 public universities and the nation’s first public residential high school for academically gifted students. The UNC System is among the strongest and most diverse higher education systems in the country, with more than $1.9 billion in research expenditures and campuses that serve every region of North Carolina. Affiliate organizations include UNC Health, with 19 hospitals and an extensive health care network, and PBS North Carolina, with 12 public television stations across the state.