Roberts has served as interim chancellor this year
RALEIGH, N.C. – Lee H. Roberts, who has served as interim chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since January, was elected the university’s 13th chancellor today by the UNC Board of Governors.
UNC System President Peter Hans recommended Roberts, a successful business executive with a record of public policy leadership and public service in North Carolina, to lead the nation’s first public university. His service will begin Aug. 12.
“When I appointed Lee Roberts as interim chancellor, I said that Carolina would benefit from his calm, steady and focused leadership, and it has,” Hans said. “He has a deep respect for the university’s traditions and excellence, but also a conviction that Carolina has room to grow and improve. He is someone with the right combination of reverence for this university’s history and restless aspirations for its next chapter.”
The election on Friday followed a six-month national search that attracted nearly 60 qualified candidates. During the process, seven forums were held on campus and surveys yielded 3,100 responses. Earlier this week, the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees endorsed four finalists for the position, forwarding the candidates identified by a search advisory committee made up of faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees and UNC System leaders.
“I want to sincerely thank the members of the search advisory committee who lent their time and expertise to this important process,” said Dr. Cristy Page, executive dean of the UNC School of Medicine, chief academic officer of UNC Health and faculty member, who chaired the committee. “I am grateful to each of them for their dedicated service. As a committee we met with and evaluated a number of outstanding leaders. What stood out in those conversations was that Carolina’s national reputation for teaching and research is incredibly strong.”
Roberts served as budget director for the state of North Carolina from 2014 to 2016, helping to design and oversee a successful referendum for the $2 billion Connect NC bond for campus construction and infrastructure across the state.
He was the co-founder and managing partner of SharpVue Capital, a North Carolina investment firm that specializes in stewarding institutional funds and growing local economies. His public service record includes serving on the UNC Board of Governors, the State Board of Community Colleges, the State Banking Commission, the Golden LEAF Foundation Board, and the Board of Visitors at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. He taught public budgeting classes at Duke.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Duke University and a law degree from Georgetown University. He grew up in Bethesda, Md., the son of journalists Steven Roberts and the late Cokie Roberts. His family has a long tradition of public service; his grandparents served for decades in Congress, representing Louisiana. He and his wife, journalist and author Liza Roberts, currently live in Raleigh and have three children.
“For 230 years, UNC-Chapel Hill has been the most important pillar on which we build a better future for North Carolina and its people,” Roberts said. “I’m deeply honored to be asked to play a role in serving this great university. There’s a lot of exciting work ahead.”
Roberts has already launched working groups to explore future initiatives on enrollment growth, artificial intelligence, applied science and capital planning.