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Editorials
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 10:49 AM
UNC returns to its roots North Carolina has voted for youthfulness, intellect and new ideas. But this isn't about the Democratic presidential primary. It's about a new chancellor for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With the selection of H. Holden Thorp as chancellor, UNC-CH has returned to its origins and has cast its lot with one of its own. At the same time, it has put its trust in a young scientist whose career has been a meteoric rise. At 43, Thorp will be one of the youngest chancellors in the university's 214-year history. He will replace James Moeser effective July 1. Moeser's eight-year tenure has been marked by rapid growth in enrollment and fund-raising, but it has also included some missteps, such as fractured relations with the town of Chapel Hill. Moeser, 68, came to UNC from the University of Nebraska and was not initially tuned in to North Carolina's gracious manners and traditions and its love of its great university. That will not be a problem with Thorp, who is the son of a two Carolina alumni and whose brother and sister-in-law are also Carolina grads. A native of Fayetteville, Thorp earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from UNC in 1986. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at California Institute of Technology and did postgraduate work at Yale University before returning to North Carolina to teach at N.C. State University. After two years at State, Thorp returned to Chapel Hill as an assistant professor of chemistry and rose quickly to full professor in 1999. Two years later, Thorp tried out his administrative skills as director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. He is given credit for expanding the planetarium's focus to include sciences other than astronomy, thereby giving the planetarium new life. He returned to the chemistry department in 2005 as Kenan professor and department chair. Just a year ago, he was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest school on campus. His innovativeness as a scientist is attested by the 19 patents issued or pending in his name, and he has started small companies to market his inventions. Thorp's selection follows the selection in 2005 of Erskine Bowles to be president of UNC's 16 campuses. Bowles replaced Molly Broad, who, like Moeser, had come to UNC from another university system. With Bowles and Thorp, UNC and the Chapel Hill campus are returning to their roots.
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