Special edition: In celebration of the election of H. Holden Thorp as the 10th chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

ONE OF OUR OWN:
Bowles, Board of Governors tap Thorp as Carolina's 10th chancellor

Thorp

These days, the last place anyone would expect to get good news is at a gas pump. But for Holden Thorp, it presented the opportunity of a lifetime.

Several weeks ago, on his way back from Greensboro with UNC President Erskine Bowles, that is exactly where Thorp, Kenan Professor of Chemistry and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, learned that he would be Carolina’s next chancellor. It happened after the two men met with Jim Phillips, chair of the UNC Board of Governors (BOG), about Thorp’s candidacy.

That meeting with Phillips was one of many interviews Thorp had faced over the previous seven months. It would also prove to be the last.

As Thorp recalled, “President Bowles got out and put the nozzle in the tank. Then he leaned back into the car and said, ‘I know this probably isn’t the place where you thought you’d get the most important job offer of your life, but I’d like you to be the chancellor at Chapel Hill.’”

Of course, Bowles already knew what Thorp’s answer would be, and maybe that was why Thorp responded, “Erskine, I’m never going to forget the Exxon on Wendover Avenue.”

Thorp recounted the story last Thursday moments after the Board of Governors voted unanimously to make him the University’s 10th chancellor. “It’s a good thing I didn’t run inside to get some Nabs,” Thorp added.

The selection of H. Holden Thorp as chancellor, many people believe, is good news for Carolina. And no one believes it more than Bowles, who told BOG members he had no doubt that Thorp was the right leader for Carolina today and tomorrow.

“He personifies what Carolina is all about. He is a remarkable teacher, a brilliant scientist, a successful inventor and entrepreneur, and a respected administrator. His passion — which you can absolutely feel — for the liberal arts, for creativity and the joy of discovery are absolutely contagious and I am caught with the disease.”

Bowles also noted that Thorp was about as true-blue a Tar Heel as they come. Thorp admitted as much in his acceptance speech, with a nod to his late father, Herb Thorp, also an alumnus, who used to tuck him into bed at night to the tune of “Hark the Sound.”

That may be why, as a senior at Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville, Thorp applied only to Carolina. “It sounds crazy now, but I only sent in one college application,” he said. “Thank goodness I was accepted.”

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In this issue:

* *One of our own: Bowles, BOG tap Thorp as Carolina's 10th chancellor

* *A timeline of career highlights: Holden Thorp's 'metoric rise' to chancellor

* *Rising to the challenge: Search committee finds Thorp uniquely qualified to lead Carolina, today and tomorrow

* *Special edition front page

Special edition as pdf
Read the special edition as a pdf

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