TABLE OF CONTENTS |
FRONT PAGE
| NEXT ARTICLE |
PREVIOUS ARTICLE |
UNC HOMEPAGE
Richard L. Edwards, dean of the School of Social Work, will serve as
Carolina's interim provost beginning this summer.
Interim Chancellor William O. McCoy said May 5 that he had selected Edwards as
part of a transition strategy to bridge the gap between the June 30 retirement
of Provost Richard "Dick" Richardson, the current efforts of a search committee
working to recommend candidates for the permanent provost post and the Aug. 15
start date of James Moeser as chancellor.
Edwards, who came to Carolina in 1992, will become interim provost on July
1.
McCoy said he sought input from the Executive Committee of the Faculty
Council, the Chancellor's Advisory Committee, the Deans Council and his own
Chancellor's Cabinet. He also consulted with Moeser, who was elected as
chancellor by the UNC Board of Governors last month.
"First, I wish to reiterate publicly what I have been saying for weeks: that I
do not envy Chancellor-elect Moeser's job of selecting a permanent replacement
for Dick Richardson, who has served so effectively during his tenure as
provost," McCoy said.
"The University needs interim leadership in the provost's office, and I am
grateful to Dean Richard Edwards for agreeing to take on this challenge in an
office that has a strong and experienced group of colleagues," McCoy said. "I
have been impressed with Dean Edwards during my time here at the University and
have confidence in the job he will do during this important period of
change."
The provost serves as the University's chief academic officer. That office
oversees all academic operations including 13 colleges and schools, the
University library, a variety of centers and several cultural and educational
units.
Edwards, who led Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied
Social Sciences for four years, became dean of the School of Social Work in
June 1992.
Edwards has overseen the launch of a new Ph.D. program and guided development
of two interdisciplinary graduate certificate programs -- one in non-profit
leadership; the other in aging. During his time as dean, the school also has
completed construction on the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building and created the
Jordan Institute for Families, made possible by a $1 million gift from former
Tar Heel basketball star Michael Jordan.
His honors include distinguished alumnus awards from the University of
Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, where he received his
master's in 1967, and the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at
the State University of New York at Albany, where he earned his doctorate in
1986.
Kim Strom-Gottfried, associate dean, will serve as interim dean in the School
of Social Work while Edwards works as interim provost.
Richardson, the current provost, has been a Carolina faculty member since
1969. He took the provost's position permanently in April 1996 after having
served as an interim for nearly a year. He chaired the political science
department for a decade and led Carolina's Bicentennial Observance in
1993-94.
Last April, the late Chancellor Michael Hooker named Jeffrey Houpt, chief
executive officer of the UNC Health Care System, vice chancellor for medical
affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, to lead the search committee
seeking a permanent provost.
The committee suspended its work following Hooker's death last July, but with
the election of Moeser as chancellor has resumed its meetings. Moeser has said
he expected that search to be well under way by the time he begins work here in
August.
TABLE OF CONTENTS |
FRONT PAGE
| NEXT ARTICLE |
PREVIOUS ARTICLE |
UNC HOMEPAGE