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

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.

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Chancellor-Elect Holden Thorp, center, leaves South Building with Chancellor James Moeser, left, and Board of Trustees Chair Roger Perry on the way to a reception in Thorp’s honor in Gerrard Hall.

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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Thorp, right, joins UNC’s present and past chancellors in Gerrard: from left, Paul Hardin, Moeser and William Aycock..

The opportunity to attend a world-class research university like Carolina and to work in its chemistry labs with some of the University’s best faculty, Thorp said, inspired him to be a college professor and instilled in him the hope that he would attain his dream job: to become the chair of the chemistry department here.

It was a goal Thorp achieved 11 years after joining the faculty as an assistant professor (see the timeline).

“Now you have given me the opportunity to serve my University and my state in a way I never dreamed,” he said.

“I’ve had about seven months to think about whether I would be standing here today. And I tried not to think about it. I tried not to think about what it would be like to stand before you, but I did. And let me tell you, it’s even better than I ever thought it would be.”

The right chemistry

Bowles said Thorp fully understood and appreciated the deep-rooted connection between Carolina and the people of North Carolina.

UNC President Emeritus William Friday, who was in attendance for the announcement, said he saw many of those same qualities in Thorp.

“His experience here over a decade or so, I think, perfectly qualifies him,” Friday said. “I know him. I know him to be a real leader and I have great confidence in what he will do. He follows in the tradition of Aycock and Fordham and Taylor.

“What I like about him is I know his sense of purpose, I know his commitment and dedication. He’s the kind of person who will be totally consumed by the work, in the best sense. Other than his family, the work will be his life.”

But Friday also noted one other asset: Thorp’s ability to hit the ground running, as only someone from within would have, because of the trust and respect already earned.

“He already works with the faculty, and that being so, I think we’re going to see great things happen because he and President Bowles have a marvelous chemistry. They relate to each other very wonderfully. He’s five years ahead right now.”

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Thorp is greeted by an enthusiastic crowd at Gerrard Hall.

Employee Forum Chair Ernie Patterson, who was on the search committee, said Thorp would come to the job already understanding the critical role of staff as well as faculty and students because of the various roles he has filled.

Patterson said he had met Thorp a number of times and respected him greatly. “I certainly believe he will work with the staff to address some of the serious issues that are facing this University.”

Patterson acknowledged there were unavoidable pluses and minuses to selecting a candidate from within the University. “In the long run, the positive side of knowing the University, of having the experience with the students, faculty and staff, and having experience with the business side of the University from running a department and the College of Arts and Sciences, will outweigh the negative side of being an insider. I believe the positives with Holden simply were enormous.”

Student Body President J.J. Raynor, who replaced the late Eve Carson on the search committee, said she also liked the idea of hiring from the inside.

“I’m just really excited about him,” Raynor said. “Holden already knows the Carolina traditions and a lot about our values and the way we do things here. From a student’s perspective, I’m excited because we don’t have to teach him to be a Tar Heel. We just have to show him how students live and what we care about.”

One long-held Carolina tradition is giving students a place at the table when key decisions are being made, Raynor said. As dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, “He is already used to doing that and I’ve seen him doing it, and I have complete confidence that he will seek student input,” she said.

Raynor said she also liked the fact that Thorp is so young. “We’re starting to see a transition between the older generation of faculty and the younger generation coming in, and I see him as a bridge between those two generations,” she said. “His focus on entrepreneurship and being able to tie academic output to enterprise is really cool.”

William Friday, right, president emeritus of the University of North Carolina, congratulates Thorp.

Thorp holds 19 issued or pending U.S. patents. Some of the technologies he has invented, including highly miniaturized DNA chips, are being used to identify carriers of the gene for cystic fibrosis and to develop new treatments for sickle cell disease and iron overload. His DNA chip technology led to his being named one of the top innovators of 2001 by Forbes magazine. He also co-founded a company dedicated to finding new drugs and enzymes with metallic properties.

At 43, Thorp is the third youngest person to lead Carolina since William Aycock (41), who became chancellor in 1957, and Robert House (42), who became dean of administration in 1934 and chancellor in 1945.

Something in the water

In his speech, Bowles joked that there must be something in the water in the chemistry department at Carolina since it has produced two deans, one vice chancellor, two provosts, one chair of the faculty, one UNC system vice president and with Thorp, one chancellor.

But Joe Templeton, chair of the faculty and Francis Preston Venable Professor of Chemistry, might say that the chemistry department has produced an enduring bond of friendship among colleagues. Thorp referred to his admiration of, and friendship with, Templeton when he described him as “the finest human being I know” and one reason Thorp aspired to be chair of the department.

But it was that friendship, Templeton said, that gave him cause to fret. As a member of the search committee, he wondered if he could see his friend objectively, and whether the qualities he knew Thorp possessed would be qualities that others saw in him as well. He did not need to worry.

Of the list of qualities and characteristics that Bowles gave the search committee, Templeton said, “You can go down that list and check them off, whether you are a friend of Holden’s or not. I’m delighted he has been chosen.”

‘Soul of an artist’

Chancellor James Moeser had said that the next chancellor should be a scientist. When asked whether he agreed, Thorp joked that he had to agree if he wanted the job.

His one-year tenure as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, he said, reinforced his understanding that the humanities are no less valuable to a great public research university than the hard sciences are.

As a scientist, however, Thorp said he can weigh decisions without being overwhelmed by some of the big numbers associated with the University’s expanding research enterprise.

“The costs of those things are wildly different, but their importance is not wildly different,” Thorp said.

Joy Kasson, chair of the American studies department, is not worried about Thorp keeping those values in balance. She described Thorp as “a scientist with the soul of an artist.”

In fact, he is an artist, a keyboardist who plays with colleagues Steve Allred, executive associate provost, and Terri C. Houston, director of Recruitment and Multicultural Programs, in a Chapel Hill jazz band called Equinox.

“I think an important thing about Holden is that he is curious and open-minded,” Kasson said. “He has said that he wants to figure out what excellence means in the humanities. He knows what it’s like in science, but he is eager to know more about the workings of other fields.”

Perhaps no one has seen as many sides to Thorp as Bobbi Owen, who for the past year has served with Thorp as senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Owen first met him in 1976 when both Thorp and his brother, Clay, were around as she designed costumes for “The Highland Call,” a production at the Cumberland County Auditorium that their mother, Bo, directed as part of the state’s bicentennial celebration.

But what impresses Owen most is not Thorp’s acting ability, but his gift for solving problems. “He has enormous capacity and is the definition of the phrase ‘quick study.’ I’m a big fan.”

John Akin, chair of the economics department, said he has known Thorp for many years as a fellow department chair, a fellow participant in the Carolina Entrepreneurship Initiative and as a friend.

“He is probably the most honest, moral and straight-to-the-point person I have ever known,” Akin said. “The first thing you notice about Holden is that there is absolutely no pretense to the man.”

Akin said Thorp is also a man of great passion —  for his work, his family, his students and teaching, and his research.

“This University community will be amazed at how much Holden loves UNC and at how committed he is to having UNC make a difference in the lives of people.”

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Chancellor-Elect Holden Thorp, center, poses with his family before his selection by the UNC Board of Governors May 8. From left are Laura Francis-Thorp, brother Clay Thorp, mother Bo Thorp, Thorp, wife Patti Thorp, daughter Emma and son John.

Maurice Brookhart, a chemistry professor who has been Thorp’s office suitemate for years, described Thorp as someone who brightens everyone’s day.

“I know Holden as a creative, articulate, deep-thinking scientist with an entrepreneurial spirit, as a colleague dedicated to educating graduate and undergraduate students and as a friend ready to talk science, politics, literature, theater, rock groups or hoops, or share a laugh recounting a Monty Python episode,” Brookhart said.

“I am confident the University will be in excellent hands and that Holden’s vision, intellect, dedication, fairness and good humor will take the University to new levels of excellence in research, education and service.”

For more about Carolina’s Chancellor-Elect, including Thorp’s biography and his May 8 acceptance and celebration speeches, refer to www.unc.edu/chan/search/index.php.