The University of North Carolina today hired Thomas W. Ross, president of Davidson College since 2007, as the 17-campus system’s next president. Although it’s a big leap from a small liberal-arts college to a top public-university system, the new leader is a veteran of North Carolina politics. A graduate of the Chapel Hill campus’s law school, Mr. Ross, who is 60, served for 17 years as a judge on the state’s Supreme Court. He is a native of Greensboro, like Erskine B. Bowles, the system’s current president, who will step down in December. Mr. Bowles, a White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, is co-chair of President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The university, which has long been one the nation’s best-financed public systems, has faced recent state budget cuts.
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7 Responses to U. of North Carolina System Hires Davidson’s Chief as Next President
jffoster - August 27, 2010 at 7:34 am
Not as big a leap as one might facially suppose, since the Davidson Fuzz is apparently part of the State Police System.
alvitap - August 27, 2010 at 9:11 am
Was there a national search for this position, or was the qualifications of Ross simply revealed through divine intervention?
alvitap - August 27, 2010 at 9:13 am
Arrg! See previous–I meant to write: WERE “the qualifications of Ross simply revealed through divine intervention.” Yeah, that’s what I meant.
11185283 - August 27, 2010 at 9:25 am
Oh please, people. The issue before the courts has to do with whether campus police have jurisdiction off-campus. The religious affiliation of the institution, if any, is completely tangential, and I am dismayed that coverage of this case has focused on this irrelevant point. As for Ross’ selection as the next U. N. C. system president – or, for that matter, as Davidson’s president a few years back – both institutions sought the best candidate for their top jobs, and both seem to believe that Ross is that candidate. He’s certainly done a fine job at Davidson, and there is no reason to believe he’ll do less for the U. N. C. system.
22280998 - August 27, 2010 at 10:02 am
A search firm can only provide a list of highly qualified candidates who are willing to accept the job. They do not decide who is actually hired.
jffoster - August 27, 2010 at 1:44 pm
No, 6, you might want to save your dramatic “Oh please”es until you have considered that what may or not be relevant to you may be relevant under the law in a particular case. You might want to read the decision of the NC Appeals court in State of North Carolina v Yencer. Here it is http://www.aoc.state.nc.us/www/public/coa/opinions/2010/pdf/090001-1.pdfIn the original appeal, the defendant made the religious affiliation of davidson an issue, and there is precedent for so doing.
jffoster - August 27, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Sorry, the above was addressed to No 4, et al.