NC State University’s Bell Tower. (Photo: NCSU.edu)
Kevin Howell, UNC Health’s Chief External Affairs Officer, has been selected to succeed Randy Woodson as North Carolina State University’s next chancellor.
Howell will now lead the largest university in North Carolina, with nearly 39,000 students and a $2 billion budget.
He’s no stranger to higher education. Howell has served previously as an NC State University’s vice chancellor for external affairs, where he led efforts to support the university’s role as a driver of the state economy.
UNC System President Peter Hans said in selecting its next chancellor, NC State needed to find a leader who not only believes in the transformational power of higher education, but has also lived it.
“Kevin is the personification of what makes NC State an extraordinary institution, the kind of place where a talented young man from Cleveland County can find a home, break ground as the first ever Black student body president, and then choose to devote his life to the upkeep and uplift of public education,” Hans said in presenting Howell’s nomination to the UNC Board of Governor’s on Tuesday.
Hans noted that Howell, a Shelby native, has served in various capacities in the governor’s office, the UNC System, UNC Health, and on numerous civic and charitable boards in central North Carolina.
Howell will also be the first Black chancellor at NC State University, at a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion has drawn scorn from conservative state legislators and cutbacks and condemnation from the new Trump administration.
DEI was not mentioned in Tuesday’s announcement. Rather Hans described Howell as a wonderful ambassador and fundraiser.
“He’s got a great mind, a generous passion, and a profound love of this university,” Hans said. “But don’t let that genial exterior fool you. Kevin Howell is a competitor to his core, a former wrestler who hasn’t lost the instinct for tackling, grappling, and coming out on top.”
Making organizations better amid many challenges
Those skills and competitive drive are what is needed said Hans as NC State enters a “transformative era.”
He takes over the leadership role at a time when many universities nationwide are experiencing declines in student enrollment.
Howell currently serves on the executive committee of myFutureNC which has actively been working to boost higher-ed enrollment in North Carolina. The nonprofit seeks to have two million North Carolinians hold a postsecondary degree or an industry credential by 2030.
In February, NC State’s Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, announced a hiring freeze due to the spike in uncertainty surrounding federal funding.
And Howell will also guide the university through the future of Poe Hall, and health concerns about a building contaminated with high levels of PCBs.
On Tuesday, Ed Weisiger, chair of the NC State Board of Trustees, chose to focus Howell’s strengths.
“Kevin simply makes organizations better and healthier by working in them,” said Weisiger. “We are so pleased to have him return to NC State.”
Howell earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from NC State in 1988 and was the university’s student body president his senior year. He earned a law degree from the UNC-Chapel Hill and later served as a law clerk on the N.C. Court of Appeals.
Following a five-month nationwide search, Howell will become the third NC State alumnus to serve as chancellor of the land-grant university.
He will take over the role May 5 with a salary of $600,000.
Woodson, the longest serving chancellor in the UNC system, has held the position for the last 15 years.
This report will be updated after Howell addresses the university community at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday.