Search committee announced to find next chancellor of NC A&T State University

Featured photo: N.C. A&T Chancellor Harold Martin will retire at the end of this academic year. This week a 13-member search committee was announced to find his successor. (Photo: N.C. A&T)

This story was originally published by NC Newsline, story by Joe Killian

When Harold Martin announced his retirement as chancellor of N.C. A&T State University last month, everyone agreed his successor would have a lot to live up to. On Wednesday the university and the UNC System announced the 13-member search committee that will find the school’s next leader.

Martin has been at the helm at A&T for 15 years, making him the longest-serving chancellor in the UNC System. In that time, A&T went from a beloved but struggling regional university to the nation’s largest historically Black college or university (HBCU), with explosive growth in student performance, the campus footprint in Greensboro, funding and prestige.

Recent visits to the campus by Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Jill Biden have underscored the university’s rising profile, as did a recent study that estimated its statewide economic impact at $2.4 billion.

“The opportunity to lead our university is one that I’m certain will interest strong candidates across the nation,” said Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, past chair of A&T’s Board of Trustees and leader of the newly formed search committee, in a statement Wednesday.

“The members of our search advisory committee share a commitment to identifying outstanding leaders who are well prepared to continue the growth and development of this singular institution,” Pinnix-Ragland said. “North Carolina A&T deserves the best, and we are dedicated to helping ensure that is exactly what this search process delivers.”

UNC System President Peter Has called A&T an exceptional university sure to attract an outstanding pool of candidates for chancellor.

“The members of this committee are devoted to A&T, its proud history and its dynamic future,” Hans said in a statement Wednesday. “I know they will invest their time and energy to find the university’s next great leader, and I appreciate Hilda Pinnix-Ragland answering my call to chair the committee.”

The UNC System policy for chancellor searches has changed a number of times since Martin was hired, most recently in ways that put more power over the process and its outcome into the hands of the system president.

The current policy calls for up to 13 members on a search committee who represent the trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni. It also also mandates that the current or former chancellor be part of the committee, along with the system president and a representative of the UNC System Board of Governors.

The committee announced Wednesday includes:

• Hilda Pinnix-Ragland (A&T alumna and immediate past chair of the campus board of Trustees)
• Kimberly Gatling (A&T alumna and current chair of the board of trustees)
• Jasmine Amaniampong (Current North Carolina A&T Student Government Association president and member of the campus board of trustees)
• Pearl Burris-Floyd (Secretary of the UNC Board of Governors and the board’s liaison to A&T)
• Willie A. Deese (A&T alumnus and former member and chair of the board of trustees)
• Michael S. Fox (President and CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership)
• Peter Hans (President of the UNC System)
• Dr. Scott H. Harrison (A&T Faculty Senate chair and associate professor of biology)
• Timothy King (Alumnus and former member and chair of the board of trustees)
• Mario Lewis (Alumnus, A&T Staff Senate chair, and technology support technician)
• Gina Loften (Alumnus and current member of the A&T Board of Trustees)
• Randy Ramsey (Chair of the UNC Board of Governors)
• Dr. Randy Woodson (Chancellor of NC State University)

“We are fortunate to have a committee of individuals who well understand the needs of North Carolina A&T and who have a significant depth of knowledge regarding our state, higher education and our university community,” said Kimberly Gatling, current chair of the university’s board of trustees, in a statement Wednesday.

“We will be laser-focused on the challenges and significant opportunities that this search represents, understanding the power of strong leadership to further the strategic, transformational evolution of A&T that we have all experienced over the past 15 years,” Gatling said.

Martin will step down at the end of this academic year. In the meantime, the campus and the UNC System plan to hold community listening sessions as part of the search process and have launched an online public input survey.

Past UNC System chancellor searches have sparked controversy, accusations of political meddling and lingering ill-will. In 2021 Darryl Allison, a politically well-connected member of the UNC Board of Governors, left his seat on that board to pursue the chancellorship of Fayetteville State University mid-search. Despite not making the final cut in the search process, Allison got the job in a process members of the search committee and board of trustees said involved political pressure and did not reflect the work of the committee.

These processes can get political, state Rep Amos Quick (D-Guilford) told Newsline this week. But he’s not worried about that happening at A&T.

“It’s hard to replace a legend, particularly one with so much success,” Quick said. “And the political environment for this search is very different now than it was in the past. But what allays my concern about that to some degree is the active and very vocal, international alumni base that A&T has. It is not shy about lifting its voice as a collective.”

“I don’t think it would be wise for the decision to be made politically,” Quick said. “It has to be made with respect to the historical significance of this decision and the fact that this is one of the crown jewels of our UNC system. We don’t want to do anything to harm its upward growth.”

NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: [email protected]. Follow NC Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.