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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAN SEARS UNC NEWS SERVICES
Following his election as chancellor at the Board of Governors meeting Friday, James Moeser addresses students and faculty at an afternoon reception held in Morehead Building. He will officially take office Aug. 15.
BOG Names Moeser as 9th Chancellor of University
By Katie Abel
University Editor
It only took one brief announcement Friday to
erase months of speculation about UNC’s future.
As UNC-system President Molly Broad intro
duced the University’s next leader, the secrecy
and mystery surrounding the chancellor search
came to a ceremonial and celebratory close.
It was anew beginning.
The Board of Governors unanimously elected
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor
James Moeser (pronounced MF,E-zer) as UNC’s
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Chancellor-elect James Moeser fields questions from reporters
Friday at a press conference after his official election.
new chancellor, marking the official end of the
eight-month hunt for the late Chancellor Michael
Flooker’s successor. “I accept this election to the
greatest University in
AmericL” Moeser said,
as a throng of BOG
members and handful of
students escorted him to
the podium.
The heightened
anticipation of the morning announcement trans
lated into a flurry of activity' at the Carolina Inn
as television crews and reporters from across the
I accept this election to the greatest University in America.
Chancellor-elect James Moeser
state converged in the ballroom of the inn.
Clad in a Carolina-blue pin-striped tie, the 61-
year-old Moeser articulated his vision for UNC
to become the nation’s top public institution, a
priority reminiscent of his predecessor.
“The principle attraction to this University is
its academic excellence and tradition.” he said.
“But more than its tradition, is its potential.”
Moeser will officially take the job Aug. 15 - at
at a time when his permanent leadership at UNC
will be crucial.
This summer, he must tackle a University
bond package, tuition plan and financial aid pro
For Extended
Coverage on the
Chancellor-elect
See Pages 5-10
Election Draws 'lntensive' Search to Close
By Katie Abel
University Editor
The hunt for UNC’s ninth chancellor
ended with pomp and circumstance far
removed from the silence that defined the
eight-month search.
Committee members said Friday the
search that had ultimately produced
Chancellor-elect James Moeser was a result
of intense collaboration between the com
mittee and UNC-system President Molly
Broad. “Wo worked 14 hours a day through
rain, deep snow and even on Christmas
Eve,” said Anne Cates, Board of Trustees
chairwoman.
Search Committee Chairman Richard
Stevens said the search drew I lf) interested
Monday, April 17, 2000
Volume 108, Issue 34
candidates from 37 states, Washington,
D.C., and two foreign countries. Women
and minorities constituted more than 24
percent of the candidates, he said.
The committee conducted interviews with
15 finalists, Stevens said at Friday’s meeting.
But nabbing Moeser, whom Cates and
Stevens called the best candidate for the
post, was not easy for the committee,
Stevens said. “He’s been in our sights for a
long time,” he said. “He had to be con
vinced that this was a good opportunity."
Stevens said Moeser had been nominated
last August in the infant stages of the search.
UNC-system President Molly Broad
tapped the 14-member Chancellor Search
Committee, composed of trustees, faculty
members, the president of the Carolina
gram, all of which are headed toward the unpre
dictable hands of the state legislature.
Moeser said Friday the University must peri
odically enact tuition increases to recruit and
maintain top faculty as well.
“I don’t think you can keep it at rock bottom
and be the kind of university you want it to be.”
But Moeser said the key to building UNC’s
coffers was garnering more private support, call
ing for increased reliance on UNC’s alumni.
An ambitious fund-raiser at IJNL, he said one
of his top priorities as UNC’s chancellor was to
boost UNC’s $1 billion endowment. He also
Alumni Association and the chairwoman
of the employee forum, in late July.
Former Student Body President Nic
Heinke was the sole student representative
on the committee, sparking criticism that
there was not enough student voice. Broad
gave a deadline of May Commencement,
but the group said it wanted to complete
the search by December 1999.
The quest to find the next chancellor
officially began at an open forum Aug. 26,
1999, where search committee members
garnered input from UNC students, facul
ty and staff about the characteristics they
wanted in UNC’s next long-term leader.
That same day, N.C. journalists pushed
for an open search process.
But committee members would remain
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Chapel Hill, North Carolina
© 2000 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
called for increased reliance on UNC’s alumni.
“The endowment is not the stature it ought to
be,” he said. “The margin of excellence will clear
ly be private support.”
During his four-year tenure at UNL, Moeser
ushered in more than $350 million in private
donations and reallocated state funds to boost
information technology and distance learning
programs.
“There is incredible potential for the
University to take a huge step forward (in fund
See CHANCELLOR, Page 10
tight-lipped for the next seven months.
The search continued quietly as the
committee finalized its job description for
the incoming chancellor in October and
began weekly meetings.
As the self-imposed deadline
approached, committee member Bill
Jordan, also a trustee, said the search would
probably continue well into the new year.
A crucial crossroads came in mid-
December when local media leaked the
name of four likely contenders, including
UNC’s former executive vice chancellor,
Elson Floyd, president of the University of
Western Michigan, and Jeffrey Houpt, presi
dent of the UNC School of Medicine.
See SEARCH, Page 10