UNC names Duke grad Lee Roberts interim chancellor
Lee Roberts has been named interim chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Roberts has been on the UNC Board of Governors since 2021 and previously worked with former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory.
"I’m excited," Roberts told WRAL News. "If you care about public service and you care about the state of North Carolina and care about higher education, we don’t have a more important institution in the state than Carolina. Who wouldn’t be excited about that challenge?"
Roberts is a managing partner of SharpVue Capital, a Raleigh-based private investment firm that he helped start in 2016. A graduate of Duke and Georgetown, Roberts has an extensive background in real estate and finance and also ventured into politics, serving as the state budget director for McCrory from 2014 to 2016.
Former UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp sees politics at play, noting that Roberts is in ideological alignment with the Board of Governors and the State Legislature who appoints its members.
"Well sure," Thorp said. "They picked Pat McCrory's budget director."
Within those political parameters, Thorp believes Roberts is a great choice.
Although his background is in finance, not academics, Thorp points out a lot of the role has to do with money, anyway.
"If he is as good a manager as he appears to be, he'll delegate the academic operations to people who know what they're doing," Thorp said.
"I think it’s a nonpartisan role," Roberts said. "I plan to do it in a nonpartisan way."
McCrory said Roberts wasn't politically-driven and was an astute observer.
"He is uncanny in his ability to see things that other people don't see," McCrory said. "He's apolitical, and he just has skills in which he can interact with people of all political parties and ages and demographics."
"I think his financial acumen, with his academic background, with his government background, will be a perfect match for UNC-Chapel Hill," said McCrory. "He'll just have to learn to wear Carolina blue."
Roberts said he's ready to listen and learn from the campus community.
"I think it’s the role of the interim chancellor – or the permanent chancellor for that matter – to stand up on behalf of the institution, its students and faculty," he said.
"I hope to leave the place a little bit better than I found it," Roberts said of his goals. "I think it would be premature to start talking about sweeping changes."
Roberts replaces Kevin Guskiewicz, whose acceptance of the president position at Michigan State University on Dec. 8 created a vacancy at UNC. Roberts' term will officially begin on Jan. 12.
Reports circulated for weeks over Guskiewicz "weighing" the opportunity to go to Michigan State. Guskiewicz oversaw hardships on campus such as the fatal shooting of a UNC faculty member on Aug. 28 and turmoil over the removal of Silent Sam, a long-standing Confederate monument placed in the heart of campus. His exit comes amid speculation that political meddling from the UNC Board of Trustees and UNC System Board of Governors pushed him to leave.
The promotion marks Roberts' first move into academic administration. He spoke to his preparedness for the role by pointing to leadership experience gained throughout his career. Roberts has been an instructor at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy for five years.
"What the best chancellors do is they lead these large complex organizations," Roberts said. "They do it with humility, with empathy, with decisiveness.
"They build world-class teams. They’re fantastic listeners. They make sure that the students and the faculty and the staff have the resources that they need. They make sure that it’s a welcoming and inclusive place where everyone feels like they belong. And they make sure that the organization has the resources it needs from the wider world, operating in a political and media environment. Those are the skills I’ve been using my entire career."
Roberts said he’ll look to Guskiewicz for advice when necessary and applauded his performance.
"We have a world-class faculty here at Carolina," Roberts said. "And the role of the interim chancellor is to support them in their work. I want to hear from them, do a lot of listening. I’ve got big ears. I want to make sure that they have the resources that they need."
Roberts grew up in Bethesda, Maryland and moved to North Carolina at 17. He currently lives in Raleigh with his wife, Liza, and they have three children.
As far as any lingering loyalty to Duke given his undergraduate years in Durham, Roberts made it clear where his allegiances are now.
"There’s one thing I have to say about that, and that one thing is go Heels," he said.
A nationwide search for the chancellor’s role will be launched in the coming months.
“Lee is a patient leader, a generous listener, and someone raised with the values of public service,” UNC System President Peter Hans said.
