RALEIGH — North Carolina A&T, the country’s largest historically black university, has a new chancellor after nearly nine months of searching.
The UNC Board of Governors unanimously named James Martin the next chancellor on Friday.
Martin was previously the vice chancellor of STEM research and innovation at the University of Pittsburgh, where he previously served as dean of the university’s engineering school.
Martin, who was UNC System President Peter Hans’ nominee, has worked primarily in civil engineering, a profession Hans said will help Martin with “leading a public institution through an unquiet era.”
Among the many challenges chancellors may face, Hans said maintaining “public confidence in an era of rising skepticism and polarization” will be one task for Martin to tackle.
Located in Greensboro, A&T has more than 13,000 students. It’s one of 10 historically black colleges and universities recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in North Carolina, which has the second-highest number of HBCUs behind Alabama.
