Bob Blouin Stepping Down as UNC Provost, Will Remain in Faculty

UNC leadership announced Tuesday Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bob Blouin will be stepping down from his position at the end of 2021.

Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz revealed the news in a message to the campus community Tuesday afternoon, saying Blouin would be leaving the role he’s served in since 2017.

“A well-respected educator, innovator, researcher and administrator, Bob has been a source of unwavering support for the University, guiding some of our most important and challenging work,” wrote Guskiewicz. “Every day, he has conducted his role with the utmost dignity and respect for his administrative colleagues, faculty associates, students and community partners. Bob goes the extra mile in everything he does and is routinely the first person in South Building and the last one to leave each day. I am grateful for his steadfast support and passion for Carolina’s mission to serve our state, nation and the world.”

Blouin, who is the university’s 15th provost in its history, will resume his work as the Vaughn and Nancy Bryson Distinguished Professor in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy following the change.

During his tenure as provost, Blouin oversaw UNC’s academic programming and led planning for some of the university’s bigger recent projects. Recently, the provost helped coordinate the university’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, constructing the Carolina Together Roadmap to bring students onto campus for the fall 2020 semester and implementing changes to improve safety in the current spring semester. Additionally, Blouin helped direct the development of Carolina’s strategic plan, titled Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good. Approved in January 2020, the plan identifies eight strategic initiatives UNC aims to achieve through integration in academic settings and action across campus.

Before being named provost, Blouin served as dean of the Eshelman School of Pharmacy for nearly 14 years. Prior to his arrival at Carolina, he served a faculty member and administrator at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy from 1978 to 2003.

In his message on Tuesday, Guskiewicz said a new executive vice chancellor and provost will likely be named in the late fall. The university will name a search committee and conduct a nationwide search beginning later in May.

Photo via Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill.

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