As the UNC system begins its search for a new president after Margaret Spellings’ departure halfway through the last academic year, the committee in charge of finding her permanent replacement has named a new leader.

UNC Presidential Search Committee co-chairs Wendy Murphy and Randy Ramsey announced Friday that Kimberly W. Strach has been appointed director of the group.

“Kim is the perfect choice to serve as director, due to her outstanding record of professional service of nearly two decades at the N.C. State Board of Elections, her integrity and her exemplary professional reputation,” the co-chairs said in a joint statement.

Strach, who began her role as director immediately, previously worked for the North Carolina State Board of Elections for 19 years. She held the position of executive director from 2013 until May 31, 2019, when the board voted to replace her. Strach oversaw the state’s 100 counties board of elections to ensure they followed statewide compliance of campaign finance laws.

“I want to thank the committee for appointing me and providing me the opportunity to serve,” said Strach. “I am confident that this committee will discover the perfect candidate to lead the UNC System as President.”

Although she maintained control through three campaign finance investigations during her tenure, Strach’s time as executive director for the board of elections came to an end following a ballot fraud investigation into the race for the 9th Congressional District seat. Republican hopeful Mark Harris won the election against Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes, but the State Board of Elections refused to certify the election and later ruled for a new election after news emerged that a political operative had improperly handled mail-in ballots. Harris opted not to run again.

The UNC Presidential Search Committee was created in June by the system’s Board of Governors.

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