After an extended search, and the official retirement of its current leader, the UNC College of Arts and Sciences has its newest dean.

The university announced James W.C. White, a climate researcher, will lead the largest unit of Chapel Hill’s campus. White served as the acting dean at the University of Colorado’s College of Arts and Sciences for the last four and half years and began his research at the school in 1989.

UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz made the announcement to the campus community on Tuesday. He pointed to White’s track record of improving diversity of faculty and students, intensive research, and fundraising as just some of the elements that made him stand out as a candidate.

“Leading with a vision of how the education and research offered at a public university can benefit society, White reimagined the college’s work to recruit in-state students from underrepresented groups,” said Guskiewicz. “As acting dean, he oversaw an administrative reorganization with the goal of better serving nearly 17,000 undergraduate students.”

(Photo via the University of Colorado.)

With this hire, UNC aims to find a longer-term replacement for a position that’s seen overturn in recent years. White will take over from Dean Terry Rhodes, who announced last August she would be retiring at the end of the academic year. Rhodes took over the dean’s role from Guskiewicz, who was elevated to UNC Chancellor in 2019 after serving as the college’s dean for three years. Rhodes was awarded the permanent role in 2020 after being the interim dean for a year — but her retirement will make it a shorter stint.

Guskiewicz said in his release that White’s hiring comes at a change for the college as well. Next academic year, the College of Arts and Sciences will adopt its new IDEAs in Action curriculum, which is described as allowing students more flexibility to “design their own academic journey.”

“White’s leadership experience, commitment to research and innovation and staunch advocacy of the importance of a liberal arts education make him well positioned to lead the College into its next era,” Guskiewicz said.

White will start in his new role on July 1.

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