RALEIGH, North Carolina – Another president of North Carolina’s public university system has announced plans to resign — this time at the state’s largest university by enrollment.
North Carolina State University President Randy Woodson declared his retirement plans at the university’s trustees meeting Thursday, marking nearly 15 years in his role. His term will officially end on June 30, 2025, Woodson said.
His departure marks another chancellor vacancy in the University of North Carolina system, which is in the process of filling three other vacancies, including at the state’s flagship campus, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Seventeen schools are members of the system.
“I feel good about leaving the institution better than I found it, but I also feel good that the next leader has a lot to do at NC State,” Woodson said during the meeting. “This is a great place.”
With his contract ending next June, Woodson told reporters it was “just a good time” for him to step down as chancellor. Retirement was something the 67-year-old said he considered for a while.
Woodson received a two-year contract extension in 2021 that allowed him to serve until 2025 — something UNC System President Peter Hans said he “arm-twisted to stay on.”
“When I think about where NC State was 15 years ago and where NC State is now, it’s an extraordinary testament to the leadership of this man and the team he built around him,” Hans told reporters after the meeting.
Woodson began as North Carolina State’s chancellor in 2010. He previously came from Purdue University, where he served as provost, dean of the college of agriculture and in several other leadership roles.
Under your long tenure at NC State, Woodson led the university in increasing graduation and retention rates and research funding. Enrollment at the university has also grown to more than 37,000 students in fall 2023.
His tenure included sweeping changes to the college athletics landscape, including the Atlantic Coast Conference adding the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University in all sports, adding the University of Notre Dame in all non-football league sports, as well as O league movement to add Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and Southern Methodist University this year.
He is the university’s third-longest serving president and one of the oldest currently serving in the university system.
While he has no immediate plans for what comes after his chancellorship, Woodson said he plans to remain in Raleigh.
Woodson’s announcement means another chancellor search for the UNC system after filling four vacancies last year. These new presidents now lead four universities: James Martin at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Karrie Dixon at North Carolina Central University, Bonita Brown at Winston-Salem State University and Kimberly van Noort at UNC-Asheville.
Three other universities currently have openings for presidents: Appalachian State University, Elizabeth City State University and UNC-Chapel Hill. Former Appalachian State Chancellor Sheri Everts was the most recent chancellor to resign in April.
The search for UNC-Chapel Hill’s new chancellor — a position open following the departure of former chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz in January — progressed further Wednesday as search committee members began considering candidates. The chancellorship is currently held by interim Chancellor Lee Roberts, whom GOP legislative leaders have signaled support to become the next chancellor.
The search committee has been “aggressively in the market” for several weeks to find suitable candidates, but competition with other universities conducting chancellor searches has presented challenges, Laurie Wilder, head of search firm Parker Executive Search, said during the meeting.
Hans told reporters after the meeting that he thought the high turnover of deans could be partially attributed to university leaders’ postponing departures to ensure administrations ran smoothly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Associated Press writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh contributed to this report.
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