By: Carter Schroppe
Lee H. Roberts was elected chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in mid-August following a unanimous vote by the UNC Board of Governors. Roberts had served as interim chancellor since January, following former Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz’s decision to step down and serve at Michigan State University.
UNC Systems President Peter Hans formed the UNC Chancellor Search Advisory Committee in February, a 13-member group tasked with finding a worthy replacement for Guskiewicz. The six-month search culminated with the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees endorsing four finalists among almost 60 candidates.
Hans recommended Roberts and spoke extensively about the new chancellor’s unique qualifications when addressing the BOG the morning of Roberts’ selection. “He has a deep respect for the university’s traditions and excellence, but also a conviction that Carolina has room to grow and improve,” Hans said. “He is someone with the right combination of reverence for this university’s history and restless aspirations for its next chapter.”
Roberts will serve as the 13th chancellor of the nation’s oldest public university.
“For 230 years, UNC-Chapel Hill has been the most important pillar on which we build a better future for North Carolina and its people,” Roberts said. “I’m deeply honored to be asked to play a role in serving this great university. There’s a lot of exciting work ahead.”
Roberts found himself at the center of campus-wide discussions during the pro-Palestine protests that occurred in late April; student groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine took issue with his handling of the demonstrations. Roberts gave an impromptu speech on the steps of South Building after protesters tore down the American flag and replaced it with that of Palestine.
“This university doesn’t belong to a small group of protesters,” he said. “It belongs to every citizen of North Carolina. Everybody, in North Carolina. Everybody who goes to school here, everybody who lives and works here. The flag represents all of us… that flag will stand here as long as I am chancellor.”
Roberts has a history of public service in North Carolina- he served as budget director for the state from 2014 to 2016. He’s also served on the UNC Board of Governors, the State Board of Community Colleges, the State Banking Commission, the Golden LEAF Foundation Board, and the Board of Visitors at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Roberts taught at Duke, his alma mater, before accepting the interim chancellor position.
Roberts grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, and is the son of acclaimed journalists Steven Roberts and the late Cokie Roberts. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Duke and his law degree from Georgetown University. Roberts’ grandparents served as Democratic members of the House of Representatives in Louisiana. His grandmother, Lindy Boggs, was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana and the first to preside over a major party convention- she was a permanent chairwoman of the 1976 Democratic National Convention.
Roberts and his wife, author Liza Roberts, reside in Raleigh and have three children.