{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/"},"author":{"name":"Tommy Hamzik","@id":"/#/schema/person/436cc028930c91a0291f1511cdf17488"},"headline":"Message about Provost and Chief Academic Officer Chris Clemens","datePublished":"2025-04-03T21:41:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-07T13:05:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/"},"wordCount":412,"publisher":{"@id":"/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Clemens_Hero.jpg","articleSection":["Leadership"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/","url":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/","name":"Message about Provost and Chief Academic Officer Chris Clemens | UNC-Chapel Hill","isPartOf":{"@id":"/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Clemens_Hero.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-03T21:41:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-07T13:05:44+00:00","description":"Clemens will step down as provost and return to Carolina's faculty in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences, Chancellor Lee H. Roberts wrote in a campus message.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/#primaryimage","url":"/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Clemens_Hero.jpg","contentUrl":"/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Clemens_Hero.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Chris Clemens will step down as provost and return to Carolina's faculty, Chancellor Lee H. Roberts announced Thursday. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"/posts/2025/04/03/message-about-provost-and-chief-academic-officer-chris-clemens/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Message about Provost and Chief Academic Officer Chris Clemens"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"/#website","url":"/","name":"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","description":"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","publisher":{"@id":"/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"/#organization","name":"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","url":"/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"/#/schema/logo/image/","url":"/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo.svg","contentUrl":"/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/logo.svg","caption":"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill"},"image":{"@id":"/#/schema/logo/image/"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/uncchapelhill/","https://x.com/unc","https://www.instagram.com/uncchapelhill/","https://www.linkedin.com/school/3757","https://pinterest.com/uncchapelhill/","https://www.youtube.com/user/UNCChapelHill"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"/#/schema/person/436cc028930c91a0291f1511cdf17488","name":"Tommy Hamzik","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"/#/schema/person/image/","url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cbc430dcf3612561fb4906396d9a0e42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cbc430dcf3612561fb4906396d9a0e42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tommy Hamzik"},"url":"/posts/author/tehamz/"}]}

Adverse

Adverse: !TEST! !TEST! 2025-04-08 08:50:20

Leadership

Message about Provost and Chief Academic Officer Chris Clemens

Clemens will step down as provost and return to Carolina's faculty in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences, Chancellor Lee H. Roberts wrote in a campus message.

By University Communications, Thursday, April 3rd, 2025
Chris Clemens speaking at a lectern
Chris Clemens will step down as provost and return to Carolina's faculty, Chancellor Lee H. Roberts announced Thursday. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Dear Carolina Community,  

It is with mixed emotions that I announce Chris Clemens has decided to step down from his role as provost and chief academic officer to return to Carolina’s faculty as the Jaroslav Folda Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences, effective May 16. 

Chris has been a member of Carolina’s faculty since 1998 and was appointed as provost in 2021. For more than three years, Chris has dedicated himself to academic excellence, and I am grateful for his leadership and commitment to our students, faculty and staff. During his tenure as provost, Chris helped establish the School of Data Science and Society as well as the School of Civic Life and Leadership, welcoming world-class scholars and bringing to life a vision to encourage students to explore public discourse and civic engagement. Chris also advanced Carolina as a leader in innovation and artificial intelligence through the creation of the Provost’s AI Committee, website and community to better foster collaboration, networking and shared learning.  

As a member of the faculty, Chris has held numerous leadership roles, including chair of physics and astronomy, senior associate dean of natural sciences and the inaugural senior associate dean of research and innovation in the College of Arts and Sciences. He was the founding director of the Program for Public Discourse and the founding director of Carolina’s Institute for Convergent Science. An astrophysicist to the core, I know Chris is excited to return to our faculty. He is an invaluable adviser and friend to me, and I look forward to his continued excellence in teaching, research and leadership. 

While this news is bittersweet, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve appointed Jim Dean as interim provost as we begin this transition and the national search to fill the provost and chief academic officer position. A member of the faculty beginning in 1997, Jim served as Carolina’s provost from 2013 to 2017. He also led the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School as dean from 2008-2013. In 2018, Jim became president of the University of New Hampshire. He retired from that position in June 2024. He will begin as interim on May 17. Few others can bring the wisdom and deep expertise from over 40 years both in higher education and at Carolina that he does.  

Please join me in thanking Chris for his dedicated service and welcoming Jim back to Carolina.  

Sincerely,  

Lee H. Roberts
Chancellor 

Keep Reading Tabletop exercise refines emergency response

You May Also Like...