New UNC Charlotte chancellor named to replace Phil Dubois

Sharon Gaber, currently the president of the University of Toledo, will be the fifth chancellor of UNC Charlotte. Her appointment was approved by the UNC Board of Governors on Tuesday.

UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees Chair Michael Wilson said it’s been a long process and he was thankful for the support from the UNC Board of Governors members and UNC system leaders.

“I know these are irregular times, but we thought it was important to have a leader in place as we head into what could be a very difficult fall and spring next year,” he said during the Board of Governors’ special meeting. “We feel very confident that our work has yielded the best leader for that position.”

Gaber was the first woman to serve as president of the University of Toledo, and will be the first woman to serve as UNC Charlotte’s chancellor. Under her tenure, the University of Toledo saw record-high student retention and graduation rates, hitting its strategic plan’s target graduation rate three years ahead of schedule.

Prior to her five years in Toledo, Gaber served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas. She has also been an interim provost at Auburn University and a faculty member and administrator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Gaber received her bachelor’s degree from Occidental College, her master’s from the University of Southern California and her doctoral degree from Cornell University.

An urban planner by training, Gaber said she is excited to take the helm of a university in a growing city like Charlotte. She said she hoped to foster the university’s role as an engine for economic growth and social mobility in the region.

“Part of what attracted me to UNC Charlotte is that it’s an institution that makes a difference in the broader community,” Gaber said in an interview with the Observer.

Like the University of Toledo, Gaber said, UNC Charlotte serves a significant percentage of students who are the first in their families to attend college. Educating local students to be able to take on jobs in the region’s growing industries is part of how a research university like UNC Charlotte contributes to the “ecosystem of its community,” Gaber said.

“Especially in a large city, having a great university where students can get a quality education gives them opportunities they and their families could not have imagined,” she said. “It’s transformative.”

Gaber said her priority will be to hear from the community and stakeholders at UNC Charlotte. Rather than imposing her vision on the school, Gaber said she hopes to build a collective vision for the university’s future.

“While we are experiencing unprecedented times in our nation, I am prepared to work with the faculty, staff, students, alumni and local leaders to navigate our new realities together and build on the University’s strong legacy of academic excellence, cutting-edge research and community engagement,” Gaber said in a statement.

She will take over at UNC Charlotte on July 1, with a salary of $525,000. Her appointment concludes a months-long search for the university’s next leader after Phil Dubois announced his retirement last summer.

Phil Dubois legacy

Dubois has led UNC Charlotte for 15 years through a period of enormous growth. Under Dubois’s leadership, the school became the third-largest and fastest-growing campus in the University of North Carolina system.

UNC Charlotte has seen a 43 percent increase in enrollment, to about 30,000 students, since he took office in 2005. The campus has also dramatically expanded, with more than $1.2 billion invested in construction and renovation.

Prior to becoming chancellor, Dubois served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs from 1991 to 1997 before serving as president of the University of Wyoming. In his time as UNC Charlotte provost, he worked to expand programs serving nontraditional adult students and launched the university’s first doctoral programs.

Dubois was crucial to bringing football to the university after years of debate. He created a challenge for fans to raise $5 million in six months as a measure of demand, with the money going to the $45.3 million cost of building a stadium.

It worked. In 2008, the trustees voted to approve the program.

Dubois has also led the university through tragedy. On the last day of spring classes in April 2019, two students were killed and four others wounded when a former student opened fire on a classroom during end-of-semester presentations.

The shooting led to changes in security at large events in following semesters. Counseling and training on how to respond to an “active assailant” were also offered to students, faculty and staff in the aftermath of the shooting, Dubois wrote in a letter to campus.

News & Observer reporter Kate Murphy contributed.

This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 11:36 AM.