Thorp installed as chancellor

CHAPEL HILL -- UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp wants his university to solve the world's grandest challenges.

But to reach this audacious goal, he offered a basic path.

"We just need to take care of our people," Thorp said in a speech moments after his formal installation as UNC-CH's 10th chancellor. "If we do that, then the students' successes, the big ideas, the recognition, the grant dollars, and the solutions to society's greatest problems will take care of themselves."

Though he has been on the job since July, Thorp, 44, was feted formally Sunday, the university's 215th birthday. A native of Fayetteville with a bachelor's degree from UNC-CH, Thorp sprinkled his speech with Tar Heel lore, citing both Hinton James -- UNC-CH's first student -- and Michael Jordan -- its most famous. He spoke of an illustrious past and a bright future, but he warned of significant challenges.

He echoed a theme that campus leaders have been talking about quite a bit lately: the increasing competition for top students. A science whiz kid himself with a doctorate in chemistry from California Institute of Technology, Thorp said he wants UNC-CH to be the "best place to teach, learn and discover." But he cautioned that the university will have to ratchet up its merit- and need-based aid packages to lure students now in the crosshairs of many elite private universities.

Harvard, Yale and other top universities have, in the past couple of years, changed financial aid policies to appeal more widely to middle-class students. As Thorp noted Sunday: "Financial aid practices of the top privates have made it easier for students to choose excellent universities outside North Carolina. When that happens, they are less likely to come back and contribute to our state and our economy."

Thorp had similar words for the university faculty, which he wants to nurture and keep happy. He pledged a new emphasis on faculty recruitment and retention, already a high priority.

"The defining principle of a research university is that teaching and discovery are done by the same people," he said. "Those who do well are scarce. But not here at Carolina. We need to support our gifted teacher-scholars, and attract their new colleagues to inspire our students."

For employees, Thorp promised a rewarding workplace. Just last week, the university raised the minimum annual salary to $25,000; that meant a raise for 290 workers.

Thorp mentioned at several points his desire that UNC-CH operate on a global stage, particularly in areas or worldwide interest like the environment and public health. He acknowledged that it might seem implausible that a university composed largely of North Carolinians could compete academically on a global scale, or even compete with private universities, and still meet the requirement that it remain affordable to its own residents.

"It's not the easy way to be Carolina," he said toward the end of his speech. "But over the centuries we have shown the courage of our convictions. So though it may not be the easy way, it's the only way we know."

Big goals, surely. But with Thorp, it isn't hyperbole, said UNC President Emeritus William Friday.

"There's no rhetoric in it," Friday said. "You have to say it and believe it. It's what he knows, and it's what has made this place what it is."

The ceremony Sunday stretched for most of two hours and was highlighted by rousing words from Allan Gurganus, the North Carolina poet and novelist who has known Thorp and his family for decades.

He summarized the university's new leader this way: "Holden Thorp will never make a plausible fictional character. Flaws are a fiction writer's spice rack. I've known him all his life, and his faults keep not emerging."