The search for a new chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill could be concluded next week, and at least one person approached for the job is an insider who has spent 15 years as a chemistry professor and administrator in Chapel Hill.

Holden Thorp, a North Carolina native and UNC-CH alumnus who last year became dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences, confirmed Wednesday that he had interviewed for the chancellor’s position. “I’m very interested,” he said. “It’s the best job in American higher education.”

He referred other questions to the office of UNC system President Erskine Bowles, who is likely to recommend his choice for chancellor to the UNC Board of Governors next week for final approval. Bowles could not be reached for comment.

Nelson Schwab, a UNC-CH trustee and chairman of the search committee, declined to discuss candidates but said his committee had finished its work and forwarded names to Bowles.

“I can’t talk about anybody,” he said. “The process is going forward. We hope we can get an announcement going shortly.”

So far, the search for a successor to retiring Chancellor James Moeser has been top secret. Members of the search committee signed mandatory confidentiality agreements at the beginning of the process.

It was unclear Wednesday how many people had been interviewed. During a secret search, interviews often are conducted out of town to protect the identity of candidates.

Roger Perry, chairman of the university’s board of trustees, would not say whether Thorp is a finalist for the position.

Thorp is an award-winning teacher and researcher who was chairman of UNC-CH’s well-regarded chemistry department.

From 2001 to 2004, he was director of UNC-CH’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. He has invented technology for electronic DNA chips that is the subject of more than a dozen issued or pending patents. A Fayetteville native, Thorp graduated from UNC-CH in 1986 and received a doctorate in 1989 from the California Institute of Technology.

Other contenders could have close ties to the university, too.

A Web site by a former UNC Board of Governors member claimed to know the identity of two finalists Wednesday. The site, www.universitylotto.com, said two on the short list are Phillip Clay, a UNC-CH trustee and chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Michael Smith, vice chancellor for public service and engagement and dean of UNC-CH’s School of Government.

Neither Clay nor Smith returned phone calls Wednesday.

If Clay is a finalist, he could become the school's first African-American chancellor. According to MIT’s organizational chart, he is one of three second-level administrators working under university president Susan Hockfield.

Clay oversees graduate and undergraduate education, student life and student services. A Wilmington native and 1968 UNC-CH graduate, Clay received a doctorate in city planning from MIT in 1975. A member of MIT’s faculty since 1975, he was just recently named to UNC-CH’s trustee board.

Smith joined the faculty of the Institute of Government in 1978 and was named dean when it became the School of Government in 2001. As vice chancellor for public service, he coordinates UNC-CH’s efforts to reach out and serve the state’s needs. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from UNC-CH.

Andrew Payne, a former student representative on the UNC system board, said the intent of his Web site post was to try to pry open the search for a public university chancellor.