ECU gets new leader who grew up in Greenville and has strong ties to the university
Philip G. Rogers, who grew up in Greenville and has worked for years in higher education, was named the 12th chancellor of East Carolina University on Thursday.
UNC System President Peter Hans nominated Rogers for the post after his selection by an ECU search committee. The Board of Governors of the 17-institution UNC System voted unanimously to appoint Rogers during its regular December meeting. Some members attended in Chapel Hill in person while others participated remotely.
“ECU represents the heart and soul of my identity as a person and leader,” Rogers said in a statement released by the university. “It’s not just a place where I worked or where my wife went to school. It’s who we are. It’s the centerpiece of our lives. We wouldn’t be here today without this institution.”
Rogers grew up in Greenville and has several generations of people in his family who are ECU grads. He is the great-grandson of an early student of the East Carolina Teachers Training School. His wife, Dr. Rebekah P. Rogers, is a two-time ECU alumna..
Rogers first came to ECU as a policy analyst in 2007 and served from 2008-2013 as chief of staff, responsible for external relations for the university, including government relations, marketing and communications, public service, and policy development.
In nominating Rogers, Hans said that while the Pirate Nation reaches coast to coast, Greenville is its capital and having a chancellor who understands the university’s relationship to the town, the region and the state will be a benefit.
‘Deep local roots’
“Dr. Rogers is a driven leader who brings energy and vitality to ECU,” Hans said. “He has broad national higher education experience and deep local roots in Greenville. Philip is invested in ECU for the long haul and will bring steady, stable leadership. It’s my enormous pleasure to welcome Philip and his family home.”
Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey added that Rogers “embodies the spirit of the Pirate Nation. He is homegrown and fiercely loyal to Eastern North Carolina. When he assumes his role at ECU’s helm, I’m confident Philip will lead the university and the region it serves to greater heights of innovation and success.”
Rogers will come to ECU from his job as senior vice president for learning and engagement at the American Council on Education, a leading research, policy and advocacy organization for more than 1,700 public and private colleges and universities across the United States. Rogers provides leadership for the council’s academic, research, innovation, global engagement, advancement and strategic partnership initiatives, the university system said in a release, and works with corporations and philanthropies in support of higher education.
Rogers earned a doctorate in higher education management with distinction from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Wake Forest University.
ECU had two interim chancellors
Rogers will step into the job on March 15, succeeding Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson. Mitchelson has served ECU as provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs since 2015 and as a professor since 1999. Mitchelson will retire at the end of June 2021.
Rogers takes on the role more than a year after the abrupt resignation of former Interim Chancellor Dan Gerlach.
The position has been open since former ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton was unexpectedly forced to resign in March 2019. Gerlach replaced Staton and held the position for about six months before resigning in October 2019.
The search for new candidates officially began in November 2019 when the chancellor search committee was announced. That search was halted by the coronavirus pandemic in March and resumed in September.
Gerlach resigned during an investigation after he was seen drinking at bars with ECU students. Mitchelson led the university through the coronavirus pandemic on campus, financial challenges in the athletic department and a controversy over ECU trustees meddling in student government elections.
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 2:33 PM.
