New NC State chancellor Kevin Howell makes history at installation
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- N.C. State installed Kevin Howell as its 15th chancellor in May 2025 at Reynolds Coliseum.
- Howell, N.C. State’s first Black chancellor, thanked doctors after a 2015 kidney failure.
- Lawmakers praised Howell’s relationship building and advocacy for university programs
Rays of red and white spotlights illuminated Reynolds Coliseum on Thursday as N.C. State Chancellor Kevin Howell walked to the stage, greeted by trumpets and drums of the marching band.
Thursday was a significant day for Howell — and not just because he was installed as the 15th chancellor in N.C. State’s 138-year university. Ten years ago on Oct. 30, 2015, his kidneys failed.
During his remarks, Howell thanked several UNC Health doctors and pastors “for allowing me a second chance at life.”
Before starting as chancellor in May 2025, Howell was the chief of external affairs for UNC Health and the UNC School of Medicine.
Howell, an N.C. State graduate, was the university’s first Black student body president in 1987. He worked at the university professionally as an assistant to the chancellor for external affairs from 2006 to 2016 and as vice chancellor for external affairs, partnerships and economic development from 2018 to 2023.
Howell is the university’s first Black chancellor.
In his remarks, Howell stressed the need to “lock arms with the business community and government” to align N.C. State graduates with in-demand jobs and ensure a high return on investment for a degree.
He also emphasized the importance of continued philanthrophic support for higher education.
“Ladies and gentlemen, higher education matters,” Howell said to a round of applause. “It matters because our world needs engineers and designers. Because our world needs farmers, architects and veterinarians. Because our world needs polymer chemists, astronauts and teachers. It needs poets. It needs artists. It needs public servants.”
Speakers touted Howell’s ability to build relationships and balance different groups’ interests. Among the chorus was UNC System President Peter Hans, who said he had never met anyone with such a “bottomless enthusiasm” for people as Howell has.
“Walk into any room of 10 people in North Carolina, and the odds are good that Kevin Howell is already on a first-name basis with some of them or soon will be,” Hans said to a few chuckles from the audience.
Two guests from the N.C. General Assembly were in attendance: state Rep. Dean Arp, a Republican from Monroe and senior chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, a Republican from Rockingham.
As Appropriations Committee chair, Arp said he had “been on the receiving end” of Howell’s “endless and relentless advocacy,” getting laughs from Howell and the crowd.
Arp praised Howell’s advocacy for programs like Engineering North Carolina’s Future — a 2022 plan for N.C. State to enroll 4,000 engineering and computer science students over five years using $50 million in funding from the state legislature — and Elevate, an Inclusive Postsecondary Education Program for people with intellectual and development disabilities.
“Today, we are witnessing the official transfer of power and responsibility of this extraordinary university to a man that’s ready to take up this mantle,” Arp said. “A man that has been sustained and created for this very moment.”
Berger said he worked with Howell for a long time and called him a “well-respected, visionary leader.”
“I’ve yet to meet a single soul who has anything but high praise for Kevin Howell,” Berger said.
N.C. State Student Body President Isaac Carreño praised how Howell connects with students, recalling when, after giving his first remarks as chancellor-elect in Talley Student Union, Howell spent an hour taking pictures with students and answering their questions.
Howell has a Pablo Picasso quote hanging in his office, Carreño said. It reads: “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
“Kevin Howell found his gift early,” Carreño said. “And he’s been giving it away ever since.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 3:22 PM.
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