Health and Medicine

Chancellor Carol L. Folt and Chair Dale Jenkins Announce Search Committee for Successor to William L. Roper, MD, MPH

The search committee will hold its first organizational meeting from 9 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 7, at the Center for School Leadership Development, Room 276.

Exterior of UNC Hospitals.
Buildings of the UNC Hospitals reflect in the side of the NC Cancer Hospital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

(Chapel Hill, N.C.— Aug. 2, 2018) – A newly appointed committee will conduct a national search to recommend a successor to Dr. William L. Roper, who announced in May that he would step down as CEO of UNC Health Care, Dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs in May 2019.

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol L. Folt and UNC Health Care Board of Directors Chair Dale Jenkins have named Robert A. Blouin, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as chair, and Charles D. Owen, vice chair of the UNC Health Care Board of Directors, as vice chair for the search committee.

Folt and Jenkins have appointed the following individuals to the search committee:

  • Aisha Amuda, student, UNC School of Medicine
  • Jack Bailey, President, U.S. Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline
  • Dr. George Hadley Callaway, member, UNC Health Care System Board of Directors
  • Haywood Cochrane, chair, UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees
  • Honorable Mandy Cohen, MD, secretary, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
  • Amy Higgins, system vice president, Strategic Planning and Network Development, UNC Health Care
  • Terry Magnuson, vice chancellor for research, UNC-Chapel Hill
  • Dr. Cristen Page, chair, Department of Family Medicine, UNC School of Medicine
  • Randy Ramsey, vice chair, UNC Board of Governors
  • David Routh, vice chancellor for university development, UNC-Chapel Hill

The search committee will hold its first organizational meeting from 9 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 7, at the Center for School Leadership Development, Room 276. The committee will be charged with advancing two or more names to the UNC Health Care Board of Directors and the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees for approval, after which Folt will forward the names to UNC System President Margaret Spellings. She, in turn, will recommend one candidate to the UNC Board of Governors for their approval.

“I am confident that a worthy successor to Dr. Roper can be identified to lead both UNC Health Care and the UNC School of Medicine into the future,” said Spellings. “This position will require a candidate who is knowledgeable about the operations of a premier medical school as well as a world-class hospital system – both of which positively affects North Carolinians across the state.”

“Given the strength and reputation of our medical school and health care system, we expect that this will be a highly sought-after position,” Folt said. “I’m grateful that such a strong group of individuals have agreed to serve on the search committee and look forward to working with them in identifying a candidate for this position who will enhance healthcare offerings for all North Carolinians.”

“We hope to move quickly to identify a successor and ensure a smooth leadership transition,” Jenkins said. “As North Carolina’s health care system this is a vital role for the health of the citizens of our state.”

UNC Health Care and the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine are among the premier academic medical centers in the country. With annual revenues of $5 billion, UNC Health Care owns or manages 11 hospitals and health care systems across the state, employing 30,000 individuals who serve North Carolinians from all 100 counties.  At the foundation of UNC Health Care, the School of Medicine is comprised of 19 clinical departments and 11 basic science departments, employing approximately 1,700 faculty in nationally ranked programs, with a research portfolio that has increased by more than 50 percent since 2014 to $441 million last year.

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About the University of North Carolina System
The University of North Carolina System enrolls more than 230,000 students at 17 institutions including all 16 of the state’s public universities, as well as the nation’s first public residential high school for academically gifted students, N.C. School of Science and Mathematics. The UNC System is among the strongest and most diverse higher education systems in the nation, with over $1.5 billion in research expenditures, a wide array of HBCUs, liberal arts institutions, comprehensive universities, and R-1 research institutions. Its institutions support two medical schools and a teaching hospital, two law schools, a veterinary school, a school of pharmacy, 11 nursing programs, 15 schools of education, five schools of engineering and a renowned arts conservatory. The North Carolina Arboretum, UNC Press, and the UNC Center for Public Television, with its 12-station broadcast network, are also all UNC System affiliate organizations.

About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 77 bachelor’s, 111 master’s, 65 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. Every day, faculty, staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s more than 330,000 alumni live in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 149 countries. More than 169,000 live in North Carolina.

About UNC Health Care
UNC Health Care is an integrated health care system comprised of UNC Medical Center and its provider network, UNC Faculty Physicians, UNC Physicians Network, the clinical patient care programs of the UNC School of Medicine. Additional hospital entities and health care systems include UNC REX Healthcare, Chatham Hospital, Johnston Health, Pardee Hospital, High Point Regional Health, Caldwell Memorial, Nash Health Care, Wayne Memorial, UNC Lenoir Health Care and UNC Rockingham Health Care.