Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
When it comes to N.C. State University, Kevin Howell has always been part of the pack.
And now, Chancellor Howell is officially the Wolfpack leader.
Howell, N.C. State University’s first African American student body president, was appointed last week by the UNC Board of Governors as the university’s first Black chancellor.
Howell is the 15th chancellor in the school’s 138-year history. He succeeds the outgoing Randy Woodson, who is retiring, effective June 30, 2025, after 15 years of service.
He takes office on May 5th, and his salary will be $600,000.
UNC President Peter Hans announced Kevin Howell’s selection, saluting his long record of service to N.C. State and the UNC System, calling him a “born leader.”
“His deep relationships across the state have helped drive investment and growth. I am confident that he will strengthen N.C. State’s role as a frontier research university, keeping North Carolina competitive in the most important fields of our future,” Hans said.
A native of Shelby, N.C., Kevin Howell distinguished himself early, earning his bachelor’s degree in political science from N.C. State in 1988, serving as student body president during his senior year.
Howell then earned his law degree from UNC- Chapel Hill, later serving as a legal clerk with the N.C. Court of Appeals.
He also served as legislative liaison for two North Carolina governors, and also director of governmental affairs for the N.C. Bar Association.
Howell returned to his alma mater in 2006, serving as assistant to the chancellor for external affairs, partnerships and economic development from 2023.
Currently, Howell is chief of external affairs for the UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine, where he leads “…the development and implementation of strategies shaping public policy and legislation for a health care system with 19 hospitals, more than 900 clinics, 3,000 physicians and more than 40,000 employees.”
“Kevin Howell is a leader with incredible connection- and relationship-building skills,” said Ed Weisiger, a member of the chancellor search committee and chair of the N.C. State Board of Trustees. “He is a trusted partner to those he leads and to those with whom he interacts and works. In short, Kevin simply makes organizations better and healthier by working in them. He is a great product from N.C. State who has shown his worth across time and in roles of ever-increasing responsibility. We are so pleased to have him return to N.C. State.”
One of the major challenges Howell will have to deal with is the Trump Administration’s proposed cuts to federal aid in the aftermath of the impending closure of the U.S. Dept. of Education.
N.C. State is a research institution, so federal aid and federal funding of research projects are vitally important. The White House claims that that funding will not be disrupted.
Those who know Kevin Howell personally say that he is absolutely the right choice to lead N.C. State University now, and into the future.
After Howell’s election was officially announced, Rev. Carl Kenny of Durham wrote on social media about his longtime friend, “Let me tell you what I know about Kevin Howell, the newly appointed Chancellor at N.C. State University. He’s one of the kindest, even tempered and open-minded people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. It is for those reasons and others I selected him to be the best man during my wedding in 1999. I’ve witnessed him maneuver through difficult and complex situations when we both served as counselors in the former Office of Minority Affairs at Duke University.
“If anyone is capable of navigating through this difficult political season, it is Kevin. He has the personality and class necessary to be heard without centering the need to control the moment. Anyone who thinks Kevin is a pawn to be used during this polarized season fails to fully understand the character of this amazing man.”
