GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina A&T State University has announced who its next chancellor will be.
Dr. James Martin II will lead the nation's largest HBCU. He is the former engineering dean at the University of Pittsburgh.
Martin will begin his new role at NC A&T on August 15. He succeeds Harold Martin Sr., who retired after 15 years as chancellor.
Martin told WFMY News 2 that Harold Martin was a mentor to him. The two grew up in the Carolinas and have similar interests.
"We both grew up here in the South, we both went to Virginia Tech," Martin shared, " When I was a graduate student at Virginia Tech he had already graduated got his Ph.D. and he served as the chair for the advisory committee for the school of engineering."
The new chancellor has a strong background in S.T.E.M. and has led several initiatives through civil engineering.
UNC System President Peter Hans recommended James Martin II following a national search. The UNC Board of Governors elected him to the post on Friday.
“James Martin is the right leader to engineer North Carolina A&T’s continuing rise,” Hans said. “He believes in what he calls ‘impatient optimism,’ a productive sense of possibility in what can be achieved when people think across disciplines, feel a sense of shared purpose, and commit to an ambitious vision. It’s exactly the kind of mindset that will help affirm the university’s status as one of the nation’s best research institutions and engines of social mobility.”
MORE WAYS TO GET WFMY NEWS 2
Subscribe to our daily newsletter Let’s Get 2 It!
Download the WFMY News 2 APP from your Apple or Google Play store.
ADD THE WFMY+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or search for WFMY.
Amazon Fire TV: Search for WFMY to find the free app to add to your account. You can also add the app directly to your Fire TV through your Amazon account.