Two Women University Leaders Who Have Announced They Are Stepping Down

Nancy J. Cable has announced her intention to step down from her role as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, effective December 31, 2022. To provide support for a smooth leadership transition, she will serve in an advisory capacity on an on-call basis to the interim chancellor through July 31, 2023.

In January 2023, Cable will become the executive director of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Prior to leading UNC Asheville, she held a similar role as president of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

“From the day I joined the UNC Asheville academic community in the summer of 2018, I have been inspired by our dedicated and highly talented faculty and staff, and constantly impressed by our smart, curious, and creative students and student leaders,” Dr. Cable said. “I am deeply grateful for the privilege and honor to have been a partner in advancing the energy, vitality, and quality of this extraordinary institution.”

Dr. Cable is a graduate of Marietta College in Ohio. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Vermont and a doctorate in educational history from the University of Virginia.

Gayle E. Hutchinson, president of California State University, Chico announced that she will retire at the end of the 2022-23 academic year. She has served as the university’s first woman president since July 1, 2016.

“I’ve been fortunate to have the most incredible career, working to serve students across many levels of higher education. My life remains forever changed by the work I have been able to do, the colleagues I’ve had the privilege to work with, and the countless students who have inspired and guided me in my many roles,” Dr. Hutchinson said. “Serving as this university’s president has been the greatest honor of my life, and I plan to spend my remaining tenure here with the same enthusiasm and dedication that have characterized my presidency.”

Before coming to Chico State in 2106, Dr. Hutchinson was provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Channel Islands. Earlier in her career, Dr. Hutchinson taught for 17 years in the department of kinesiology at California State University, Chico.

Dr. Hutchinson is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she majored in physical education. She earned a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University and an educational doctorate at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.