After a nationwide search attracted more than 130 applicants and nominees from 28 states and the District of Columbia, Kimberly van Noort has been named the ninth chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
The University of North Carolina at Asheville enrolls just under 3,000 students, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Education data. Women make up 58 percent of the student body.
Dr. Van Noort has served as interim chancellor of UNC Asheville since January 1. She served as senior vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer at the UNC System Office since October 2018 and as vice president for academic programs, faculty, and research from 2016 to 2018. Prior to her time at the UNC System Office, Dr. van Noort held a number of increasingly responsible appointments at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she began her career in 1995 as an assistant professor of French and earned tenure in 2002.
A scholar of French literature with extensive administrative experience, Dr. van Noort said, “I am thrilled, honored, humbled, and excited” when reacting to her appointment. “UNC Asheville was my very first campus visit after arriving at the UNC System Office in 2016 and I remember vividly how it struck me as a very special place with incredible potential. Seven years later, after serving first as interim provost and now interim chancellor since the start of the new year, I can easily report that my first impression has been confirmed ten-fold.”
A native of Nebraska, where she first attended a one-room schoolhouse in the small farming community of Overton, Dr. van Noort earned her undergraduate and master’s degree in French at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds a Ph.D. in French literature from Boston University.