Dr. Anne Ponder became the sixth Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Asheville in October 2005.

A native of Asheville and a lifelong educator, Chancellor Ponder came to UNC Asheville from Colby-Sawyer College, a private liberal arts college in New London, N.H., where she served as president for ten years. There she led a campuswide collaboration resulting in an award-winning strategic plan and new liberal education curriculum, expanded the college’s relationship with the local community, and successfully completed a $40-million capital campaign. She is a nationally known expert on institutional effectiveness, strategic planning, and fundraising and resource development, and has been a frequent faculty member of Harvard University’s Institutes for Higher Education.

Chancellor Ponder attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in English. She began her academic career at Elon College (now Elon University) in North Carolina in 1977, where she was the first woman and first pre-tenure professor to receive the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching. During her nine years at Elon, she taught English and communications and founded the college’s Honors Program.

In 1986 she joined Guilford College in North Carolina, where she was an associate professor of English and interdisciplinary studies and served as associate academic dean. She was recruited to Kenyon College in Ohio in 1989 and served as professor of English and drama, academic dean, and vice president for information technology before being named to the presidency at Colby-Sawyer College.

Now back in her home town, Chancellor Ponder is a member of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center Board of Directors, Mission Hospitals' Audit Committee, and the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County Board of Directors. She also serves as a member of the Asheville Community and Economic Development Alliance. She is a past president of the North Carolina Honors Association and the National Collegiate Honors Council, and has served on the Advisory Council of the Appalachian College Association.  

Chancellor Ponder is the daughter of Eleanor Ponder, and the late Herschel Ponder, both of whom trace their Asheville family roots back to the 1780s. She is married to Christopher Brookhouse, an award-winning writer and publisher previously on the English faculty at UNC Chapel Hill.