UNC Asheville installs its ninth chancellor, Kimberly van Noort, Ph.D.

UNC Asheville celebrated the formal installation of Kimberly van Noort as its ninth chancellor in a special ceremony on Friday, April 25. The installation event highlighted van Noort’s leadership and vision for the University’s future, as well as her dedication to student success, affordability, and innovation in higher education. 

Roger Aiken, chair of the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees, noted that this ceremony falls shortly before the University’s centennial, which will be in 2027.

“What began in 1927 as Buncombe County Junior College has grown, adapted, and changed. It continues to evolve as society changes ever faster,” Aiken said. “And it is you, Chancellor van Noort, who will see us through the end of our first one hundred years and into the beginning of our next one hundred.”

Since assuming her leadership role, van Noort has focused on aligning the University’s mission with long-term success. Under her leadership, UNC Asheville has implemented a student-centered enrollment model — resulting in the largest incoming first-year class in four years — and launched the Access Asheville financial aid program, which guarantees full tuition and fees for qualifying students from North Carolina and neighboring states.

In his remarks, UNC System President Peter Hans spoke about the democratizing instinct of UNC Asheville to make higher education opportunities available to all. 

“It gives me great pride as a North Carolinian and as a son of the mountains to know that our home state had the foresight and the confidence to create this place — a public liberal arts college, a school uniquely committed to making new opportunities available to all,” Hans said. “Asheville deserves a public university every bit as vibrant, appealing, and wonderfully unique as this region. I know that’s a vision all of us share, a vision that unites this community and strengthens this great university.”

Looking to the future, van Noort is leading the Asheville 2030 visioning plan, which aims to establish UNC Asheville as a model for innovative public liberal arts and sciences education. The plan targets a sustainable enrollment of 3,800-4,000 students by 2030, emphasizing a student-centered, technology-focused, and future-facing model for an innovative, creative university grounded in the best of the liberal arts tradition. 

“This is driven by one principle — preparing our students to thrive in today’s and tomorrow’s environment,” said van Noort. “We must cleave to our core values of educating, creating knowledge, collaborating with our many communities, and above all creating a space in which all ideas can be openly and freely discussed. And we must make sure that we can do that by ensuring the sustainability of our institution.”

Bringing over three decades of experience in higher education to her role as chancellor, van Noort previously served as interim provost and interim chancellor. Before joining UNC Asheville, she served as senior vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer for the University of North Carolina System. She previously held leadership positions at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she was a tenured faculty member in the Department of Modern Languages.

David Crabtree, CEO of PBS North Carolina, gave the installation address during the ceremony and spoke about how van Noort’s formative experiences attending a one-room school in Nebraska set her on the path of education.

“All the students, grades 1-6 learning together, gave Kim the insight to listen first, then learn. To absorb information, then give it back,” Crabtree said. “Kimberly van Noort is a scholar, an educator, and a builder of bridges. She is deeply devoted to public higher education — not just as an idea, but as a calling.”

Following his remarks, van Noort swore an oath to fulfill the responsibilities of UNC Asheville’s ninth chancellor and received the chancellor’s medallion.

The installation ceremony was followed by a barbecue picnic in Highsmith Student Union, and around the Quad, visitors could see a display of the wide array of undergraduate research at the University. From an animatronics display from STEAM Studio, to a showing of documentaries by mass communication students, to a demonstration of MOOG synthesizers by music students, the Academic Showcase represented the best of all that UNC Asheville has to offer.