Alumna Named Interim Vice Chancellor for Advancement
Posted on Sept. 19, 2012Chancellor Holden Thorp ’86 has named Julia Sprunt Grumbles ’75, former corporate vice president of Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta, as UNC’s interim vice chancellor for advancement.
“Julia Sprunt Grumbles is a devoted, engaged alumna who has made important contributions to the University’s fundraising efforts,” Thorp said. “She was a member of UNC’s Carolina First Steering Committee and helped co-found the Carolina Women’s Leadership Council. I am grateful to Julia for accepting this appointment. I have every confidence that she will provide outstanding leadership, guidance and support to an already talented and successful development staff.”
As interim vice chancellor, Grumbles will oversee the central development office staff, which works with development offices across campus that support schools and units.
At Carolina, Grumbles co-chaired the Women’s Leadership Council established in the Carolina First Campaign. It is now a 320-member network. Of the $2.384 billion raised in Carolina First Campaign, women gave more than $470 million.
She also serves on Thorp’s Innovation Circle, which developed the roadmap for “Innovate@Carolina: Important Ideas for a Better World,” has taught in the University’s minor for entrepreneurship program for five years, chairs the Institute for the Arts and Humanities advisory board and is a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center board of visitors. She is a native of Memphis, Tenn., and graduated from Carolina with a degree in history.
Before moving to Chapel Hill in 2006, Grumbles was the senior ranking woman at Turner Broadcasting, heading corporate marketing, public relations, internal and external relations, human resources, media planning and buying, corporate philanthropy, and retail and image management. She also was the first woman to serve on Turner Broadcasting’s executive committee. Prior to her corporate position at TBS, she was vice president of marketing for TBS Superstation; before that, she was senior vice president of Turner Cable Network Sales.
Grumbles received the National Cable Television Association’s Vanguard Award for Marketing, one of the cable industry’s most prestigious honors. She was named Woman of the Year by the Atlanta Chapter of Women in Cable and Television and received the same honor from the group’s national organization.
Grumbles currently serves on the executive committee of Atlanta Landmarks Inc. (the Fox Theatre) and is president of the Highlands Biological Foundation. She was president of Georgia’s International Women’s Forum, a member of the board of trustees for the Atlanta Girls School and was on the advisory board of The Trust for Public Land. She also has been a member of the board of directors for the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and N.C. Outward Bound.
Alumni and friends stepped up their private giving in fiscal 2012 for the University’s second-best fundraising year ever, with $287 million in gifts — up 4 percent — at a time when the economy was still struggling. New commitments jumped 8 percent to $331.4 million, and the number of donors rose to 78,000, which is 1,000 more than last year.
Thorp, who announced this week he would step down as chancellor next year, said a search for a permanent vice chancellor for advancement would begin after his successor is in place.
More online…
- Trustees Unanimously Appeals to Thorp to Reconsider
News report from September 2012 - Faculty, Others on Campus Hope Thorp Will Reconsider
News report from September 2012 - Student Reaction: Mix of Sadness, Confusion
News report from September 2012 - Thorp to Step Down as Chancellor in June 2013
News report from September 2012 - Kupec Resigns Over Travel Expense Questions
News report from September 2012 - Thorp Says Martin Has Freedom to Decide What Needs to be Done
News reports from August 2012 - UNC Plans Wide-Ranging Review of Academics-Athletics Relationship
News report from August 2012 - Faculty Committee: Should UNC Athletes Be Academically Separate?
News report from July 2012
