Broad Will Retire, Join Carolina Faculty

Posted on April 14, 2005

Molly Broad has announced her decision to leave her post as president of the UNC System at the end of the 2005-06 academic year. But she won’t be leaving Chapel Hill.

Broad, 64, has served as the head of the 16-campus system since 1997. In a letter she wrote to UNC System Board of Governors Chair Brad Wilson on April 6, Broad detailed her decision to retire.

“In the belief that the University is now well-positioned and prepared for change, I am sharing my plans well in advance to provide ample time for the Board of Governors to launch a search and bring a successor into office,” Broad wrote in the letter. “The University of North Carolina is in a strong, healthy condition, and I am confident that it is well-positioned for this coming transition.”

Broad’s retirement won’t carry her away from Chapel Hill. Though no official announcement has been made, Broad is expected to assume a position on the faculty of Carolina’s School of Government.

“She will join us after she retires,” said Thomas Thornburg, senior associate dean with the School of Government. “We have not been in contact with her since her retirement announcement. But there was an announcement last year that when she left her job, there would be a position available here for her.”

Thornburg said he thinks Broad will take a year as research leave between the time she retires and when she joins the school’s faculty.

Last year, Carolina’s Board of Trustees approved a five-year teaching term for Broad at the School of Government as a “professor of the practice,” indicating a nontenured professional who teaches from career expertise. The action formalized an oral promise made when she accepted the presidency of the system, and it will allow her to earn 60 percent of her current $312,000 salary, or about $187,200. The money will come from the UNC System. After five years, the UNC System will continue to pay half of the salary for the professorship, regardless of whether Broad continues to teach.

During a news conference in April, Broad said she finds the possibility of a teaching position exciting.

“The prospect of going to a professorship is one I greet with great enthusiasm,” she said.

In her letter to Wilson, Broad said she still has a lot to accomplish before she leaves office.

“My work here is far from finished, and we have much important University work to accomplish together in the months ahead,” she wrote. One of her priorities will be “ensuring that the $2.5 billion UNC Bond Program enters the homestretch positioned for a strong finish.”

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