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Chemistry Professor to Become Faculty Chair

Joe Templeton, Venable professor of chemistry and a 30-year veteran of the UNC faculty, will begin a three-year term as chair of the faculty on July 1.

Elected by faculty members, Templeton succeeds Judith Wegner, who had served as faculty chair since 2003.

The chair’s main responsibilities include overseeing sessions of the Faculty Council and representing the faculty to administrators and the public. The council determines educational policies, recommends honorary degrees and special awards and advises the chancellor.

“The Faculty Council is the centerpiece of faculty governance,” Templeton said. “It’s basically the forum through which the faculty voice is heard.”

Templeton recently served on the faculty executive committee. He also was chair of this year’s summer reading selection committee, which chose Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake for incoming first-year and transfer students to read.

Templeton faced one opponent in the election, Steve Bachenheimer, an associate professor of microbiology. Ballots were issued to 3,062 members of the voting faculty, and 676 votes were cast.

While acknowledging that the routine duties will require most of his attention, Templeton said he would like to do more as chair. “I hope to create a vision,” he said. “I hope to promote discussion and recognize the priorities of the faculty, and pursue those.”


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