news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Pat Sullivan never overlooked the little things as she focused on transforming UNCG into a major university.

She called students by name as she met them on campus walks. She pointed out loose bricks to maintenance crews. She came into work early to handwrite dozens of thank you notes to those who helped her each day.

So when news spread Thursday of her early-morning death from pancreatic cancer at age 69, tributes poured in celebrating not just her achievements as chancellor but as a community leader and friend.

“Pat Sullivan was without question one of the finest people I have ever known,” UNC President Erskine Bowles said. “And it was a rare privilege to work alongside and learn from her. Pat loved UNC-Greensboro to her very core. She left an indelible mark on the campus, and she treated each of its students as her very own.”

Sullivan was the university’s ninth chief executive and its first female leader. She served for nearly 14 years, coming from Texas Woman’s University in 1995 and leading UNCG’s explosive growth in both size and stature until her retirement in 2008.

Her accomplishments in that time are abundant.

UNCG’s enrollment grew 36 percent to just over 17,000 in 2007. The university added 10 new doctoral programs, led a $115 million capital campaign and saw more than $500 million in renovations and construction.

Not that she ever would have taken the credit.

“Whenever someone gave her a compliment, when they said she’d done something great, she would tell them that the credit really belonged to her team,” said Sharlene O’Neil, who served as Sullivan’s executive assistant and chief of staff.

Gov. Bev Perdue called Sullivan “both a friend and a force for higher education — tireless in her efforts to increase financial aid and access to the university system.”

“Even as we mourn the loss of Pat, we know her legacy will live on through the campus she transformed and the students she touched,” Perdue said.

Sullivan was succeeded by current Chancellor Linda Brady, who said her predecessor’s legacy is enormous.

“Pat really moved UNCG from being a truly excellent undergraduate institution to a university now designated by the Carnegie Foundation as a research institution,” Brady said. “And that’s no small thing because it involves changing the culture. How do you do that without losing the emphasis on undergraduate education? But she did it.”

Under Sullivan, UNCG helped launch the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering and Gateway Research Park with N.C. A&T and the Guilford Genomic Medicine Initiative. After she announced her retirement, the university named a new science building and a science professorship for Sullivan, who was herself a former science professor.

But Brady said Sullivan’s dedication to science and research did not come at the expense of the arts.

“She was a very strong supporter of the school of music — the beautiful school of music building was built during her tenure as chancellor,” Brady said. “She was also a very strong supporter of the Weatherspoon Art Museum, which is not just a great resource for the university but for all of Greensboro.”

Much of the face of UNCG changed radically under Sullivan’s tenure. She oversaw more than half a billion dollars in construction from the renovation of the school’s historic Aycock Auditorium to the renovation of the outdated Elliot University Center into a modern, thriving center of campus activity.

Sullivan was also a driving force behind making the campus more pedestrian friendly, closing College Avenue to traffic and lining it with trees and benches.

“She told me that when she first came here as chancellor she walked through the campus with the facilities people, pointing out every loose brick,” Brady said. “She took great pride in how beautiful the campus is.”

O’Neil said Sullivan was a dedicated, hands-on chancellor whom staff members remember for her grace and willingness to share credit with those with whom she worked.

“And it wasn’t just in private,” O’Neil said.

“She would come in early in the morning and use the quiet time to sit down and write thank you letters,” O’Neil said. “The first board of trustees meeting that I handled, I stayed back to clean up and get everything settled. By the time I got back to my desk, there was already a thank you letter waiting for me there.”

Popular with the staff and faculty, her status as the longest serving chancellor in the UNC system at the time of her retirement also made her someone to whom other leaders looked for advice.

A&T Chancellor Harold Martin said during his time at UNC General Administration, they would always call Sullivan for her perspective.

“She was the elder statesman who had the respect of the other chancellors and the Board of Governors,” Martin said. “She was always very thoughtful, very objective in the advice she gave to the president.”

Guilford College President Kent Chabotar said he was amazed at how many students Sullivan could call out by name as he walked with her on UNCG’s campus.

“The ability to make that large a university feel personal is amazing,” Chabotar said. “I find it hard enough with just 2,700 students.”

Chabotar first met Sullivan as a student in the Harvard seminar for new college presidents he teaches each summer. When he took the helm at Guilford College in 2003, Sullivan came to his home with other area presidents and chancellors to welcome him.

She became a great partner as UNCG and Guilford worked together to create a joint accelerated MBA program, Chabotar said.

“I was just stunned by the news,” Chabotar said. “I think it’s a loss to higher education that she’s passed away — her insight in terms of organizational change, her dedication to students and families, her vision which is evident at UNCG.

“If you want to see Pat Sullivan’s memorial, go down and look around UNCG,” Chabotar said. “The buildings that are there, the students who are there because she brought them, the faculty and staff who have been so productive.

“That’s really her memorial.”

News & Record reporter Brian Ewing contributed to this story.

 Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com