news-record.com

CHAPEL HILL — In announcing his retirement Friday, UNC system President Erskine Bowles admitted he can be a hard man to work for.

“Five years really is enough of Erskine Bowles for most organizations,” he said.

But one friend and colleague, N.C. A&T Chancellor Harold Martin, put it another way.

“Some may have considered him to be overbearing and demanding,” Martin said.  “I found his passion for his work and the citizens of North Carolina to be inspiring, quite frankly.”

Bowles announced his retirement during the UNC Board of Governors meeting Friday, but said he would stay on until a successor is in place.

Hannah Gage, chairwoman of the Board of Governors, said a committee will be formed within the next few weeks to start the search for a new president.

“I am confident that this board and this great university are ready and equipped for this transition,” Bowles said.

A Greensboro native, Bowles is a former Charlotte investment banker who was White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton. He took over as system president in January 2006.

Since taking the helm of the 16-campus system, Bowles has focused on making its institutions accessible and affordable, as evidenced in his lobbying for a lower tuition increase next academic year.

Another of Bowles’ legacies will be his work to align the UNC system with the needs of the state through his UNC Tomorrow initiative, Martin said.

With UNC Tomorrow, Bowles set out to uncover the challenges the state faced and how the UNC system could help tackle them. 

Bowles also clearly articulated the importance of improved accountability and efficiency, Martin said.

Bowles hired Martin as A&T’s chancellor last year. Martin previously worked as Bowles’ chief academic officer.

Bowles has been a passionate advocate for the university system, Martin said, and that made working with him both challenging and exciting.

“I found Erskine Bowles to be one of the hardest-working administrators and leaders I’ve ever had the pleasure of working for and working with,” said Martin, who said he considers Bowles a friend first.

Bowles said he feels good about where the university system stands today. But he said he didn’t inherit a system he had to fix, just one that he made a little better.

He credited the leadership of predecessors such as Molly Broad, C.D. Spangler Jr. and William Friday for that.

Bowles said he plans to return to Charlotte, where he will spend more time with his seven grandchildren and take on some assignments in the business world. He didn’t elaborate on what those assignments might be.

He also said he’s open to working with elected officials on nonpartisan issues. But when asked whether he would seek another elected office himself, Bowles gave an emphatic “no.” He ran two unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate.

“I was a terrible politician,” he said.

Bowles’ announcement came as no surprise to board members.

Gage said there had been speculation recently that he would retire, so much so that Bowles wanted to get the announcement out of the way so it wouldn’t distract from what he and the board are trying to accomplish.

“As long as people were speculating, he couldn’t really buckle down,” Gage said.

When asked what kind of leader the UNC system would be searching for, Gage said one with his or her own vision but who could also follow the path the system is on.

“In a perfect world, you’d clone Erskine,” she said. “But it’s not a perfect world.”

Until a new president is found, Bowles said he’ll continue the work he’s started.

“I’m not going to retire on the job. I’m going to work on the job,” he said.


Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com