The UNC Board of Governors unanimously approved President Erskine Bowles’ recommendation to name Dr. Kyle R. Carter as UNC Pembroke’s fifth chancellor.

Carter is 62 and an Atlanta native. He is the provost and senior vice chancellor for Western Carolina University (WCU), a post he has held since 2004. His tenure in Pembroke will begin July 1.

Carter was hailed by Bowles as a “strong, effective and experienced leader for UNC Pembroke.”

In Carter, UNCP is getting a 35-year veteran of higher education. He has experience in North Carolina, the UNC system and with regional universities that are set in rural communities.

After earning a doctorate from the University of Georgia in educational psychology, Carter began his career on the faculty of Valdosta State College. In 22 years at Northern Colorado University, he earned faculty tenure, the rank of full professor, and ended his career there as associate vice president for research and graduate studies and dean of the graduate school.

Before coming to North Carolina as Western Carolina’s first provost, he served the University of Central Missouri as provost and vice president for academic affairs.

“He is a dynamic leader with a searing vision for UNCP,” said Dr. Freda Porter, chairman of both the search committee and the board of trustees.

In recommending Carter to the Board of Governors, Bowles said: “Kyle Carter brings to the task more than three decades of academic and leadership experience at respected public universities, including one of our own UNC institutions. At each step along the way, he has proven himself to be an engaged and effective leader who promotes collaboration and strategic thinking, academic excellence and student success. He has also earned a reputation for great integrity, sound judgment and an unwavering commitment to community engagement and outreach.”

“I am absolutely thrilled by this appointment,” said Carter. “I pledge to you that your decision will be rewarded. I was drawn to Pembroke initially by the search committee, which made Pembroke’s story a compelling one. UNC Pembroke is an institution with a rich history. For more than 123 years, the university has served a very diverse citizenry.

“I will invite the entire Pembroke community to help chart the future course of the university. I pledge to honor and preserve the core values of the past.”

Carter and his wife, Sarah, who is a former elementary school teacher, have two children.

Travis is at the University of Chicago doing post doctoral work after earning a doctorate in social psychology from Cornell University. Heather works for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and is working on a doctorate in nutrition at the University of Georgia.