{"id":2993,"date":"2026-03-16T11:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/march-2026\/?p=2993"},"modified":"2026-04-08T11:05:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:05:50","slug":"kevin-howell-92-leads-nc-state-through-first-year-as-chancellor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/kevin-howell-92-leads-nc-state-through-first-year-as-chancellor\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Howell\u00a0\u201992 Leads NC State Through First Year as Chancellor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kevin Howell<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dean Emeritus Martin H. Brinkley \u201992<\/a> and Kevin Howell \u201992 have remained close since their days as classmates \u2014 in what Brinkley calls “the fabled class of 1992” \u2014 at UNC School of Law. So, when Howell was confirmed as NC State University’s 15th chancellor in March 2025, Brinkley’s statement carried the weight of decades of friendship and professional respect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There is no colleague in North Carolina for whom I have greater respect, or for that matter, greater affection,” said Brinkley. “Kevin Howell will be a brilliant chancellor. It is a joy for us at Carolina Law to contribute something back to NC State, which has sent us so many outstanding students and leaders over the decades.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly a year into Howell’s tenure, that prediction rings true. Howell’s career in public service and higher education leadership has been defined by relationship-building and strategic thinking. Now as chancellor of NC State, he puts those skills to work in leading the state’s largest university. When he assumed the role in May 2025, he became NC State’s first African American chancellor, the third NC State alumnus to lead the university, and the first non-academic chancellor since 1998. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal training that Howell and Brinkley shared at Carolina Law proved foundational to Howell’s career, though not in traditional ways. After serving as a legal clerk on the N.C. Court of Appeals, Howell could have pursued a conventional legal career. Instead, he applied the analytical rigor and coalition-building skills he learned in law school to government relations. He served as legislative liaison for two North Carolina governors and worked as director of governmental affairs for the N.C. Bar Association. These roles taught him how to navigate complex policy landscapes, translate between different stakeholders, and build consensus across competing interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those skills became even more valuable as Howell transitioned into university administration. He joined NC State in 2006 as assistant to the chancellor for external affairs, directing the university’s legislative strategy and serving as liaison to state and local government. The position required exactly the kind of relationship management and strategic thinking that his legal background had equipped him to handle. He understood how to frame university priorities in ways that resonated with policymakers, how to build coalitions across different constituencies and how to navigate the political complexities that come with leading a major public institution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howell spent the next 17 years building on that foundation. From 2018 to 2023, he served as NC State’s vice chancellor for external affairs, partnerships and economic development, managing units tasked with partnerships, economic development, the Small Business and Technology Development Center, state and local relations, and federal affairs. His work created new jobs and investments for North Carolina while strengthening the university’s local and global engagement. Between his NC State roles, he also served as senior vice president for external affairs with the University of North Carolina System, leading initiatives to elevate all 16 system universities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His most recent position before the chancellorship was chief external affairs officer at UNC Health and the UNC School of Medicine. There, he shaped policy and legislation for a sprawling system with 19 hospitals, more than 900 clinics, 3,000 physicians and more than 40,000 employees. The scope of that role, cultivating relationships with government officials and stakeholders while directing philanthropy, branding, marketing, and communications, prepared him well for the multifaceted demands of leading a major research university. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Randy Woodson announced his retirement after 15 years as NC State’s chancellor, the university launched a national search that attracted more than 75 candidates. A 13-member committee of trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni spent five months reviewing applications and conducting interviews. Howell stood out. University of North Carolina System President Peter Hans selected him, and the UNC Board of Governors confirmed the appointment on March 18, 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howell brought more than professional credentials to the role. He earned his bachelor’s\u00a0in political science from NC State in 1988 and served as student body president during his senior year. That undergraduate experience gave him insight into student life and campus culture that no external candidate could match. Combined with his years working at the university beginning in 2006, he arrived at the chancellorship already fluent in NC State’s strengths,\u00a0challenges,\u00a0and aspirations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His first months have been relentless. He has crisscrossed North Carolina visiting extension offices, celebrated major economic development victories including the multibillion-dollar\u00a0JetZero\u00a0manufacturing facility announcement in Greensboro, and made repeated trips to Washington, D.C.\u00a0to advocate for the university’s interests. NC State Magazine described him as “a man in motion,” and the label fits. He leads about\u00a039,000 students\u00a0across two campuses while managing the complex demands of a land-grant research university.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At his formal installation in October 2025, before 2,300 supporters at Reynolds Coliseum, Howell laid out priorities that balance tradition with innovation. He emphasized maintaining research funding despite uncertain fiscal climates, advancing NC State’s leadership in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and nuclear energy, and continuing the university’s agricultural legacy in supporting farmers across the state. His vision extends beyond traditional metrics of institutional success to include creating economic opportunities, supporting students whose educational achievements transform entire families and advancing faculty excellence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his career, Howell has maintained his connection to Carolina Law through service on Carolina Law\u2019s Law Foundation board. He balances that commitment with leadership roles across North Carolina’s civic and educational landscape: the executive committee of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce as former board chair, the executive committee of myFutureNC, the executive committee of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Commission on Economic and Community Engagement, and the board of directors for the North Carolina Symphony. He also serves on the advisory board for NC State’s Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howell has always understood leadership as relationship building. The skills he developed at Carolina Law, learning to analyze complex problems, build consensus and communicate across different audiences, have served him at every stage of his career. His journey from law clerk to chancellor proves that legal training opens pathways far beyond courtrooms and law firms. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kevin Howell ’92 left Carolina Law and never practiced law in a traditional sense. Nearly 30 years later, that turned out to be exactly the point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2993"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2993"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3396,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2993\/revisions\/3396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/spring-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}