In an email sent to students, faculty and staff UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip Dubois announced his retirement effective June 30, 2020.
Dubois, who has been chancellor at UNCC for nearly 15 years, called the decision "bittersweet."
He said that announcing his retirement now will give the university's board of trustees, the interim president and UNC System Board of Governors time to conduct a national search for his replacement.
“During his more than 40-year career, Chancellor Dubois has consistently earned the respect of his peers, and has become the embodiment of everything a successful leader should be,” UNC System Interim President Bill Roper said in a statement. “He is an innovative thinker and strategic planner who has steered UNC Charlotte through a period of significant growth to become the highly respected and nationally prominent institution that it now is."
Dubois first came to UNC Charlotte as a provost in 1991. During his time as chief academic leader at the university, UNC Charlotte's first doctoral program was launched. In 1997, he was named president of the University of Wyoming, and he returned to lead UNC Charlotte in 2005.
There's been a 45% growth in enrollment since then, and several major milestones were passed during his tenure. Those include several major construction and renovation projects, new campus diversity initiatives, the creation of several new degree programs, the development of a Division 1 FCS-level football program and collaborative work with the local governments on early college programs and the extension of the Lynx Blue Line light rail from uptown to the university.
UNC Charlotte has nearly 30,000 students, making it the third largest in the UNC system by enrollment.
