History of the Chancellorship
Beginning in 1995, the Review has written about the lives and times of the University’s chancellors, going
back to the creation of the office at UNC
in 1945 and Robert House ’ 16, the first
person to hold the office. The narrative of
those lives, and subsequent news articles
about Carolina’s top administrator, help tell
the University’s story. They can be read
online at alumni.unc.edu/chancellorship.
Previous coverage of Holden Thorp ’ 86
in the Carolina Alumni Review and at
alumni.unc.edu include:
n The Art of the Possible
He spent a lot of time as a kid hanging
from the theater rafters. Thorp didn’t know
he’d be a brilliant chemist, but he was
learning how to make science sing and
dance. Now the University has shoved him
to center stage. From January/February
2002, available at bit.ly/JanFeb02.
n Thorp to December Graduates:
Hark the Sound of the Beatles
His message: The Beatles finished 59 songs
before they made the first hit. It can take
years of hard work to become an overnight
success. Commencement address, Dec. 18,
2006, available at bit.ly/hark-2006.
n Earning His Stripes
Thorp heard many different muses on his
rapid rise to the chancellorship. Cover story,
Carolina Alumni Review,
July/August 2008, at
bit.ly/JulAug2008.
6/23/08 12: 14 PM Page c1
n A Conversation With
the Chancellor-Elect
Less than a week after he
was presented as the new
chancellor, Thorp was off
to New York and
Nashville for six days of fundraising for
the College of Arts and Sciences. Let it
suffice to say that if he weren’t good at
asking for money, and didn’t enjoy it, his
candidacy would be a distant memory.
From July/August 2008, available at
bit.ly/JulAug2008.
n The Scientific Entrepreneur
In a presentation Thorp made for a seminar
on technology transfer,
he told his audience,
“You do not merely want
to be considered just the
best of the best. You want
to be considered the only
ones that do what you
do.” It was a quote from
Jerry Garcia, late of the
Grateful Dead. From
July/August 2008, avail-
able at bit.ly/JulAug2008.
July/August2008 CAROLINA LUMNI REVIEW Higher Education Improvisation /Fiction: ‘Losing Grace’
Holden
Thorp
Gets
Cracking
Arts or sciences,
the new chancellor
is right at home.
Paul A. Godley, MD, Ph D, Medical Oncology
N.C. Cancer Hospital
Karla Werner, Cancer Survivor
The state-of-the-art N.C. Cancer Hospital, clinical home of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, is now open in
Chapel Hill, N.C. Built on three decades of excellence in patient care and groundbreaking cancer research at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and supported by a team of world-class physicians, leading-edge technology, comprehensive
patient support and innovative clinical trials, the N.C. Cancer Hospital offers new hope and possibilities for those facing cancer.
THE NC CANCER HOSPITAL
