Martin Named North Carolina A&T Chancellor

Dr. James Martin II has been elected chancellor of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

Dr. James Martin II“Our students, faculty, staff and alumni are on an incredible ascent, having accomplished so much in recent years,” said Martin, who succeeds retiring Dr. Harold Martin Sr., effective Aug. 15. “I look forward to joining them on that journey and ensuring that we continue to build on A&T’s exceptional momentum as we set ambitious new sights for the months and years ahead.”

Martin serves as vice chancellor of STEM Innovation and Research at the University of Pittsburgh. He served four years as the U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering in Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering.

Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at The Citadel and a master’s and doctorate in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. He has decades of experience as an engineering professor, institute director, dean and leader of science initiatives at institutions such as Clemson University and Virginia Tech.

“James Martin is the right leader to engineer North Carolina A&T’s continuing rise,” said UNC System President Peter Hans. “He believes in what he calls ‘impatient optimism,’ a productive sense of possibility in what can be achieved when people think across disciplines, feel a sense of shared purpose, and commit to an ambitious vision. It’s exactly the kind of mindset that will help affirm the university’s status as one of the nation’s best research institutions and engines of social mobility.”