Message from campus leaders on dean of the College of Arts & Sciences
Terry Rhodes, who has served as interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences since February 2019, has been named dean. She will oversee the largest academic unit at Carolina with more than 17,000 undergraduate students and nearly 2,500 graduate students.
Dear Carolina Community,
We are pleased to announce Terry Rhodes as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, effective March 1.
As dean of the College, she will oversee the largest academic unit at Carolina with more than 17,000 undergraduate students, nearly 2,500 graduate students, and more than 70 academic departments, curricula, programs, centers and institutes.
Terry has served as interim dean of the College since February 2019. During that time, she has introduced key initiatives to increase the dialogue around important issues including:
- Reckoning: Race, Memory and Reimagining the Public University, a shared learning experience in fall 2019 that supported student inquiry and dialogue on issues of heritage, race, post-conflict legacies, politics of remembrance and contemporary projects of reconciliation.
- Countering Hate: Overcoming Fear of Differences, a collection of programming and courses that enable the University community to explore the phenomena of antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of intolerance and prejudice.
- Southern Futures, an initiative designed to make Carolina the place to which the nation and world turn to understand and imagine the South’s future. It involves collaborations across campus, creating an international nexus for conversation and sparking creativity and innovation in Southern communities.
- UNC Program for Public Discourse, an effort to build the University’s capacity for civil debate, dialogue, discussion and conversation — in a uniquely Carolina way.
She has also supported the implementation of IDEAs in Action, the new general education curriculum for the University. It goes into effect in fall 2021 but core concepts are being pilot-tested now.
During Terry’s tenure as interim dean, the College raised more than $122 million toward For All Kind: The Campaign for Carolina, including a $25 million bequest for graduate student support, a $5 million bequest to endow the producing artistic director position at PlayMakers Repertory Company and a $3.2 million gift to support student learning opportunities through Honors Carolina.
Terry’s longstanding leadership has been instrumental in creating a strengthened sense of community, enhanced student experience and expanded academic offerings in the College. Her appointment allows us to continue our momentum, including the implementation of the new curriculum and fundraising for the campaign.
She is the first faculty member from the fine arts to be named dean of the College since it took its modern-day name in 1935. Prior to being named interim dean, Terry served for seven years as senior associate dean for fine arts and humanities in the College.
A Carolina alumna and proud Carolina parent, Terry joined the faculty in 1987 and has served the University in a variety of roles, including as a member of the voice faculty, UNC Opera Director, chair of the music department and faculty marshal.
She earned her bachelor of music from Carolina in 1978 and her doctor of musical arts and master of music from Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in New York. She was a Fulbright artist-in-residence/lecturer at the Conservatory of Music in Skopje, Macedonia, in 1993, teaching and performing throughout the Balkans and Eastern Europe. For the past 15 years, she has returned regularly to Spoleto, Italy, to instruct and perform. She has an excellent reputation as a performer of new works, having presented numerous premieres at home and abroad. She has performed across the United States and in more than 20 countries throughout Europe and Central and South America.
Please join us in congratulating Terry on this appointment. We are confident that she is well-positioned to continue the College’s trajectory of excellence.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Guskiewicz
Chancellor
Robert A. Blouin
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
