Who is Kevin Guskiewicz? Here’s what to know about the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz could soon leave the university to become the president of Michigan State University.

Following a report that he is the sole finalist for that position, Guskiewicz said he is “weighing” the opportunity.

Guskiewicz has been at UNC for almost 30 years, rising through the ranks from professor, to dean of the university’s largest academic unit, to becoming chancellor four years ago.

Here’s more information about Guskiewicz, his research and his time in Chapel Hill.

Kevin Guskiewicz’s education, career

Guskiewicz, a native of Pennsylvania, received his bachelor’s degree in athletic training from West Chester University in 1989. He also holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology and athletic training from the University of Pittsburgh. He earned his doctoral degree in sports medicine from the University of Virginia in 1995.

His research and expertise is in sports-related concussions, and his work is credited with influencing concussion protocol and guidelines across collegiate athletics and professional football.

Guskiewicz joined the faculty at UNC in 1995 as an assistant professor in the exercise and sport science department. He became the chair of that department in 2005.

In 2009, he became the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Exercise and Sport Science, a position he still holds as chancellor. He is the founding director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at UNC.

Guskiewicz earned a MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as a “genius grant,” in 2011 “for his innovative work on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of sport-related concussions,” per a university biography of him. TIME Magazine in 2013 named him a Game Changer, one of 18 “innovators and problem-solvers that are inspiring change in America.”

Also in 2013, Guskiewicz became a senior associate dean in the College of Arts & Sciences. He held that position for three years until he became the dean of the college in 2016.

Kevin Guskiewicz as chancellor

Guskiewicz was named interim chancellor at UNC in February 2019, following the resignation — and earlier-than-expected departure — of then-Chancellor Carol Folt.

Folt, upon announcing she would resign, ordered the removal of Silent Sam, the Confederate monument that stood on campus for more than a century and had been the subject of on-campus protests. Guskiewicz inherited the controversy over the monument, which continued to be a point of contention throughout much of his early time as chancellor.

Guskiewicz served in the chancellor role on an interim basis for almost a full year before he was officially named the university’s 12th chancellor in December 2019. The UNC System Board of Governors unanimously approved him for the job.

“I love this university and the opportunity to lead it is a profound honor,” Guskiewicz said upon the announcement. “There is no institution in the world that is more capable of changing our future than our nation’s first university.”

Concerns over leadership

Guskiewicz has been met with concerns over his leadership at various points during his time as chancellor.

In February 2021, a group of professors in the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors called for his resignation over the university’s handling of the Silent Sam ordeal, which included a closed-door deal to settle with the Sons of Confederate Veterans over the issue for $2.5 million. Guskiewicz has maintained that he did not approve that deal “but was “aware discussions were occurring through the UNC System.”

Two years ago, concerns rose among some faculty that Guskiewicz might be removed from the chancellorship, in part because he supported the hiring of journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones as a faculty member and expressed disappointment when she wasn’t initially offered tenure by the university’s Board of Trustees, The N&O reported. Hannah-Jones later declined the offer to teach at UNC, and the university settled with her over the issue.

UNC System President Peter Hans told reporters after a Board of Governors meeting Thursday that he felt Guskiewicz “has done a good job of leading Carolina through some of the most challenging times in its recent history.”

How much money does Kevin Guskiewicz make?

The chancellor’s salary was set at $620,000 when he started, according to a term sheet provided by university officials after he was permanently hired.

His current salary is listed in a UNC System database as $657,743.