UNC Asheville has a new chancellor, the university’s ninth. Here’s who it will be.

Kimberly van Noort, who has been serving as interim chancellor at UNC Asheville since January, will be the ninth permanent chancellor of the university.

The UNC System Board of Governors approved system President Peter Hans’ nomination of van Noort in a meeting Wednesday.

“She is the right leader at the right time for this exceptional institution,” Hans said, noting a list of accomplishments she has already achieved at the university, including increases in enrollment and student retention.

She will officially begin her role as chancellor Jan. 1. She will earn a base salary of $300,000.

Prior to stepping into the interim chancellor role, van Noort served in senior leadership roles for the UNC System, including as senior vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer. She also previously served as interim provost at UNC Asheville.

Prior to coming to North Carolina in 2016, she spent more than 20 years at the University of Texas at Arlington, working as a professor before rising through the ranks as an associate dean and the university’s associate vice provost.

UNC Asheville, a liberal arts and sciences university of about 2,900 students located in the North Carolina mountains, was the first university campus she visited in North Carolina, van Noort said in a news release from the UNC System.

“I remember vividly how it struck me as a very special place with incredible potential,” she said. “Seven years later, after serving first as interim provost and now interim chancellor since the start of the new year, I can easily report that my first impression has been confirmed ten-fold.”

The national chancellor search attracted more than 130 applicants and resulted in three finalists recommended by a 13-member search advisory committee and the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees. UNC System policy keeps the identity of chancellor search finalists who are not selected confidential.

“The UNC Asheville Board of Trustees has been very impressed with what Dr. van Noort has been able to accomplish in a very short period of time in her interim role, and we have every confidence that she will position the university for continued success and growth in the years to come,” Board of Trustees Chair Roger Aiken said in a news release. “We are equally impressed with the strong senior leadership team in place, which will provide key support to fulfill her vision for the university’s future.”

A scholar of French literature, van Noort holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska and a doctorate from Boston University.

Van Noort succeeds Nancy Cable, who stepped down as chancellor last year to become the executive director of the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust in Chapel Hill. Cable had served in the role since 2018.