UNC-Chapel Hill’s provost is stepping down to rejoin the faculty in pharmacy school

Kate Murphy
·2 min read
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UNC-Chapel Hill executive vice chancellor and provost — who led the university’s academic and strategic planning, particularly throughout the coronavirus pandemic — is stepping down from his position this year.

After four years as provost, Bob Blouin will resume his work as the Vaughn and Nancy Bryson Distinguished Professor in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, the university announced Tuesday.

Blouin worked to make administrative operations more efficient and to implement and improve campus-wide digital learning. That proved to be essential when the university switched to online classes last spring and fall.

Blouin also oversaw UNC-CH’s data science initiative that will prepare future graduates of the School of Data Science and Society to discover and work with new technologies at companies like Apple in the Triangle.

In a campus message, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said Blouin is routinely the first person in the South Building for work in the morning and the last one to leave each day.

“Bob has been a stalwart leader throughout the pandemic, overseeing key changes that have enabled us to continue our educational mission despite extraordinary challenges,” Guskiewicz said.

A sign at the Old Well at UNC-Chapel Hill encourages wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic in the first week of August. .
A sign at the Old Well at UNC-Chapel Hill encourages wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic in the first week of August. .

Blouin worked with faculty, student leaders and public health experts across the campus to build the university’s operations plan during COVID-19. He led efforts for UNC-CH to create a more robust COVID-19 testing program, secure more quarantine and isolation space and develop the community standards that students and employees would follow to keep campus running.

Before serving as provost, Blouin was the dean of the pharmacy school for nearly 14 years. During his tenure, Blouin led the school to international recognition for pharmacy practice, education and research and a No. 1 ranking by U.S. News & World Report. The school’s faculty also grew its research portfolio from $2 million in 2002 to $36 million in 2016 under his leadership, according to UNC-CH.

Blouin will return to the pharmacy school as a professor once the university names a new executive vice chancellor and provost. UNC-CH will begin a nationwide search in May and expects to name Blouin’s successor by late fall.