NC State Installs Kevin Howell as Chancellor

North Carolina State University formally installed Kevin Howell as its 15th chancellor today in an event at venerable Reynolds Coliseum. He leads the largest university in North Carolina, with more than 39,000 students.

Howell described his vision for the university’s future at the event, which also included remarks from N.C. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, N.C. Rep Dean Arp, UNC System President Peter Hans, UNC System Board of Governors Chair Wendy Murphy, NC State Board of Trustees Chair Ed Stack and NC State Student Body President Isaac Carreno. A crowd of about 2,300 supporters, faculty, staff, students and alumni attended the event, which was also livestreamed.

Howell previously served as chief of external affairs for UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine. In his role, he developed and implemented strategies shaping public policy and legislation for a health care system with 20 hospitals and 56,000 teammates.

Howell has a long record of service to North Carolina, the UNC System and NC State. Prior to his time with UNC Health, Howell was NC State’s vice chancellor for external affairs, partnerships and economic development from 2018 to 2023, and was assistant to the chancellor for external affairs from 2006 to 2016. He was also senior vice president for external affairs with the University of North Carolina System.

His work in building and managing relationships and economic partnerships has enhanced both local and global engagement and created new jobs and investments for the state of North Carolina.

The largely ceremonial event showcased various university regalia and pomp, including two of NC State’s historical artifacts – the University Mace and the University Medallion – which were on display. Howell received the medallion after taking the oath of office from N.C. Chief Justice Paul Newby.

A native of Shelby, N.C., Howell received his bachelor’s degree in political science from NC State and served as student body president during his senior year. He earned his law degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and later served as a legal clerk on the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Returning to his alma mater, Howell takes the helm of a forward-looking land-grant university leading the nation in biotechnology, nanotechnology, proteomics, nonwoven textiles and other fields of study – such as food safety, biomedical research and artificial intelligence – that affect the health and livelihoods of people across the globe.

For more information about the installation or its related events, visit http://ncsu.edu/installation/.

-kulikowski-