Former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt has been chosen as USC's new president, the first woman to be elected to the position. The school's board of trustees voted unanimously to approve Folt's presidency on Wednesday. Folt will replace Interim President Wanda Austin as the university's leader in July.
Folt announced her resignation from UNC Chapel Hill in January after six years in the role. Her announcement highlighted her $2.25 billion dollar fundraising effort and $500 million raised in scholarships and aid. In her initial statement, Folt said she would resign in May 2019, at the end of the school year. But UNC's Board of Governors voted to move her resignation up to Jan. 31, according to NBC. The current UNC interim chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz took the job on Feb. 6.
In her resignation announcement, Folt cited her desire to take on a more challenging role as her reason for leaving.
"I have always been driven by the 'new and the next,' working with people to take on challenges, solve problems, create frameworks for success, and act to achieve them," she wrote.
Folt will take over USC's presidency during a time of turmoil for the university. Most recently, USC has been embroiled in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions bribery scandal. Early this semester, USC's former men's sexual health doctor Dennis Kelly was accused of sexual harassment and sexual battery. USC's former gynecologist George Tyndall is currently being investigated by the LAPD in its largest-ever sex abuse probe with a single suspect.
In an email to the university on Monday, Rick Caruso, chair of the board of trustees, said that he is excited about the change Folt will bring to USC.
"Under the enterprising and accomplished leadership of Dr. Folt, USC is set to embark on an exciting, upward, and unprecedented journey along with cultural renewal and positive change," he wrote.
Folt is USC's first elected female president. She is replacing Austin, who was the first female and the first person of color USC placed in the interim president role. Folt was also the first female leader of UNC at Chapel Hill.
"This torch of strong, principled women driving USC forward has been graciously carried by interim President Wanda Austin and soon will be proudly passed to Dr. Folt," Caruso wrote.
Before working as UNC's chancellor, Folt was the interim president, dean of the faculty and provost of Dartmouth College, according to Caruso's email.
Like Austin, Folt has an interest in science, receiving her bachelor and master degrees from University of California, Santa Barbara in aquatic biology. She earned her Ph.D in ecology from UC Davis. She was also a professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth college.
Folt will take office July 1.
Additional reporting: Ruby Yuan