Erskine Bowles is spending his last few days as president of the UNC system. Tom Ross takes over in January.
The Erskine Bowles Era was defined in his first few years by streamlining the 17-campus UNC system - and then, in the final years, because of the recession, fighting for dwindling resources.
Tom Ross takes over for Bowles at a time when those resources are likely to be at an all-time low. Ross was, most recently, the President of Davidson College. He says he hopes to have has much success courting state legislators as Bowles did:
"Most of my career has been spent in jobs that are not partisan. I'm not entering this job with any idea of partisanship. This state has great leaders from both politiucial parties. I've worked with a number of them over the years, and I hope to continue to do that."
Before he was president of Davidson, Ross spent 17 years as a superior court judge. He also spent 7 years as the president of the Zee Smith Reynolds Foundation.