Chancellor James Oblinger meets with Provost Larry Nielsen (left) and Dan Solomon (right), Dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
Biography
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James L. Oblinger is the 13th Chancellor of North Carolina State University. Since coming to NC State in 1986, he has served as provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and as dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Prior to his leadership roles at NC State, he served as a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Florida, and associate dean and director of resident instruction at the University of Missouri-Columbia's College of Agriculture. Dr. Oblinger received his B.A. from DePauw University in bacteriology and his M.S. and Ph.D. in food technology from Iowa State University.
Chancellor Oblinger is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Council on Competitiveness, the American Association for Higher Education, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, and the Institute of Food Technologists, where he also is a Fellow. Currently, Oblinger is the chair of the National Academy of Sciences Leadership Summit to Effect Change in Teaching and Learning and serves on the American Council on Education Commission on Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Equity. He is President of the Academic Consortium 21 (AC21), an international consortium of prestigious research universities interested in global trends in higher education and the role of the university in the 21st century society, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). President George W. Bush recently appointed Chancellor Oblinger to serve on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which is responsible for making the final selection of Fulbright students, teachers and scholars, and for developing guidelines that maintain the program’s integrity in the 150 countries where the Fulbright program operates in partnership with other governments.
Scholarship and Leadership Development: Chancellor Oblinger has furthered NC State’s mission in making higher education accessible and affordable through the creation of Pack Promise, an initiative providing financial aid to low-income students and families. He also initiated the planning and development of campus-wide efforts to focus NC State’s resources on the education of students from kindergarten through graduate school in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. Chancellor Oblinger supported the creation of the School of Public and International Affairs at NC State, which helps prepare students to affect policy.
International Initiatives: Chancellor Oblinger is a strong advocate of international partnerships in higher education. Through his leadership, NC State has initiated international agreements with universities in China, India and South America. In 2006, Chancellor Oblinger participated in the U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education co-hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Later the same year, he led the announcement of NC State's China initiative. Through this project, the Chancellor made visits in the spring of 2007 to Chinese universities and Science Parks, and signed agreements with Chinese universities ensuring educational and exchange opportunities for faculty, students, scholars and businesspeople. In 2007, he accompanied Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes as part of a U.S. delegation of six college university presidents traveling to India to promote U.S. higher education.
Economic Development: Chancellor Oblinger has provided essential leadership in the growth of Centennial Campus. During his chancellorship, the university has welcomed new business partners to its Centennial Campus, such as the $6 billion global MeadwestVaco Center for Packaging Innovation in 2006. Under his leadership, NC State boosted federal research grant awards over 19% in the past year to $140.5 million, and almost 37% over the past five years. The Chancellor also led development of the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC), the only facility of its kind in the nation. Through partnerships with North Carolina Community Colleges, BTEC's distance education and on-site programs will train as many as 3,000 students and prospective employees per year for the state's biomanufacturing industry. He has also led NC State in the NC Research Campus project in Kannapolis with Dole Foods CEO David Murdock. The NC State Institute for Advanced Fruit and Vegetable Science will be a research and education institute with a global vision for improving the human condition.
Personal: Chancellor Oblinger is married to Dr. Diana G. Oblinger, President of EDUCAUSE. They have four sons, all of whom have attended NC State.
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International Connections
Chancellor James Oblinger is a strong proponent of international education. In 2007, Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes invited him to be a part of a U.S. delegation of six college and university presidents traveling to India to promote U.S. higher education. In 2006, he participated in the U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education co-hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
Oblinger and other university officials recently returned from a trip to China with an economic development delegation from Research Triangle Park. NC State signed 13 academic agreements with Chinese universities in fall 2006.
Read more about the group's trip.
A Wolfpack Family
Chancellor James Oblinger and his wife, Diana, President of EDUCAUSE, have four sons, all of whom have attended NC State.