North Carolina State University, Office of the Chancellor, Joab Langston Thomas Records 1965-1981, 1986 (bulk 1965-1981)

The Chancellor is the chief administrative and executive officer, leader and spokesperson of North Carolina State University. The Chancellor, who has complete executive authority for the university, subject to the direction of the president and the board of trustees, defines the scope and authority of faculties, councils, committees, and officers of North Carolina State University, is a member of all faculties and other academic bodies of the university, and has the right to preside over the deliberations of the legislative bodies of the faculties of the institution. The Office of the Chancellor retains authority in faculty and EPA personnel, student matters, contracts, leases, and other agreements, and the acquisition and disposition of property.

The title of the head of North Carolina State University has changed over time. First the university was led by a president (1889-1934), then a vice president of the Consolidated University (1934), then a dean of Administration (1934-1945), and finally a chancellor (1945-present).

Joab Langston Thomas was born in 1933 in Holt, Alabama. From Harvard University, he earned three degrees in biological science with a specialty in botany. Thomas held several academic and administrative positions at the University of Alabama. He earned the rank of full professor of biology in 1966, and he served as vice president for student affairs between 1969 and 1975. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. In 1975 Thomas became the ninth chief executive to lead North Carolina State University. In 1978, Thomas was named among the top 100 young leaders in higher education in a nationwide survey of influential young educators and administrators. He resigned in 1981 to accept the presidency of the University of Alabama.

During Thomas’ tenure, enrollment passed 20,000, the School of Veterinary Medicine, the North Carolina Japan Center, and the Microelectronics Center for North Carolina were all established at North Carolina State University. D.H. Hill Library holdings reached one million volumes, a goal that was reached partly through a “One Million Volume Campaign” initiated in 1978 by Chancellor Thomas and Provost Winstead. The Wolfpack Women’s basketball team won the gold at the World University Games in Mexico City in 1979, and the Wolfpack Women’s Cross Country Team won back-to-back national championships in 1979 and 1980. In 1981, he became president of the University of Alabama, where he served for seven years.

Chancellor Thomas died on March 3, 2014 at the age of 81.

The records of Joab Langston Thomas’ administration in the Office of the Chancellor at North Carolina State University include correspondence, newspaper clippings, annual reports, budgets, and other administrative and personal papers.

Topics include the School of Veterinary Medicine, increased enrollment – more than 20,000 students, and, Thomas’ support of D.H. Hill Library in reaching and surpassing one million volumes. Thomas proposed a new department in the School of Education – the Department of Educational Leadership with 5 new faculty positions. The Center for Microelectronics was established, and there was a strong emphasis on foreign relationships, as cooperative efforts like the Japan Center were created. Topics also include budget: reports, recommendations, allocations and requests,and other events and affairs of the campus during the time period of these records. The records of the Office of the Chancellor during Joab Langston Thomas’ adminstration range in date from 1975 to 1981.

The records of the Office of the Chancellor during Joab Langston Thomas' administration are arranged chronologically, and then alphabetically by topic within.

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[Identification of item], North Carolina State University, Office of the Chancellor, Joab Langston Thomas Records, UA 002.001.005, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Transferred from North Carolina State University, Office of the Chancellor.

Processed by: Flora Blackley and Barbara Weinberg, 2010 February; Finding aid written by: Flora Blackley and Barbara Weinberg, 2010 February.