The Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost is the go-to resource and advocate for faculty, promoting initiatives that make NC State a higher education leader. The office and professionals within it help cultivate continued excellence through embracing interdisciplinarity and encouraging collaboration across colleges, departments and units. We recently spoke with Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jim Pfaendtner about his new role, how he supports the campus community, and what role the Provost’s Office plays in helping faculty, staff and students succeed.
You were named Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost in April. What have you been up to since then, and what are you looking forward to most during your first few months in office?
In my second week as provost, I joined Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Krista Walton and Vice Provost Amy Conger as we visited long-time NC State partner Nagoya University (NU). The over four-decade-old partnership between NC State and NU encompasses education, research and institutional engagement across a broad range of disciplines. While there, we discussed our research enterprise, updates from the College of Engineering and the development of new scholarly collaborations that will position us for external funding and co-publications. It was great to talk to our partners at NU about NC State’s research strengths and strategic priorities. We got to establish new connections with university leaders and researchers, talk about how we can expand global learning pathways for NC State students, and even took a trip on a traditional fishing boat as we visited NU’s partner Gifu University.
VC Walton and VP Conger were joined by College of Engineering Interim Dean Veena Misra and continued to Korea, while I headed back to Raleigh. It was a great trip–not a traditional second week in a new job for sure.
Since then, I’ve been meeting with faculty, staff, alumni and partners across the university to better understand opportunities, challenges and ideas for NC State’s future. I’m really looking forward to more of those conversations. My focus as the chief academic officer is to bring people and resources together to advance student success, support faculty excellence and help shape an academic future that only expands NC State’s incredible impact across North Carolina and beyond.
What role does the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost play in fulfilling NC State’s land-grant mission?
The Provost serves as the university’s chief academic officer. At a land-grant institution like NC State, that role is ultimately about creating opportunity and serving society. Our mission calls us to educate students, advance knowledge through research and engage with communities to address real-world challenges.
The Provost’s Office helps ensure that our academic programs, research enterprise and faculty initiatives align with that mission. Whether we’re preparing students for the workforce, supporting groundbreaking research or partnering with industry and communities across North Carolina, our goal is to deliver on the full promise of NC State’s land-grant mission.
You’ve been outspoken on the importance of mental health in the campus community. How do you plan on engaging with this topic in your new role?
At the end of my career –no matter what the position or where– I want to be able to say that I helped destigmatize mental health issues. I am open about my own mental health and wellness past and present, and find that when I speak on it as a leader, it can create space for others to reflect and feel seen.
Mental health and well-being are foundational to student success and to the health of our entire university community. I’ve learned that as an academic leader, I can be most effective by working to expand resources and to make time to have honest, personal conversations with members of our campus community.
One of the messages I always share with students is that feeling uncertain or struggling through courses does not mean you don’t belong. In fact, many successful people have felt those same things. Struggling is part of learning, but suffering is not and should not be. I want everyone at NC State to know that there is no weakness in asking for support– only wisdom.
As Provost, I intend to continue advocating for a culture where students, faculty and staff feel supported and connected. That means working collaboratively across the university to strengthen resources, encourage open dialogue and ensure that well-being remains an important consideration in how we approach teaching, learning and campus life.
As Provost, how will you work to strengthen the office’s relationship with faculty? What is important to you in the recruitment and retention of top faculty?
Faculty are at the heart of what we do as a university. They educate our students, drive discovery and innovation, and contribute enormously to the public good.
My outlook as an academic leader is shaped by my identity and practice as a faculty member. I want faculty to view the Provost’s Office as an advocate and a resource. Recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty requires support, but it also requires creating an environment where scholars can pursue ambitious ideas, collaborate across disciplines and feel valued for their contributions. When faculty succeed, our students and our university succeed as well.
What is something that the university community may not know about you?
I love origin stories and one of the most amazing things about being on a university campus is we play a big part in people’s stories. As for me, I grew up in Michigan. I was born in Detroit and grew up in West Michigan always loving science, technology, especially computers. I was obsessed with computers. Once, I got in a bit of trouble when my dad brought home a computer and returned home from work the next day to find I had disassembled the entire thing to learn how it worked – and to learn I had no idea how to put it back together.
When my middle school had no computer classes, I tried to enroll at the local community college but was rejected. My parents fought for months until the college finally allowed me to register, and I took courses for the next few years. I think back on that experience as a key moment that shaped my desire to ensure that more students have the access they need to follow their passions.
It was an engineering summer camp at Georgia Tech that introduced me to the possibilities that existed for chemical engineers. I’m glad that NC State offers opportunities for K-12 students to get exposed to their potential future careers as well, because what we’re exposed to continues to expand our idea of what is possible. That’s something I don’t take for granted as provost. NC State is a place where students interact with amazing faculty who help them see those possibilities. We play a big part in their future professional “origin story.”
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