Biography
Kevin M. Guskiewicz, a neuroscientist, academic leader and concussion researcher, is the 12th chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For twenty consecutive years, Carolina has been ranked a top five public university with over 30 programs among the top ten overall. As chancellor, Guskiewicz has led the implementation of Carolina’s new strategic plan, Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good, that outlines a roadmap for the University’s priorities moving forward. He has led Carolina’s $1.5 billion research enterprise, the nation’s 12th largest research university in total research expenditures. He has launched several initiatives, including Carolina Across 100, the Institute for Convergent Science, the History, Race and a Way Forward Commission, and the Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Development Initiative. He led the university community through the COVID-19 pandemic, including the transition to remote learning in March 2020 and the implementation of the Carolina Together Testing Program.
A Kenan Distinguished Professor of Exercise and Sport Science, he has been a member of Carolina’s faculty since 1995. He is co-director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center. Guskiewicz is a nationally recognized expert on sport-related concussions. He maintains an active research portfolio and is principal investigator or co-principal investigator on three active research grants totaling over $20 million. His groundbreaking work has garnered numerous awards and has influenced concussion guidelines in the NCAA and the NFL.
Prior to his appointment as chancellor, Guskiewicz served as the interim chancellor from February 2019 until December 2019. In that role, he held over 25 listening and learning sessions with constituents across campus and relaunched the Tar Heel Bus Tour with 90 faculty and campus leaders, demonstrating Carolina’s commitment to the state.
Guskiewicz served as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences – Carolina’s largest academic institution – from January 2016 until February 2019. With more than 16,000 undergraduate students and 2,500 graduate students, Guskiewicz made interdisciplinary teaching and research a cornerstone of his tenure. He championed the use of high-structure active learning techniques, and Carolina is a national leader in implementing these highly effective educational strategies. He significantly increased study abroad, academic internships and other experiential learning opportunities for Carolina students and oversaw work on a major revamp of UNC-Chapel Hill’s General Education curriculum.
In 2011, Guskiewicz received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (often called a “genius grant”) for his innovative work on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of sport-related concussions. In 2013, Time magazine named him a Game Changer, one of 18 “innovators and problem-solvers that are inspiring change in America.”
Guskiewicz earned a B.S. in athletic training from West Chester University, M.S. in exercise physiology/athletic training from the University of Pittsburgh and Ph.D. in sports medicine from the University of Virginia. Born and raised in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, he lives with his wife Amy and children Jacob, Nathan, Adam and Tessa in Chapel Hill.