James Moeser was the ninth chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A native of Texas and trained as a concert organist, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Texas at Austin and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. Formerly chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he began his work as chancellor at UNC on August 15, 2000. He established the Carolina Covenant and Carolina Performing Arts; led the $2.4 billion Carolina First campaign; oversaw a massive increase in research funding, including a major investment in genome research; and succeeded in increasing faculty salaries and greatly improving faculty retention. The physical campus was transformed by a $2.2 billion construction program that added six million net square feet of building space, while also adding twenty acres of green space. He currently resides in Chapel Hill with his wife, Susan.
