Dean
jwcwhite@email.unc.edu
919.962.3082
James W.C. White is the Craver Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest school at the nation’s oldest public university, with more than 19,000 undergraduate students and nearly 2,400 graduate students. It is also the university’s third-largest research enterprise, bringing in more than $140 million in research funding annually.
White came to UNC-Chapel Hill in 2022 from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he had served as acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for five years and had been a faculty member in the department of geological sciences since 1989.
In White’s first year at Carolina, the College introduced a reimagined general education curriculum, IDEAs in Action. The new curriculum emphasizes experiential learning and teaches skills for students to become lifelong learners, such as thinking critically, working collaboratively and communicating persuasively.
He also led the College during its final months of fundraising for the Campaign for Carolina. The school raised more than $764 million, far exceeding its $750 million campaign goal in the $5.1 billion university-wide campaign, with funds supporting students, faculty and strategic programs.
In 2023, White oversaw the successful launch of the new School of Civic Life and Leadership, which is part of the College. The school welcomed its first students in fall 2024 with the offering of a minor in civic life and leadership.
White is a passionate and tireless supporter of the enduring value of a broad-based liberal arts education—one that provides students with the skills they need in any career path they choose. He believes that part of the responsibility of ensuring a “public ivy” education is to create a welcoming and supportive environment for students, faculty and staff so that they can thrive and do their best work.
An internationally recognized expert in climate science, White has published some 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, is a highly cited researcher in the field and regularly gives public talks on climate change and sustainability. He was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014.
At Carolina, he is faculty member in the department of earth, marine and environmental sciences and continues to pursue his research, which focuses on past behaviors of the Earth’s climate system, the evidence for rapid climate change in the past, and the dynamics of the modern carbon cycle.
White earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Florida State University and master’s and doctoral degrees in geological sciences from Columbia University.
- jwcwhite@email.unc.edu
- Dean’s Office: 919.962.3082