Former dean and marine scientist returns to UNC Wilmington as its new chancellor

Marine scientist and former UNC Wilmington dean Aswani Volety is returning to campus as the new chancellor, effective July 1.

Volety rejoins the UNC System after serving as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Elon University since 2019. Before leading Elon as a top administrator, Volety spent five years as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and executive director of the Center for Marine Sciences at UNCW.

The UNC System Board of Governors unanimously approved the new chancellor with a vote at its meeting Thursday.

UNC System President Peter Hans said he is confident that Volety will “guide the Seahawks into a new era of excellence.”

As a first-generation college student and native of India, Volety has “devoted his life to building and serving this country’s public institutions,” Hans said.

Volety replaces Jose Sartarelli, who is retiring in June after seven years at the helm of the university.

UNCW was to host a special campus ceremony to welcome Aswani on the lawn of Hoggard Hall at 2 p.m. Thursday, also livestreamed on Zoom.

Academic leadership at universities

At Elon, Volety served as the chief operations officer and chief academic officer, managing administrative operations and leading the direction for the university’s planning and budget.

At UNCW, Volety served as chief academic, fiscal and administrative officer for the College of Arts and Sciences, which is UNCW’s largest academic unit and awards about two-thirds of the university’s academic credits in 25 departments.

He enhanced professional development opportunities for faculty and staff to increase retention and advocated for diversity. At UNCW, 60% of the faculty hires he made were either female or minority candidates, according to his bio.

UNCW started its first engineering program, Coastal Engineering, under Volety’s leadership. He and his colleagues also implemented other academic programs at the doctoral, master’s and undergraduate level to meet regional needs.

He also helped shape and lead the university’s research at the Center for Marine Science. He focused on building partnerships with international universities and enhanced UNCW’s fundraising efforts. He also created the Dean’s Student Leadership Council, giving students a voice in the college’s governance.

Marine science researcher

In addition to his administrative career, Volety spent several years teaching and researching marine science.

He spent 15 years as a professor of marine science and later as interim dean for the College of Arts & Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University before joining UNCW.

Volety has researched marine organism diseases, physiology, immunopathology, toxicology and the management and restoration of marine habitats, according to his bio. His work focuses on how natural stressors and human pollutants affect shellfish.

As a scholar, he has received funding from federal, state and private agencies, including the National Research Council, National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection agency, Sea Grant, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

Volety earned a doctorate degree in marine science from the School of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in zoology from Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, India. He also received a Graduate Certificate in Management Development from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.