This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos sits down with Lee Roberts, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to discuss his ambitious plan to make AI the university’s North Star amid a tumultuous year.
Roberts walks through his decision to merge UNC’s School of Data Science and Society with its School of Information and Library Science, explaining why breaking down academic silos is essential when the technology moves faster than universities typically can. He addresses the $38 million in terminated federal research grants — concentrated in areas like public health — and why he’s less concerned about funding cuts than he was at the start of the year. Roberts also defends his $10 million annual commitment to Bill Belichick despite the team’s rocky start, explaining why football revenue is essential to supporting UNC’s 2028 sports programs.
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Karyne Levy is the deputy managing editor of TechCrunch. Before joining TC, Karyne was deputy managing editor at Protocol, helping manage a newsroom of more than 40 people. Prior to that she was a senior producer at Scribd, an assigning editor at NerdWallet, a senior tech editor at Business Insider, and assistant managing editor at CNET, where she also hosted Rumor Has It for CNET TV. She lives outside San Francisco.
You can contact or verify outreach from Karyne by emailing karyne.levy@techcrunch.com.
