Thorp joins Gerald L. Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences, on the board. Early has been on the NHC board of trustees since 2009.
The NHC is one of the world’s leading institutes for advanced study and the only one dedicated exclusively to the humanities. By encouraging excellence in scholarship, the center seeks to ensure the continuing strength of the liberal arts and to affirm the importance of the humanities in American life.
Until recently, Thorp served as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he previously had been dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Kenan Professor of chemistry. He is also co-founder of Viamet Pharmaceuticals.
Thorp also is a member of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board and is currently chair of a committee for the National Academy of Sciences charged with establishing and promoting a culture of safety in academic laboratory research.