Right Person, Right Time

As chancellor of Fayetteville State University, Dr. T.J. Bryan leads the University of North Carolina System’s second oldest institution with confidence, energy and accessibility.

By Eleanor Lee Yates

Fayetteville, N.C.
When Dr. T.J. Bryan was interviewing for the position of chancellor of Fayetteville State University several years ago, she looked down with horror, realizing that she was wearing a black jacket with an obviously navy skirt. Oh well. It didn’t matter, she rationalized. She was already comfortable in her role as vice chancellor for academic and student affairs for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and didn’t feel any pressure to leave the post. But when Fayetteville State called, she figured a chancellorship opportunity was at least worth an interview.

“I didn’t expect anything to come of it,” Bryan says of the interview.
Despite the fashion faux pas, she was offered the job. Several of her friends tried to talk her out of taking the position, with one colleague even telling her that she was “too good to go to a historically Black college.”

But the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. On July 1, 2003, Bryan became chancellor of the second oldest institution in the University of North Carolina System. 

“Part of it was that I felt I wanted to give back to historically Black institutions. I felt I owed a debt and I was on a mission to help others,” says Bryan. 

The energetic Bryan hit the campus at a gallop.

“We were looking for someone very smart, articulate and a self-starter who understood the need for fundraising,” says Nathan T. Garrett, chairman of FSU’s board of trustees. “She realized very early that in order to grow and compete, we needed to embrace new programs. She went at this aggressively.”