NCCU chief of staff Dr. Catherine Edmonds named interim chancellor at Elizabeth City State

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- After Elizabeth City State University lost its chancellor to North Carolina Central University, the University of North Carolina System wasted little time appointing an interim chancellor with strong ties to NCCU.

System President Peter Hans appointed longtime educator Dr. Catherine Edmonds as interim chancellor, the UNC System announced Friday.

Edmonds succeeds Dr. Karrie Dixon, who led ECSU since 2018 and was elected Thursday as the next chancellor of North Carolina Central.

Edmonds has served as chief of staff at NCCU since 2022 and will become ECSU's interim chancellor on July 1.

The UNC System described Edmonds as a "career educator with deep roots in northeastern North Carolina." She served as superintendent of Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools from 2019 to 2021, and superintendent of the Bertie County Schools from 2018 to 2019.

Edmonds was deputy state superintendent in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in 2021-22 and previously served the department for seven years as a district transformation coach and district portfolio manager.

She began her career as a high school teacher and later as a principal in Granville County Schools.

"Dr. Edmonds has spent her entire career building better schools for students, and she is very well suited to step into the role of interim chancellor at Elizabeth City State," Hans said. "She has strong ties in northeastern North Carolina communities, where she has been deeply involved in the public schools. She has the talent and skill to continue ECSU's strong momentum."

Edmonds is a first-generation college graduate and holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics education from North Carolina A&T State University. She began her graduate work at NCCU and earned a master's degree in educational leadership and a Doctor of Education degree in educational administration, both at NC State University.

Her son, a Coast Guard veteran, is a student at Elizabeth City State.

A search for a permanent chancellor will begin later this year.