Jim Woodward builds with his hands and with his mind, and close friends and family — plus a blooming university — bear the many fruits of his labor.

Woodward is the dynamic chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Area leaders praise him as a consensus-builder, superb leader, effective politician, a likeable visionary who is selfless and generous.

While the Florida native is well known for leading the dramatic expansion of UNCC in terms of quantity, quality and influence, he also is a builder in a more literal sense.

The son of a construction official, Woodward spends his spare time in his home workshop making cherry and walnut furniture for his friends and family.

He compares his profession and his hobby this way: “Everything I make is a unique design. I don't use anyone else's plans, so sometimes I have to throw things away. Furniture making is a hobby that causes you not to think about work. You can walk away from it. These projects always reach a conclusion and each piece has a special meaning,”

Crafting furniture and building a major university require patience, diplomacy, hard work, organization and attention to detail. These talents have paid off for the recipients of his gifts of furniture and those who rely on the university to prepare them for life.

Woodward's 11-year tenure at UNCC has transformed the university from a “solid commuter college to a solid university,” says Dr. Ruth Shaw, executive vice president and CEO of Duke Energy.

When Woodward arrived at UNCC in July 1989, he found a school with 12,900 students and a good reputation.

Today, the university has more than 17,000 students and is a doctoral-granting university with an even greater reputation.

The UNC System Board of Governors has approved programs at UNCC that lead to a Ph.D. in mechanical and electrical engineering, applied mathematics, biology and information technology, in addition to a program leading to an E.D.D. in educational leadership.

During Woodward's tenure, the campus facilities have grown tremendously. Income from the 1992 state bond issue allowed for the building of the largest academic structure on campus, the 160,000-square foot E.K. and Dottie Fretwell Building. Bond money also paid for the doubling of the teaching space available to the Belk College of Business and Administration in the Friday Building.

State appropriation permitted the doubling of the Atkins Library and private gifts and student fees built the James H. Barnhardt Student Activity Center, which houses the impressive 9,105-seat Halton Arena.

The Irwin Belk Track and Field Center was also built on Woodward's watch. It includes the TransAmerica Field, one of the region's most impressive soccer and track and field venues.

“Athletics provide the window through which much of the public sees institutions such as UNC Charlotte,” Woodward says. “A successful athletic program that operates with integrity sends to the public an image of a successful university.”

He believes that athletics are also important for educational reasons, especially helping potential dropouts make a real connection to the university. “Athletic programs can help establish an emotional connection that makes young people feel a part of the campus.”

However, the recent landslide passage of the $3.1 billion bond issue for the UNC system and community college campuses — the largest higher education bond issue in U.S. history — will provide rich dividends to enable stunning progress in nearly doubling the amount of teaching space on the campus.

Woodward's goal is to develop the campus to serve 25,000 students within 10 years. New facilities will be built on the pedestrian campus while maintaining as much greenery as possible. Every building will be within a 10-minute walk of the library.

“With the passage of the bond bill, we will have the physical facilities to accommodate our projected growth,” Woodward says. “The challenge now is to attract the operating funds needed to accommodate this group of new students.”

And if they're not available? “We will continue to limit the aspirations of young people at a time when we should be enhancing those aspirations,” he says

Woodward remains concerned about the relatively low percentage of high school graduates who enroll in higher education in the Charlotte region.

“For one thing, UNC Charlotte and other UNC campuses should quit bragging about how hard it is to get admitted to one of our institutions,” he says. “I fear this damages the aspirations of young people, particularly those from families that have no experience with higher education. We need to present higher education as a possibility to students at a very young age and to reinforce that concept at every opportunity. Further, we should publicly emphasize that community colleges are a respected alternative for beginning higher education and not solely an alternative for those young people who cannot achieve admittance into their senior institution of choice.

“The Triangle has been a boon for all of North Carolina,” he points out. “The faculties and staffs at the universities helped to develop the culture which has caused business and industry to locate there. The goal at UNC Charlotte is to be of sufficient size, scope and quality to affect broadly the Charlotte environment in a truly positive way.”

A strong faculty adds much to the community, Woodward insists. He cites the expansion of math clubs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. “Carroll Reiter, one of our math professors, started them. He has given a lot of kids the opportunity to get excited about mathematics. That's what faculty brings to the community. The impact of their expertise is immeasurable.”

Not only is Woodward a builder, but he's also a dreamer.

Shaw, who was president of Central Piedmont Community College when Woodward arrived, recalls that “almost immediately he began to help this region dream a bigger dream for its university — and then he set about to realize it.”

As an example, the UNCC Board of Trustees has set aside 100 acres for the Charlotte Institute for Technology Innovation (CITI). Planned are the development of 1.2 million square feet of building, a 501(c)3 non-for-profit corporation, formation of a distinguished board of directors, and a request for Millennial Campus designation, which would allow for the same type of flexibility that the Centennial Campus at North Carolina State University has.

“The whole purpose behind the CITI is to support the expansion of Charlotte's economic base into more technology-dependent sectors,” Woodward says. “It is in those sectors that the principal economic growth is likely to occur within the next decade.”

The chancellor sees Charlotte and the Triangle as “the two bookends of what can be a major high-tech corridor for the state, which must return to making investments that will ensure growth of the needed intellectual capital.”

Woodward believes that the greatest potential areas are biotechnology and optoelectronics (or phonetics).

Consensus-building and strong leadership skills will be required to continue progress on campus, and Charlotte's leaders trust that Woodward will succeed.

“Jim Woodward is probably the greatest consensus builder I have ever known,” says Smoky Bissell, chairman of the UNCC Board of Trustees. “Many things which happen here end up being described as a grassroots effort that is usually quietly orchestrated by Jim.”

Stuart Dickson, one of Charlotte's leading citizens, calls Woodward “one of the greatest leaders of a university in this country. He arrived to take over a good base in a relatively new urban university and has brought it to senior status in many ways.” Another leader, Russell Robinson, says that Woodward “combines leadership, academic, social, and political skills and ability better than anyone I know.”

Shaw adds, “He's the kind of leader you rarely see anymore — truly the humility of `service before self,' combined with the skill and tenacity to make dreams come true. He never thinks about his `piece of pie.' He just makes a bigger pie.”

Woodward's successes are also credited to his ability to work with public officials.

“I believe very strongly that public universities exist to serve the public good. Although there are many ways in which university officials and faculty can try to understand the public good, the principal way is through the listening to elected officials, especially those who serve in state office,” he says. “We have therefore worked very hard to establish good relations with elected officials, listen carefully to what they tell us, both directly and indirectly, and also to respond to what they tell us.”

Born in Sanford, Fla., to James Hoyt and Bonnie Breeden Woodward, he grew up building houses with his dad, a contractor. His mother was from East Tennessee and his father from Quincy, Fla. The Woodwards moved to Columbus, Ga., when Jim was 5 years old.

One of his last construction jobs as a youth was laying tile in a huge building for Lockheed aircraft in Marietta, Ga. “We spent three months laying one tile after another on the floor of the building which was several hundred yards long,” he says. “That experience helped me to decide I needed a job involving a little more thinking.”

Woodward met his wife, the former Martha Hill, during their high school years — although they attended different schools.

“We met after a football game in 1956, and I invited her to go on a hayride, and she accepted,” he recalls. “I thought then and still do that she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.”

They were married while still in high school, which was not that uncommon in the '50s and '60s, yet kept the news a secret from most. “If the principal had found out we were married, we would have been kicked out of school,” he says.

Even the two sets of parents were briefly unaware of the marriage. Woodward remembers when he and Martha got them together to break the news of a union that eventually would produce three children and four grandchildren, “My dad told Martha the marriage was acceptable if she thought she could support me.

“This was the best thing that happened to me because it caused me to focus on school, which I had not done, and it forced me to consider my aspirations for the future,” he said.

He calls it a “wonderful marriage and a wonderful partnership.” Retired NCNB executive Tom Storrs, who chaired the search committee for the chancellor's position and the board of trustees at UNCC, agrees. “He and Martha make a great team,” Storrs says. “A lot of what has been accomplished began in the chancellor's residence and Martha deserves a lot of the credit.”

Had NASA been quicker with a job offer once Woodward earned a doctorate from Georgia Tech, his career would have taken a different path. He was facing a three-year tour of active duty in the Air Force, which had asked him to teach at the academy. But he had his heart set on NASA, and accepted the teaching position only because he had not heard from the aerospace agency. Within a week, he was offered two jobs with NASA, but turned both down to fulfill his commitment to the academy.

Woodward enjoyed his time in Colorado Springs, Colo., but he and Martha opted to come back to the South so their children could grow up near their grandparents.

After teaching engineering mechanics for a year at N.C. State University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham presented him with an opportunity he couldn't refuse, as a tenured associate professor in engineering — and splitting his time at the school and Rust Engineering. “I enjoyed the university work,” he says, “but anticipated going into the private sector at the end of the year.”

And that he did for three years, working full time at Rust, managing a department that included training, development and maintenance of the computer software systems. Another unit under his jurisdiction was one specializing in soils and noise engineering. He became involved in sales calls in the United States and Canada — “good training for what I do now,” he chuckles.

He was invited to UAB for a position with administrative academic and teaching responsibilities, and later became the dean of engineering. As a part of his academic duties, he served as the principal consultant for Georgia Pacific, a job that involved computer-based systems for analyzing financial information.

Still torn between working in academia or in the private sector, Woodward was considering a high-level job with Georgia Pacific in Atlanta, along with another offer that involved a six-month stint in Helsinki.

At the same time, a friend, Dr. Thomas Hearn, resigned the position of academic vice president at UAB to become president of Wake Forest University. The vacancy was offered to Woodward, and after an inner struggle, discussions with Martha, and a speeding ticket en route to Hilton Head, S.C., academia finally won out.

In 1989, a search committee comprised of Storrs, Dickson, Robinson and Eulada Watt persuaded Woodward to come to Charlotte.

“Of all the large metro markets in the country, I thought Charlotte was the most underserved in the public higher education arena,” Woodward says. “I felt there would be a wonderful opportunity to close that gap.”

He also cites North Carolina's commitment to education at every level. Former N.C. State University Chancellor Joab Thomas, a friend from Alabama, encouraged him to move to North Carolina.

THE UNC system has a long tradition of strong support for improving public K-12 schools, and Woodward's commitment to the same is readily apparent.

“The work of the College of Education is the most important that takes place on this campus,” he frequently says in public speeches. “We believe that good faculty attract good students and teach good academic programs. In order to attract faculty, we have worked hard to enhance the perceived importance of the College of Education on this campus.

“This college is not an appendage,” he adds. “It is a fundamental unit carrying out work of fundamental importance. Therefore, faculty and academic administrators across this campus see colleagues in the College of Education as respected peers.”

As proof, UNCC's faculty president for the past two years has been from the College of Education. So inclusion is more than rhetoric, it's borne out by faculty action.

Not only have the physical facilities on the Charlotte campus changed, but also so have the students. “They come to us better prepared academically and with more knowledge about the world,” Woodward says. “However, they come with less intellectual discipline in the way they go about studying and learning. Pure intellectual dogwork is required to be a good student.”

His faculty do more hand-holding to help students, particularly freshmen, to connect to the campus. Once they make it past that first year, he says, they have a greater social conscience than any he has seen.

Woodward, 61, is not about to slow down. In addition to growth, he and the university are focusing their energy on receiving the Doctoral II designation, which is expected next year. By the end of the decade, the hope is that a Research II Institution tag will be added.

“Our campus has a very sophisticated planning process,” he says. “That process starts with overriding themes that are principally externally derived. Hence, when a department or chair or dean begins his or her planning, they immediately confront what it means to be a public university. Quite frankly, the emphasis on `public' in the term `public university' is a source of pride for all of the faculty and staff at UNC Charlotte.”

Of his legacy at UNC Charlotte, Woodward expects no more than he does from the pieces of furniture he builds. That is to stand the test of time, and to have made the lives of all involved richer and more rewarding.

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