Office of the Chancellor
Profile: Chancellor Brady
Dr. Linda P. Brady became the 10th chancellor of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro August 1, 2008.
Brady, 61, succeeded Dr. Patricia A. Sullivan, UNCG’s first woman chancellor, who retired July 31, 2008, after almost 14 years in the post.
In recommending Brady to the Board of Governors, UNC President Erskine Bowles said: “Over the past 25 years, Linda Brady has accumulated a wealth of leadership experience at highly respected public, urban universities, as well as in the halls of Washington. At each step along the way, she has proven herself to be an energetic leader who promotes collaboration, creative problem-solving, and real-life commitment to scholarship, research, and public service. …
“With her broad experience in higher education and federal government, her demonstrated integrity and sound judgment, and her profound understanding of the global marketplace in which our students must compete, Linda Brady will be a forceful and effective leader for UNC Greensboro.”
A native of New York City and the first member of her family to attend college, Brady graduated from Douglass College, the women’s division of Rutgers University, in 1969 with a degree in political science. She received a master’s degree in the field from Rutgers (1970) and a doctorate in political science from The Ohio State University (1974). She began her academic career as an assistant professor of political science at Vanderbilt University in 1973 and joined the faculty at Goucher College in Maryland three years later.
From 1978 to 1985, Brady held several positions in the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Defense. Among other roles, she served as a political analyst in the State Department’s Office of Disarmament and Arms Control and as special assistant for mutual and balanced force reductions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. She later served as a senior fellow in international security and arms control at the Carter Center of Emory University (1986-87) and as a distinguished professor of national security at the U.S. Military Academy (1991-92).
From 1993 to 2001, Brady led the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she was also a professor of international affairs. She joined North Carolina State University in 2001 as Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and professor of political science, and over the next five years was credited with building the stature and visibility of the College, launching a number of new graduate degree programs, and significantly increasing external support for the humanities and social sciences at NC State. She left North Carolina in 2006 to become the chief academic and operating officer at the University of Oregon.
Brady has authored or co-edited three books and numerous book chapters and scholarly articles in the fields of American foreign policy, international negotiation, and arms control. Among other professional organizations, she is a member of the International Studies Association, the American Political Science Association, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Council on Foreign Relations. A past recipient of the Georgia Tech School of Social Sciences Teaching Award, she has earned the Superior Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State and is a two-time recipient of the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal from the Department of the Army. She was an American Council on Education Fellow in 1997-98, serving her fellowship year at the University of Iowa under the mentorship of President Mary Sue Coleman and Provost Jon Whitmore.
Since moving to UNCG, Brady has become a member of the Greensboro Rotary Club. She is also on the Board of Directors for United Way of Greater Greensboro and the Greensboro Partnership.
Brady is married to Gustav “Steve” Heyer, a retired Army officer. She has two adult stepsons and three grandchildren: Stephen Heyer and his wife, Suzanne, live in Richmond, VA, with their children Alyx, Megan, and Andrew Casey, while Michael Heyer lives in Chicago, IL.
In accepting the position at UNCG, Brady said, "This is one of the very best jobs in American higher education. I am so grateful for this opportunity and humbled by the trust you have place in me. I shall not let you down."