Christopher Clemens
Christopher Clemens | |
|---|---|
 Clemens at a UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees meeting | |
| Provost of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | |
| Assumed office 1 February 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Blouin |
| Personal details | |
| Education | University of Texas at Austin (PhD) |
Christopher "Chris" Clemens is an American astronomer and physicist who currently serves as the provost of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. On 10 December 2021, Clemens was appointed as provost by the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees.[1][2]
Research
[edit]Clemens’ research interests include astronomical instrumentation and the study of pulsating white dwarf stars.[3] In the early 2000s, he led the research team that designed and built the Goodman Spectrograph at the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR).[4]
In a 2013 presentation, Clemens described himself as a "Astrophysicist for Jesus" and argued that “science as we know and practice it is a product of a Western Christian culture.”[5]
UNC Chapel Hill
[edit]Youth for Western Civilization Sponsorship
[edit]Clemens served as faculty sponsor of UNC-Chapel Hill’s chapter of Youth for Western Civilization, a now defunct far-right white nationalist organization that was known for its opposition to “radical multiculturalism, socialism, and mass immigration.” Clemens claimed that he had not read YWC’s national charter yet still decided to sponsor the group to foster a “diversity of opinion.”[6]
Program for Public Discourse
[edit]Clemens helped establish and served as inaugural faculty director of the "controversial" Program for Public Discourse (initially called the Program in Civic Virtue & Civil Discourse), which was the precursor to the conservative School of Civic Life & Leadership.[7] [8] The program has been described as having a "conservative bent" with ties to the Dowd Foundation and other conservative academic centers such as the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, directed by Robert P. George and School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, directed by Paul O. Carrese.[9] The program is held in high regard by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a Project 2025 advisory board member organization.[10]
Tenure as Provost
[edit]Clemens was appointed to the position of Provost in December of 2021 in a moved described as "shrouded in secrecy" by WUNC North Carolina Public Radio.[11][12] In his position as Provost, he has hosted climate change deniers and skeptics, such as the Steamboat Institute.[13] Clemens, along with interim chancellor Lee Roberts, approved the violent arrest of Pro-Palestinian student protests despite push-back from faculty and community. [14] [15] In May of 2024 it was revealed that the university was secretly surveilling professors and their classrooms.[16] As of July 2024, Clemens has sole discretionary power over the secret recordings of classrooms.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ "UNC-Chapel Hill announces new provost, amid concerns of closed-door dealings". WUNC. December 10, 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Kate (December 9, 2021). "UNC-Chapel Hill picks campus professor to lead its academic strategy as new provost". The News & Observer. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Provost Christopher Clemens".
- ^ Clemens, J. Christopher, J. Adam Crain, and Robert Anderson. "The Goodman spectrograph." In Ground-based Instrumentation for Astronomy, vol. 5492, pp. 331-340. SPIE, 2004
- ^ https://beaconsonthehill.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Singing-to-God_Hank_ds_2rmt.pdf
- ^ "UNC's Youth for Western Civilization loses another faculty sponsor after Elliot Cramer steps down". September 19, 2009.
- ^ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article256194462.html
- ^ "2019.07.02 Smith Response". August 19, 2019.
- ^ "The Program for Public Discourse's seed money donor was the Dowd Foundation, director said".
- ^ "Oases of Excellence".
- ^ "UNC-Chapel Hill announces new provost, amid concerns of closed-door dealings". December 10, 2021.
- ^ "UNC Board of Trustees approves "outspoken conservative" voice as new provost • NC Newsline".
- ^ "Energy Debate: Is 'Net Zero by 2050' Achievable? – University Research Week".
- ^ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article288341895.html&ved=2ahUKEwjI46qwpOWHAxVfE1kFHZyZAb4QxfQBKAB6BAgOEAE&usg=AOvVaw2fzq_-a4PuS6nu5X-NFiVL?
- ^ https://www.wral.com/story/more-than-760-unc-faculty-sign-petition-for-amnesty-for-students-suspended-after-pro-palestine-demonstrations/21416200/&ved=2ahUKEwjI46qwpOWHAxVfE1kFHZyZAb4QxfQBKAB6BAgTEAE&usg=AOvVaw1PFBaQbiMIacuoD8bM3ucX
- ^ "UNC Fires Professor They Secretly Recorded".
- ^ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article289972099.html
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