Dr. Holden Thorp, PhD
Provost and Professor of Chemistry and Medicine
Bio
Holden Thorp, Ph.D., became Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Washington University on July 1, 2013. He holds an endowed professorship in the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine as well as in the Department of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences.
Thorp returned to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he remained for two decades. During that time he held a number of positions including chair of the chemistry department, director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. He was appointed chancellor of the University in 2008, leaving that position to become Provost at Washington University.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Thorp is the co-founder of two biotechnology companies. His latest venture, Viamet Pharmaceuticals, has drugs in clinical trials for prostate cancer and infectious disease. He co-authored (
http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/12685.html)
Engines of Innovation: The Entrepreneurial University in the 21
st
Century, which argues for the crucial contribution research universities must play in spearheading societal change. Additionally, he is a charter fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, a nonprofit organization recognizing researchers who translate their findings into inventions that are beneficial to society.
An accomplished musician who plays jazz bass and keyboard, Thorp and his wife Patti have two teenage children, John and Emma.
