The University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors named a new UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor on Thursday who has ties to Rocky Mount.

H. Holden Thorp, a chemistry professor and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill, hails from generations of Thorps who live in Rocky Mount.

The new chancellor grew up in Fayetteville, but, no doubt, residents remember his father, Herbert Thorp; grandfather, William Thorp, a former attorney for the city of Rocky Mount; and his great-grandfather, William Thorp, a Rocky Mount mayor and judge.

"Growing up with Holden, it was clear from the beginning that he was a boy genius," said Isaac Thorp, a cousin who now lives in Raleigh.

One of the stories Isaac Thorp remembers is when Holden Thorp was 12 years old and competing in the state rubik's cube competition on TV. That didn't surprise the family, and neither does the new appointment, Isaac Thorp said.

"Holden is remarkable in so many respects because not only is he brilliant, but he's the most plain spoken ... simply stated person," Isaac Thorp said. "He's got a disarming humor that you just wouldn't necessarily expect. It's a combination of his gifts that really makes him so well suited for this."

Holden Thorp, 43, succeeds UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser, who will retire June 30 after eight years at the post. Holden Thorp graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and returned to the university to teach after receiving his doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and spending two years of postdoctoral work at Yale University.

Since the early '90s, Holden Thorp has risen through the ranks at UNC-Chapel Hill. He formerly served as director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. In 2005 he was named Kenan Professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry; and last year he was named Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences after a national search.

UNC system President Dr. Erskine Bowles nominated Holden Thorp for the position.

"His passion for the liberal arts, creativity and joy of discovery are absolutely contagious, and he has shown that he has the knowledge and the skills needed to be a truly great chancellor in the years ahead," Bowles said in a written statement. "I am thrilled that we will have a chancellor who is a North Carolina native, a proud alumnus and a proven campus leader who has earned the respect of the faculty and student body."