Charles E. Kupchella (born July 7, 1942) is an American academic administrator who served as the 10th president of the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

(UND) in

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, third-most populous ...

. He began his presidency in 1999 and retired in 2008. He was succeeded by Robert Kelley effective July 1, 2008.

Early life and education

Kupchella is a native of

Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania Nanty Glo is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania metropolitan statistical area. The population was 2,734 at the 2010 census. The name comes from the Welsh ''Nant y Glo' ...

. In 1964, he graduated from

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a Public university, public research university in Indiana, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and Carnegie Classification o ...

with a B.S.Ed. and a Pennsylvania biology teaching certification. He then studied at

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...

, where, in 1968, he was awarded a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

Career

He was a consultant for the

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It ...

prior to its dissolution, and has served as a reviewer for a number of other organizations, such as the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

, the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

, and the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

. He is currently professor emeritus at the University of North Dakota. During Kupchella's tenure, he managed the allocation of a $100 million gift to UND by benefactor

Ralph Engelstad Ralph Louis Engelstad (January 28, 1930 – November 26, 2002) was an American businessman who owned the Imperial Palace casino-hotels in Las Vegas and in Biloxi, Mississippi. He also owned the Kona Kai motel in Las Vegas, which later became the ...

and the subsequent construction of the

Ralph Engelstad Arena Ralph Engelstad Arena (REA), commonly called the Ralph, is an indoor arena located on the campus of the University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and serves as the home of UND men's ice hockey. The arena was built by controve ...

. He also contended with the

North Dakota Fighting Sioux controversy The North Dakota Fighting Sioux controversy refers to the controversy surrounding the now retired nickname and logo of the North Dakota Fighting Hawks a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the athletic teams that repre ...

and a burgeoning student body that increased by several thousand during his presidency.

Personal life

He lives in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

with his wife Adele, a

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

survivor. They have three children.

References

External links

Office of UND President Dr. Charles Kupchella website
Living people People from Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania Presidents of the University of North Dakota St. Bonaventure University alumni Indiana University of Pennsylvania alumni 1942 births {{NorthDakota-stub