A highly regarded scholar, teacher and university leader, Bernadette Gray-Little began her tenure as the 17th chancellor of the University of Kansas on August 15, 2009. As KU chancellor, Gray-Little is the chief executive officer of the university, overseeing campuses in Lawrence, Kansas City, Overland Park and Wichita in addition to research and educational centers in Topeka, Hutchinson, Parsons and elsewhere in the state. She succeeds Robert Hemenway, who served as KU chancellor for 14 years.

Chancellor Gray-Little previously was executive vice chancellor and provost from 2006 to 2009 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A professor of psychology, Gray-Little rose to the post of UNC's chief academic officer after successive administrative appointments, including dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, executive associate provost, senior associate dean for undergraduate education for the college, and chair of the Department of Psychology. In these roles, she earned a reputation as a superb fundraiser, a relationship builder, a strong advocate for faculty and for research, and a champion for the highest quality educational experience for students.

A native of eastern North Carolina, Gray-Little received her bachelor's degree from Marywood College in Scranton, Pa., and her master's and doctoral degrees in psychology from Saint Louis University. Her postdoctoral research in cross-cultural psychology was funded by a fellowship from the Fulbright Foundation for study in Denmark. She has also been a Social Science Research Council Fellow and a recipient of a Ford Foundation Senior Scholar Fellowship through the National Research Council.