E.K. Fretwell arrived at UNC Charlotte in 1979 with a national reputation as an educator. In his 10 years as chancellor, he conferred that national reputation on the one-time commuter college in the rolling countryside northeast of the city.
Fretwell died Thursday afternoon at The Cypress. He was 88.
UNCC’s first chancellor, Dean W. Colvard, had laid the groundwork for a solid regional university. Fretwell, fresh from an 11-year stint as president of the State University of New York College at Buffalo, hoisted his lanky, 6-foot-7 frame atop that foundation and planted the flag for an urban university, with an expanding emphasis on the liberal arts. Continue reading.