Jose "Zito" Sartarelli has been elected to take the helm at University of North Carolina Wilmington, university officials announced Friday. The University of North Carolina Board of Governors voted unanimously early Friday afternoon to accept system president Tom Ross' recommendation that Sartarelli be named to the post.

Sartarelli, currently the chief global officer and dean of the college of business and economics at West Virginia University, was Ross' recommendation following a search process that began in October.

The chancellor-elect is expected to assume his new role July 1, UNCW officials said. UNCW’s former chancellor, Gary Miller, left the university last summer to become chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. William Sederburg, a former Michigan state senator, university president and higher education policy expert, has served as interim chancellor since Aug. 1.

"The university should be a source of innovation," Sartarelli said Friday afternoon when he spoke to a couple hundred people gathered on UNCW's campus to hear from the incoming university head.

Sartarelli outlined in general his five priorities for the position, which included advancing research capabilities, preparing students for the job market and fundraising.

Attracting the best students, faculty and staff also would be a priority, said Sartarelli, whose background spans academics and the private sector.

"There is a close connection between the university and economic development," he said during a media briefing at the campus.

A native of Brazil, Sartarelli completed his bachelor's degree in business administration at the Sao Paulo School of Business Administration and continued his education at Michigan State University as a Fulbright scholar. At MSU he earned an MBA in marketing and doctoral degree in business administration. He then went to work for Eli Lilly, according to the release.

His 30-year career in the pharmaceutical industry gave him global management experience with Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. He left Johnson & Johnson in 2010 to accept the position of dean at West Virginia University. In 2013, the university named him its first chief global officer as well.

“Zito Sartarelli brings to the role of chancellor a rare combination of corporate and academic leadership experience, strategic thinking and a truly global perspective," Ross said in nominating Sartarelli, according to a news release from UNCW. "... He also has earned a reputation for great integrity, sound judgment, and a strong commitment to student success and community engagement."

Tobi Polland, who as president of UNCW's Student Government Association sat on the chancellor search committee, said that Sartarelli's track record of having a strategic vision and moving it forward was what impressed her.

"He has a natural ability to look at something and ask 'How can we make this better?'" Polland said.

As dean at WVU, Sartarelli (shown at left with his wife, Kathy, at UNCW on Friday) leads a college that enrolls more than 2,700 students and has been ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the top 100 undergraduate business programs in the country, the release stated.

"Sartarelli is credited with improving the academic profile of the college’s students, faculty and staff, while setting all-time records in enrollment and fundraising. Under his watch, the college has partnered with other WVU units to create six joint degree programs; launched a Ph.D. program in business administration and a fully online executive master of business administration (EMBA); established three new centers; and expanded its community, state and global engagement. In its rankings of online MBA programs, U.S. News & World Report ranks the EMBA 25th nationally," according to the release.

Wilmington Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Connie Majure-Rhett said the business group was excited about the selection.

"His experience in the business world is impressive and we see that as a distinct advantage for the school," she said in an email. "The university is one of our key community assets so we look forward to supporting the Chancellor's leadership as he works to enhance the already excellent reputation of UNCW."

Joe Lowe contributed to this story.