Thom Tillis is joining a new Davidson College initiative after leaving Senate

Nora O’Neill, The Charlotte Observer on Oct 7, 2026

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U.S. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is set to take on a new role at Davidson College after his time in the Senate.

Tillis will serve as a leader-in-residence with Davidson’s new D.G. and Harriet Wall Martin Institute for Public Good, the college announced Wednesday. Former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and Arab American Institute President James Zogby are also joining the program.

Tillis, who lives in the Lake Norman area and is not seeking reelection, is expected to visit the college several times over the next year. Davidson said the leaders-in-residence will interact with students and faculty through classroom visits, campus discussions and public events.

“These leaders-in-residence bring a diversity of thought and experience in some of the greatest venues and most consequential moments in history to Davidson,” Chris Marsicano, director of the Martin Institute, said in the college’s announcement. “Our students will learn from their wisdom and will work collaboratively with them on projects that will make a difference in the world.”

Tillis is finishing his second term in the U.S. Senate after first winning election in 2014. Before going to Washington, he spent eight years in the North Carolina House, including four years as speaker. In June 2025, Tillis was one of two Senate Republicans to oppose advancing President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, citing concerns about its Medicaid provisions. Trump publicly criticized Tillis over the vote, and Tillis announced the following day that he would not seek a third term.

His residency is expected to begin in the new year, but Davidson has not set an end date. The college said similar appointments for visiting leaders have ranged from a week or semester to as long as a year. Each residency will be structured differently depending on the participant’s other professional commitments.

The Martin Institute is new. Davidson announced the initiative in February after raising $47.7 million from roughly a dozen donors.

The institute is designed to bring public officials, scholars and other leaders to campus while expanding the college’s work around civic engagement, public policy, free expression and leadership. Visiting participants are expected to work with students, take part in campus programming and contribute to public discussions.

Former Davidson men’s basketball coach Bob McKillop is already serving as a leader-in-residence, working with students on leadership and ethics. Rice previously served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser under President Barack Obama, and later led President Joe Biden’s Domestic Policy Council. Zogby leads the Arab American Institute, a Washington-based advocacy organization.