Ex-NCSU head starts new job heading nutrition hub

The former North Carolina State University chancellor unseated for his role in hiring former Gov. Mike Easley's wife is back to leading a research institution affiliated with the University of North Carolina System.

Posted 8:01 a.m. Sep 20, 2011 — Updated 2:01 p.m. Sep 20, 2011

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — The former North Carolina State University chancellor unseated for his role in hiring former Gov. Mike Easley's wife is back to leading a research institution affiliated with the University of North Carolina System.

James Oblinger takes over Tuesday as president of the David H. Murdock Research Institute in Kannapolis. The institute is the centerpiece of the North Carolina Research Campus, which searches for discoveries into the links between nutrition and disease.

Oblinger has spent the past two years on the faculty of NCSU's Plants for Human Health Institute at the research campus. His academic career has been in the field of food science.

The North Carolina Research Campus is a public-private venture between the UNC system and David Murdoch, the billionaire owner of Dole Foods. Researchers from several North Carolina universities and corporate partners are studying plant-based foods, human nutrition and disease prevention.

Oblinger resigned as head of NCSU in 2009 amid questions over his role in the hiring and promotion of former first lady Mary Easley, a controversy that also led the provost and trustee chairman to resign.

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