UNC System Approves Interim Chancellor to Lead Appalachian State University

The UNC System Board of Governors unanimously approved Heather Hulburt Norris as the chancellor of Appalachian State University.

Norris, who has been serving as interim chancellor of App State, is the university’s ninth leader. UNC System President Peter Hans named Norris to the interim role in April 2024 when Sheri Everts, who served as chancellor for a decade, stepped down.

“Dr. Norris has been a widely respected leader and scholar in the App community for more than two decades, and her service as interim chancellor since last April has been exemplary,” Hans said at a Board of Governors meeting Thursday.

Prior to becoming interim chancellor, Norris worked at App State in various academic leadership leadership roles for two decades. She started at the institution in 2003 as an assistant professor in the department of finance, banking, and insurance.

Norris rose through the ranks of university leadership, serving in multiple academic dean roles over the next decade. In 2016, she became the dean of the Walker College of Business. Norris was named interim provost in 2020 and assumed the role officially in 2021.

“I was first drawn to App State because of the university’s commitment to student success, which remains strong today,” Norris said in a press release. “It is my great honor to continue to serve this university, and the communities we serve. Together, we will continue building upon a strong foundation of academic excellence and commitment to the people of our region.”

In his nomination speech, Hans called Norris someone who knows the institution “from top to bottom” and brings an ambitious vision for the mountain university. He also cited Norris’s leadership after Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina and caused damage throughout the region, including the Boone campus.

“Interim Chancellor Norris has been a steady and healing presence through the very difficult months following Hurricane Helene,” Hans said. “Just seeing the news coverage of this university in the weeks after the disaster, you got a clear sense of the community coming together, leaning into the mission of serving the wider region, and drawing strength from a shared ordeal. It’s evidence of real leadership.”

The selection of Norris makes her the third UNC System interim chancellor in the past two years to secure the top job permanently, alongside UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts and UNC-Asheville Chancellor Kimberly van Noort.

In a little more than a year, five new chancellors have assumed permanent roles in the UNC System. (Hans has previously attributed the number of openings to delayed retirements from the pandemic and natural turnover.)

Two chancellor searches remain underway in the system. Elizabeth City State University began its search in December after Karrie Dixon left to become chancellor of North Carolina Central University. North Carolina State University’s search is also in progress following Randy Woodson’s announcement that he plans to step down in June after 14 years as chancellor.

Erin Gretzinger is a higher education reporter at The Assembly. She was previously a reporting fellow at The Chronicle of Higher Education and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. You can reach her at erin@theassemblync.com.