Appalachian State University removed the interim from Chancellor Heather Hulburt Norris title on Thursday as she became the ninth leader of the school.
Norris been serving as interim chancellor since April 19. She succeeds former Chancellor Sheri Everts who stepped down in April after 10 years due to “significant health challenges.”
Norris joined App State as a finance professor in 2003, later becoming business school dean and provost. Her time as interim chancellor included recovery from Hurricane Helene, which closed campus for more than a month.
“Dr. Norris has risen steadily through the ranks of academic and campus leadership, showing a deep capacity for aligning institutional incentives to student success in a way that has strengthened her university and benefitted a generation of Mountaineer graduates,” says UNC System President Peter Hans in a statement.
“I was first drawn to App State because of the university’s commitment to student success, which remains strong today,” says Norris in a release. “In the 125th year of the university’s history, I’m excited and humbled to help create the next chapter of our history.”
Norris began her career as an assistant finance professor at Bowling Green University, then Penn State University and then the University of West Virginia.
At App State, she became assistant dean for undergraduate programs in 2005 and interim dean in 2015. A national search led to her being chosen as the seventh dean at the Walker College of Business in 2016. During her time there, the college grew its fundraising by 68%, securing three endowed professorships and undergoing a major renovation.
Norris became provost and executive vice chancellor on an interim basis in 2020 and fully in 2021. She oversaw the development of the university’s 2022-27 strategic plan, as well as other strategic efforts focused on academic affairs, on research, scholarship and creative activities, and on App State’s Quality Enhancement Plan through 2029.
Norris has a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University in Virginia and master’s and doctorate degrees from Penn State University.
App State has more than 21,000 students. In August 2023, App State opened a satellite campus in Hickory. The university has more than 150,000 alumni.