Division of External Affairs and Strategic Initiatives

Hank Foreman was named vice chancellor and chief of staff for Appalachian State University in 2017. He oversees the areas of University Communications, Arts Engagement (An Appalachian Summer Festival, the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts and the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts), the Holmes Convocation Center, the Office of Sustainability, the Small Business and Technology Development Center and External Affairs and Community Relations. As the principal aide to the chancellor, he is the liaison to the University of North Carolina’s Board of Governors, Appalachian’s Board of Trustees and community and university constituencies. Additionally, he assists in providing leadership and direction for institutional initiatives, special projects, critical, time-sensitive decisions, and policy development. Foreman has worked at Appalachian since 1993. He has held the positions of acting chief of staff, senior associate vice chancellor, special assistant to the chancellor for special initiatives, chief communications officer and founding director and chief curator of the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts. Foreman is a first-generation college student who earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1986 and a master’s degree from Appalachian in 1995.