Senior Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs & Administration

• Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
• M.S., Pennsylvania State University
• B.B.A., James Madison University

Dr. Heather Hulburt Norris joined the Walker College of Business faculty in the fall of 2003 in the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance. She was named Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs in 2005, and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs & Administration in 2008. Prior to her time at Appalachian, Associate Dean Norris served on faculty at Bowling Green State University, the Pennsylvania State University, and West Virginia University.

Norris was drawn to the Walker College of Business because of its clear mission and achievement of offering high quality educational experiences to students. As Associate Dean, she strives to uphold that mission by ensuring that the undergraduate curriculum is current and relevant. Norris also oversees the advising and career services offices in the College, manages the College’s scholarship program, and is directly involved in strategic planning, budget, and personnel decisions of the College.

Norris’s teaching and research interests involve corporate finance and investments, with a particular emphasis on corporate restructuring. She has been published in the Journal of Portfolio Management, Financial Management, Managerial and Decision Economics, and the Journal of Applied Business Research. Her work on corporate restructuring has been cited in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Business Week, and Dow Jones Online News. Dr. Norris is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi.

In her spare time, Norris enjoys serving on the Board of Directors of Grandfather Home for Children. She is a member of the board’s investment committee, human resources/compensation committee, and CEO succession planning committee.

Norris and her husband, Rob (Appalchian‘87), have a young daughter, Emma, whom they say may very well be a future Mountaineer.