Dr. Neva Specht

Neva Jean Specht [pronounced spake] is acting provost at Appalachian State University. Specht was appointed to the position of senior vice provost of faculty policies, development and training in the Academic Affairs division in October 2021. From 2017 to 2021, she served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She was the college's senior associate dean from 2013 to 2017 and associate dean from 2010 to 2013. She has been a professor in the Department of History since 1996 and served as the assistant chair of the department from 2007 to 2009.

Specht has been a trustee and board chair on the North Carolina Humanities Council. Locally, she has served on the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum's board, the planning board for the Blue Ridge Parkway 75th Anniversary project and on the Town of Boone's Cultural Resource Advisory Board. For six years, she served as the university's liaison to the Blue Ridge Parkway. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Transforming North Carolina Faculty Research Award in 2010 and the Appalachian State University Board of Governors' Teaching Award in 2009.

Dr. Specht received her Ph.D. in United States history and material culture studies from the University of Delaware, where she also earned her Master of Arts in United States history with a certificate in museum studies. She received her bachelor's degree from Grinnell College, with a double major in history and American studies.

Areas of expertise

• Public History
• U.S. history before 1830
• Material culture
• Moses and Bertha Cone and their Flat Top Manor, now Moses Cones Memorial Park
• Blue Ridge Parkway
• The value of a liberal arts education
• Quakers in the 17th and 18th century