General Assembly appoints Apodaca to WCU board, reappoints Haskett
CULLOWHEE – The General Assembly has appointed former N.C. Sen. Thomas Apodaca of Henderson County and reappointed Timothy Haskett of Cleveland County to four-year terms on the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees.
Both terms are effective July 1 and will expire June 30, 2023.
The appointment of Apodaca came at the recommendation of N.C. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and reappointment of Haskett came at the recommendation of N.C. Speaker of the House Tim Moore. The legislation approving trustee appointments at WCU and other University of North Carolina System institutions now goes to N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature before becoming law.
Apodaca, a resident of Hendersonville, graduated from WCU in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He previously served on the WCU Board of Trustees from 1997 until 2002, when he was elected to the N.C. Senate representing District 48. After graduating from WCU, Apodaca went on to a career as an entrepreneur involved in bond insurance, real estate investment and a travel agency. He is founder and managing partner of Vista Strategies, a firm that specializes in lobbying, corporate consulting, strategy and economic development.
Haskett, a native of Sylva and resident of Kings Mountain, earned both his bachelor’s degree in accounting and master’s degree in business administration at WCU. He has held a variety of finance-related positions during his 32-year career with Duke Energy and is chairman of WCU’s Baxter Wood Family Scholarship Fund, in addition to being a member of the university’s Catamount Club.
Apodaca will be joining new WCU board members Kathryn Crisp Greeley, owner of a full-service interior design firm in Waynesville, and Kenneth Hughes of Asheville, retired chairman and chief executive officer of the Dixon Hughes Goodman accounting firm, who were appointed to four-year terms earlier this year by the UNC Board of Governors.
In addition to Haskett, returning to the WCU Board of Trustees are Denver resident and current vice chair J. Bryant Kinney, principal of Kinney Public Strategies in Charlotte and senior counselor for the Hawthorn Group international public affairs firm, and Rebecca Schlosser of Greensboro, a former high school teacher and currently a community volunteer who recently served on the university’s “Lead the Way” fundraising campaign steering committee. Kinney and Schlosser were reappointed to four-year terms by the Board of Governors.
The Western Carolina University Board of Trustees is composed of 13 members. Eight are elected by the UNC Board of Governors, four are appointed by the General Assembly, and the president of the Student Government Association serves in an ex-officio capacity.
David Rhode, from Hendersonville, elected SGA president by the WCU student body during the spring semester, took the oath of office as part of the board meeting June 7.
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