Hatley and Smith appointed to Appalachian’s Board of Trustees

BOONE—Robert C. Hatley and D. Kenan Smith have been appointed by Gov. Pat McCrory to four-year terms on Appalachian State University’s Board of Trustees. Their appointment is effective immediately.

Robert C. Hatley

Hatley of Cary is president and CEO of Paragon Bank, which he founded in 1999. Under his leadership, the company has grown from $15 million in assets in 1999 to more than $1.3 billion today.

A native of Concord, Hatley received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration (BSBA) from Appalachian. He has served on the university’s Board of Visitors.

Hatley began his career with Wachovia, now Wells Fargo, as a field representative, credit manager, branch manager and a city executive. He later worked for Peoples/Centura Bank, serving his last four years there as regional market manager of the Wake County commercial market.

Hatley is the 2015-16 chairman of the North Carolina Bankers Association.

D. Kenan Smith

Smith of Salisbury is a managing partner of Second Creek Development Company, a venture capital firm. He previously was a financial advisor with UVEST Financial Services.

Smith graduated from Appalachian with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration (BSBA). He has served as a member of the Appalachian State University Foundation and the Appalachian Alumni Corporate Committee.

He is a member of the Salisbury Civitan Club and serves on the club’s charitable foundation board. Smith is a past member of the board of directors of the Novant Health Foundation Rowan Medical Center.

About Appalachian State University

Appalachian State University, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The transformational Appalachian experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and embrace diversity and difference. As one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, Appalachian enrolls about 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.