Best-selling author and human rights activist Ishmael Beah will speak at Appalachian State University’s fall convocation. Beah is the author of “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” which was the university’s common reading selection for 2015-16.

Todd L. Cherry, a professor in Appalachian State University’s Department of Economics, has been named to the editorial board of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (JEEM).

Appalachian State University has maintained its STARS® Gold rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements in academics, research, campus and public engagement, and operations.

The exhibit, featuring work from Professor Elaine O’Quinn from the Department of English, will be on display through Sept. 10.

Abigail DeWitt of Burnsville, a visiting assistant professor at Appalachian State University, is one of 18 individuals who have received a North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship for 2015–16.

Authors of memoirs, poetry collections, novels and literary history comprise the speakers for the fall Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series at Appalachian State University. All programs are free and open to the public.

Writer R.T. (Rod) Smith has been named the 2015-16 Rachel Rivers-Coffey Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing at Appalachian State University. Smith will lead an eight-week colloquium during fall semester for students in Appalachian’s creative writing program.

Local girls in grades 3 through 8 are invited to participate in Girls on the Run of the High Country (GOTR-HC). Registration for the fall semester will begin online Aug.10 at http://gotr.appstate.edu and the program will begin the week of Sept. 8.

Eleven students from Appalachian State University have completed a 10-week internship through the N.C. State Internship Program operated by the N.C. Department of Administration.