Heather Ward
Heather Ward
Associate Provost for Global Affairs
heather.ward@unc.edu
+1 919-962-1051
3007 FedEx Global Education Center
she/her
Heather Ward is the associate provost for global affairs. She has served in this role since 2021, overseeing operations and spearheading several key initiatives for the office. One of her primary responsibilities is to develop and implement strategy to realize the University’s Global Guarantee: the promise that a global education is available to every student. She helped introduce COIL to Carolina in 2021 and has shaped policies related to global risk management. Currently, she leads Carolina’s efforts to increase its engagement with Japanese agencies and universities, spotting opportunities to enhance the University’s global reputation and impact.
Before joining UNC Global Affairs, Heather served as associate dean for study abroad and international exchanges in the College of Arts and Sciences. She came to Carolina in 2019 after serving as associate director for internationalization and global engagement at the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, D.C. Previously, she led internationalization efforts at George Mason University and Mary Baldwin University. In addition to many years in higher education, Heather has held positions with the Vera Institute of Justice, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Americas Society and the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Her work has focused on human rights, criminal justice reform and immigration.
Heather is a frequent speaker, author, peer reviewer and thought leader on the internationalization and global engagement of higher education, including strategic planning for internationalization, comprehensive internationalization, internationalization at home, education abroad and international partnerships. She currently serves as a senior associate for internationalization at ACE and is a member of the strategic advisory board of Academic Programs International (API). As a student, she studied abroad in Spain and Guatemala. Heather lives with her family in Chapel Hill.
Hometown
Florence, Alabama, USA
Education
B.A., Latin American Studies and Spanish Language, Vanderbilt University
M.I.A., International Affairs, Columbia University
Languages
Portuguese
Spanish
Awards
State Service Recognition, 5 years, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2014, DAAD German Exchange “Germany Today” Study Tour of Higher Education
2012, Fulbright-Nehru International Education Administrators Seminar
2012, Conflict Mediation Certification, FairField Center