Dr. E. Stephen Hunt

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- A member of the Emory & Henry College Board of Trustees who served for 30 years in key federal government positions in support of international higher education died October 17, 2022 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Graveside services for Dr. Earl Stephen Hunt, a resident of Asheville, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 27, 2022 at Monte Vista Memorial Park in Johnson City, Tennessee. A memorial service will be held at 8:00 p.m. on the same day in the Calliopean Room of Byars Hall on the campus of Emory & Henry College.

Hunt, a 1971 graduate of Emory & Henry, was a member of the College’s Board of Trustees and a member of the Emory & Henry Patrick Henry Society, which represents the institution’s leading financial supporters. The son of former E&H President Bishop Earl Gladstone Hunt Jr., Steve Hunt also served for one semester as a Blackwell Lecturer on the topic of negotiations.

During his career, Hunt served in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) in the U.S. Department of Education. While there, he created and led the U.S. Center for Education Information under the auspices of UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the European Union.  He also led in the establishment of the U.S. Network for Education Information (USNEI).

During his years with OERI, Hunt served as an advisor and resource person on foreign and domestic postsecondary education. He became the government’s national expert on foreign educational systems and postsecondary qualifications and served as a negotiator with foreign ministers in matters related to global education. The European Network of Education Centers (ENIC), a 56-country association of national education information centers such as USNEI, twice elected Hunt as vice president and twice as ENIC president.

Hunt received a master of arts degree in international studies from American University, a master of library science degree and a graduate certificate in information resources management for the federal government from Syracuse University, and a doctoral degree in higher education and political science from the University of Virginia.

In addition to his wife, Edeltraut Gilgan-Hunt of Asheville, Hunt is survived by the following family members who reside in Germany: brother-in-law, Hans-Guenther Gilgan; sister-in-law, Dorle Gilgan; nephew, Jan Gilgan and family; niece, Sandra Gilgan; cousin, Saskia Kugler and family; cousins, Heriberto and Irmgard Niedorff; and cousin, Paul Niedorff. He is also survived by the following relatives who reside in Argentina: the families of nephews, Leo Gittlein, Marcello Gittlein and Anibal Gittlein and niece, Barbara Gittlein. In the United States, he is survived by cousin, Keith Helton of Johnson City and cousin, Mary Beth Barker and family of Puquoson, Va.

The care of Dr. Hunt has been entrusted to Wells Funeral Home of Waynesville.