Debra Gage Hurd Elected Vice Chair of Arkansas Social Work Licensing Board

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Debra Gage Hurd

Gov. Asa Hutchison has reappointed Debra Gage Hurd, clinical full professor in the School of Social Work, to a second term on the Arkansas Social Work Licensing Board.

Hurd will serve on the board until June 30, 2021. She was also re-elected vice chair of the board in January of 2020 and will serve in this capacity until January of 2021.

Hurd serves as the principal investigator of the Arkansas Academic Partnership in Public Child Welfare. This is a statewide child welfare education and training project sponsored by the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services. The partnership serves the entire state of Arkansas and has representation from eight universities.

Additionally, Hurd has been awarded over $9 million in external grants in the last three years. She has been with the University of Arkansas for 26 years. She has received past funding from the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Arkansas Women's Giving Circle, and the Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas. Hurd is a University of Arkansas graduate, with a B.A. in social work, a Master of Public Administration degree, and a Ph.D. in health sciences.

Hurd, along with School of Social Work colleague, Sara J. Collie, presented in Paris, France, this past year at the Institute for Social and Economics Research, Advanced Research in Business Management, Economic Policy, Humanities and Social Sciences.

She also was a panelist at the recent The Social Science of Success: Social Sciences Grant Writing Workshop sponsored by Fulbright College. Hurd also serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.