Clinical professor Debra Hurd received an appointment to the Arkansas Social Work Licensing Board. Gov. Asa Hutchinson made this appointment on Oct. 28. Hurd will serve on the board until June 30, 2018.

Hurd joined the School of Social Work in 1993. She is currently serving in her 10th year as principal investigator of the Arkansas Academic Partnership in Public Child Welfare. The partnership is composed of eight Arkansas universities and focuses on educating and training prospective and current child welfare workers for the Division Department of Children and Family Services.

She was honored earlier in the year as the "Top 15 in 2015" class of research award recipients. Recipients of this award were recognized as the faculty and staff researchers who were the university's most highly funded in fiscal year 2014. Over the years, she has received approximately $25 million in funding in her role as the principal investigator of the Arkansas Academic Partnership in Public Child Welfare. Additionally, she has received funding in the past from the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Arkansas Women's Giving Circle, and the Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas.

Hurd has presented nationally and internationally, most recently at the Ireland International Conference on Education. Hurd is a graduate of the University of Arkansas, and earned her doctorate in health sciences, as well as a Master in Public Administration and Bachelor of Arts in social work.

Thank you professor Hurd for all of your hard work and dedication to our most vulnerable children in Arkansas. This is a well-deserved honor. Thank you also for helping bring recognition to our School of Social Work.