The Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) recently elected Claretha Hughes, a professor of human resource development in the College of Education and Health Professions, to its board of directors.

Hughes will serve a three-year term, which officially begins after the organization's conference in Arlington, Virginia, concludes on Feb. 24.

The AHRD board leads the academy as it works to uphold its vision of leading human resource development through research. Some of the board's key roles include setting AHRD's strategic direction, actively advancing the organization's work and ensuring the academy's fiscal stewardship.

Hughes said being elected to the board by the national and international members of AHRD is a recognition of the body of work she has developed throughout her career and her ability to provide leadership for the academy.

"This is a culmination of 20 years of commitment to my personal standard of excellence while working as a human resource development scholar," Hughes said. "I feel that I have multi-faceted knowledge of our field as both a scholar and a practitioner who has worked for multinational organizations and within academia. I hope to leave a legacy of excellent scholarship and leadership."

This position as a board member will serve as a new chapter in Hughes' journey with AHRD, an organization she's been involved with since 2004. Hughes also held a role as associate program chair for the AHRD Conference Proceedings from 2005-2008.

Now, as a board member, she said she's looking forward to applying her expertise and research and hopes to implement new programs and initiatives designed to assist human resource development students at all levels.

"My vision is to help develop a student organization focused on research and scholarly inquiry for human resource development students at all levels," Hughes said. "I would like to establish an Annual Human Resource Development Student Conference where students at all levels can hone their research skills."

"Helping students with research ethics, critical thinking, and the importance of depth of knowledge alongside breadth of knowledge can prepare our students to be catalysts for change within all areas of human resource development," she added.

Hughes, who joined the faculty of the College of Education and Health Professions in 2004, has spent 20 years at the U of A and 33 years working or consulting in corporate America.

She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings, and has written or edited 16 books. She has edited three special issue journals, most recently an issue of Career Development International. Hughes also serves as a book proposal reviewer for SAGE, Emerald, IGI Global, Palgrave Macmillan and CyberTech Publishing. She is a Langevin Certified Master Trainer, Harvard Management Development Fellow and a Darden School of Business Minority Executive Education Scholar.

Her research on valuing people and technology in the workplace continues to influence the field of human resource development.