Norman Hord New Director of School of Human Environmental Sciences

Norman G. Hord, professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Oklahoma State University, has been named director of the U of A's School of Human Environmental Sciences. He begins July 1.

HESC is housed in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. The school's undergraduate programs include apparel merchandising and product development; food, nutrition and health; hospitality management; human development and family sciences; and human nutrition and dietetics. HESC enrolled approximately 1,040 students in fall 2025.

"The School of Human Environmental Sciences occupies a unique and important place in the modern university, connecting food, family, design, health and human wellbeing across the lifespan," Hord says. "Its programs prepare students through hands-on learning, laboratory and classroom instruction, and the human-centered relationships that define these professions. As artificial intelligence changes the nature of work, HESC prepares graduates for careers that depend on judgment, creativity, care and personal connection. I am honored that the University of Arkansas and Bumpers College have entrusted me with the opportunity to lead this important school."

Hord brings an extensive background in department and school leadership to the U of A and HESC. He served as head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Oklahoma State University (2023-25), chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the College of Allied Health at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (2020-23) and co-director and head of the School of Biological and Population Health Sciences in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University (2014-20).

"Dr. Hord brings an outstanding combination of leadership experience, research expertise and commitment to student success to Bumpers College," Dean Jeff Edwards says. "The School of Human Environmental Sciences represents nearly half of our undergraduate enrollment and continues to expand its research portfolio and impact. Having someone with Dr. Hord's background leading the school will be instrumental as we continue moving HESC forward in alignment with the university's 150 Forward strategic plan. We are excited to welcome him to the Bumpers College family."

At Oklahoma State, Hord led a comprehensive nutrition unit and its statewide Extension programming, advanced the effectiveness of dietetic education and contributed to university-wide workforce-development planning. At the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, he strengthened clinical and translational research partnerships and led departmental faculty expansion. At Oregon State, he led six multidisciplinary academic programs and more than 70 faculty, grew research funding, expanded online and hybrid program delivery, and engaged donors and industry partners. Earlier, as director of the dietetic internship and faculty adviser at Michigan State University (2000-04), he authored the inaugural ACEND self-study and led the program through its first accreditation site visit.

Hord earned his bachelor's degree in foods and nutrition from Michigan State University in 1983, his master's in human nutrition from Clemson University in 1988, his Ph.D. in nutrition from Purdue University in 1994 and a master's in public health from Johns Hopkins University in 1995. He completed a Cancer Prevention Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, from 1994-97.

Hord is internationally recognized for foundational work on dietary nitrate and nitrite — the food sources, the metabolism and the cardiovascular significance of plant-derived nitrate as a conditionally essential nutrient. His 2009 paper in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the first to provide dietary-pattern-based estimates of nitrate and nitrite intake from U.S. foods, has been cited more than 1,500 times and helped catalyze the modern reconsideration of plant-derived nitrate as a beneficial nutrient.

He currently serves as the original principal investigator on a USDA/NIH Office of Dietary Supplements-supported interagency project creating a new U.S. nitrate and nitrite food composition database to provide the quality food composition data needed for evidence-based dietary guidance.

He co-authored the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute workshop report on dietary nitrate and cardiovascular disease epidemiology, and his collaborative work helped establish plant-derived nitrate as a conditionally essential nutrient for cardiovascular health — research now informing the reconsideration of acceptable-daily-intake thresholds at NIH and USDA. His laboratory published the use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model organism for the metabolic and physiological effects of dietary nitrate, demonstrating that nitrate reprograms hepatic amino-acid and nutrient-sensing pathways before exercise, lowers the oxygen cost of exercise and shifts energy metabolism toward fatty-acid oxidation. Earlier in his career, with NIH support, he investigated molecular mechanisms by which dietary compounds and adipokines modulate colon epithelial cell biology and colorectal cancer risk; he served on the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and as faculty for the NCI Summer Curriculum in Cancer Prevention.

"Working with students has been the highlight of my career, and it remains one of its greatest honors," Hord says. "I look forward to getting to know HESC's students — their names, their stories and their ambitions — and to helping add to the school environment where every program, and every student, has the opportunity to thrive."

He has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in journals, including The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, PNAS Nexus, Aging, Nitric Oxide, the Journal of Applied Physiology and Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, with more than 4,600 Google Scholar citations, an h-index of 30 and an i10-index of 39. Hord serves as chair-elect of the Executive Committee for the 45th National Nutrient Databank Conference (2026-28) and is a regularly invited speaker at NIH, federal interagency meetings, and national and international scientific conferences.

In his new position, Hord will provide leadership across HESC's research, teaching and outreach programs, integrating Extension collaborations and advancing the school's academic, research and community impact within the Bumpers College and the university's 150 Forward strategic plan.

Hord succeeds Donna L. Graham, who has served as director since 2020. Graham is returning to the Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology, where she is a University Professor of agricultural education.

"Dr. Donna Graham has been a steadfast leader for the School of Human Environmental Sciences and a tireless advocate for its students, faculty and programs," Edwards says. "During her time as director, she helped strengthen the school's academic and outreach mission while building meaningful relationships with alumni, donors and community partners. I am grateful for her leadership, service and commitment to Bumpers College and the University of Arkansas, and I look forward to her continued contributions as a member of our faculty."

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X at @BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.