John Baur, associate vice president for research and graduate studies, announced the appointment of Amy Hurd as the director of the Graduate School at Illinois State University. Hurd has served as interim director since December of 2013.
“I am confident that the Graduate School is in good hands as we move into the future with Dr. Hurd at the helm,” said Baur. “Her vision for the Graduate School and her enthusiasm for Illinois State will serve us well.”
Hurd will continue to oversee a graduate program that includes 2,300 students in 85 master’s degree, 14 doctoral degree, and 25 certificate programs. She will also work closely with approximately 50 internal graduate coordinators and support staff, as well as maintain relationships with external funding sources.
A professor in the School of Kinesiology and Recreation, Hurd also served as the graduate program director for the school. Her research focuses on competency development and succession planning, and has appeared in more than 50 journals and book chapters, including the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, Biomedical Human Kinetics, New Directions for Youth Development and Activities, Adaptation & Aging. She is the recipient grants from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
Hurd’s service to Illinois State includes working with search committees and the Academic Planning Committee, leadership positions on the College of Applied Science and Technology Council and working with the Graduate Curriculum Committee. She chaired the University’s committee for the National Collegiate Athletics Association certification for Gender, Diversity and Student Well Being, which won the Illinois State TEAM Excellence Award.
She has served the National Recreation and Park Association as a member of the American Park and Recreation Society Board of Directors and chaired numerous board committees including publications and awards.
Hurd earned a Ph.D. in leisure behavior from Indiana University in 2001. She has taught sustainable tourism at Srinakharinwirot University in Thailand as a visiting scholar, and traveled to Opole University of Technology in Poland and Mendoza, Argentina, with students.
