6/30/09

Andrew Hurt, a human resource development (HRD) doctoral student in the Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development, has accepted an assistant professor tenure-track position at Purdue University.

Hurt will start as a faculty member in Purdue's organizational leadership and supervision department in August.

He will defend his dissertation this summer. Senior Professor Gary McLean and Associate Professor Susan Lynham, now at Colorado State University, are co-chairing his dissertation entitled "Exploring the Paradigms of Human Resource Development." The dissertation provides an empirical validation of a developing model of HRD called the HRD Cube, which was developed by Lynham. In the dissertation, Hurt uses the HRD Cube to identify some of the predominant paradigms that exist within HRD as an area of theory, research and practice.

Hurt said the HRD program at Texas A&M University has done an excellent job of preparing him for academia.

"The courses have been strong and have provided me with a wealth of knowledge about HRD," he said. "The faculty in the HRD program is among the best in the world. They are exemplary teachers and learned scholars. I have learned a lot by getting to know each of the faculty, both in the classroom and on a personal level."