Nicole Hurd

Hurd began her career at the University of Virginia where she served as an Assistant Dean and as the Director of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence. It was at the University of Virginia where she created the College Guide Program which was the precursor to the College Advising Corps. Due to its initial success the College Guide Program received a $10 million grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation which allowed it to expand into ten other states.^[2]

After the expansion of the College Guide Program, Hurd moved to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to develop the College Advising Corps.^[3] Since its inception in 2005, it has helped an estimated 300,000 students enroll in college. Its goal of 1 million students is hoped to be reached by 2025.^[3] Due to its success, Hurd was honored at the White House in 2016 as a "Champion of Change for College Opportunity".^[4]

In 2018, Hurd was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Franklin and Marshall College,^[1] and was recognized as one of Time Magazine's Top 31 People Who Are Changing the South.^[3] She has also been recognized on The Chronicle of Higher Education's Influence List,^[5][6] and Washington Monthly's list of most innovative people in higher education.^[7]

On July 1, 2021, Hurd became the 18th president of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.^[8] In January 2025, she became the first president in the college's history to lose a no-confidence vote from the faculty.^[9]

Hurd's husband, Bill, previously worked at Georgetown University in the athletics department. Together they have two children.^[10]