Biography

Nicole Farmer Hurd became the 18th President of Lafayette College on July 1, 2021.

Photo of Nicole Farmer Hurd

Nicole Farmer Hurd

She joined Lafayette after serving as the founder and CEO of College Advising Corps, the largest college-access organization in the nation.

Known as a tireless advocate for increasing student opportunity, Hurd has initiated a number of major initiatives to expand access at Lafayette, including decisions that have made it the first liberal arts college to waive a complex financial aid form for students from high-poverty high schools, quadrupled to $200,000 the family-income level below which financial aid consists exclusively of grants and no loans, and reduced the number of activities requested of students on the Common App. 

Hurd is simultaneously leading two critical College-wide processes to strengthen the excellence and impact of Lafayette as it prepares for its bicentennial in 2026: developing a strategic plan and creating a master plan for the physical campus. Together, these initiatives will guide the College’s priorities and drive student success, including educational outcomes, residential experiences, investments in athletics and wellness, and a commitment to innovative creativity and community engagement for years to come. 

An early indicator of Hurd’s focus on student opportunity included securing an unprecedented gift from Chip Bergh ’79 H’22, retired President and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., and his wife, Juliet, who created the Bergh Family Fellows program that will support 200 students engaging in undergraduate research, internships, and global experiences annually through a $5.25 million gift.

Prior to becoming Lafayette’s president, Hurd was honored as a 2016 White House Champion of Change for College Opportunity, selected as a Featured Innovator by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and named by Washington Monthly as one the most innovative people in higher education, among other accolades. 

Hurd holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of Virginia. She and her husband, Bill, have one student in college and another in graduate school and three dogs on campus.

 

Selected honors

  • White House Champion of Change for College Opportunity (2016)
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Featured Innovator (2016)
  • Franklin & Marshall College honorary doctorate in humane letters (2018)
  • Time magazine’s Top 31 People Who Are Changing the South (2018)
  • Washington Monthly’s list of the most innovative people in higher education (2016)
  • Chronicle of Higher Education’s Influence List (2014)

Selected accomplishments

  • College Advising Corps
    • Created, scaled and led a $53 million nonprofit organization that has become the largest college-access program in the country, helping more than 525,000 low-income, underrepresented and first-generation students enroll in college.
    • Led national staff and consortium of 31 university partners that supported 803 advisers in 795 high schools across 17 states.
    • Secured more than $90 million in philanthropic gifts, including four $10 million-plus investments.
    • Recruited a board of directors that includes a former White House chief of staff, a former president of New York University, a former chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the chairman of Bloomberg L.P.
  • University of Virginia
    • Founded UVA’s College Guide Program, the precursor to the College Advising Corps.
    • Worked with successful Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Fulbright, and Truman scholar candidates.

Selected Publications

  • Hurd, Nicole Farmer, with Drew Magilozzi. “Building an Empathy Engine for Higher Education,” Forbes, 11 May 2020.
  • Hurd, Nicole Farmer, with co-authors Eileen Horng, Brent J. Evans, Anthony Lising Antonio, Jesse Foster, Hoori S. Kalamkarian, Eric Bettinger. “Lessons learned from a data-driven college access program: The National College Advising Corps,” New Directions for Youth Development, March 2014.
  • Hurd, Nicole Farmer. “Defining Higher Education Success,” U.S. News & World Report, 13 September 2011.
  • Tierney, W. G., Bailey, T., Constantine, J., Finkelstein, N., & Hurd, N. F. (2009). Helping students navigate the path to college: What high schools can do: A practice guide (NCEE #2009-4066). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, September 2009.
  • Ayers, Edward L. and Hurd, Nicole Farmer. “Flagship Universities Must Pursue Excellence and Access,” Chronicle of Higher Education, 22 April 2005.

Selected Presentations

  • “The Class,” developing forthcoming docuseries with College Advising Corps Board member, Daveed Diggs, and Three Frame Media, release date in late 2021.
  • “The Edge: 4 Lessons in Digital Strategy from a Year of Remote Advising,” an interview with Goldie Blumenstyk, Chronicle of HIgher Education, April 14, 2021
  • “Education and Increasing Opportunity.” Remarks at Education Writers Association National Seminar, May 31, 2017.
  • “Deepening Impact through Coordinated Action.” Keynote Panelist at Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship Annual Conference, March 27, 2017.
  • “Advising with Impact.” Keynote panelist at College Board Forum with Congressman Joaquin Castro and College Board President David Coleman, October 27, 2016.
  • “College Opportunity: Advising and Increasing the Pool.” Panelist at White House Summit on College Opportunity with Gene Sperling, January 16, 2014.
  • “Can a Public University Be Both Accessible and First-Rate?” with Edward L. Ayers. Presentation at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, San Francisco, California, January 2005.