Dr. Nicholas D. Hartlep has been elected to serve on the Kentucky Humanities board of directors. 

During his term on the 23-person volunteer board, Hartlep will help set policies, award project grants to community organizations, and participate in fundraising to help meet the growing demand for Kentucky Humanities’ programs. Based in Lexington, Kentucky Humanities and its community partners across the Commonwealth invest more than $1 million annually in support of public humanities programs throughout the state.

Dr. Hartlep is the Robert Charles Billings Endowed Chair in Education at Berea College where he chairs the Department of Education Studies.

Prior to his tenure at Berea College, Hartlep chaired the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education at Metropolitan State University, an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) in St. Paul, Minnesota. While there he also served as the Graduate Program Coordinator.

Hartlep has published 22 books, including What Makes a Star Teacher? Seven Dispositions that Encourage Student Learning which was published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. His book The Neoliberal Agenda and the Student Debt Crisis in U.S. Higher Education, with Lucille L. T. Eckrich and Brandon O. Hensley was named an Outstanding Book by the Society of Professors of Education.

During his years in academia, Hartlep has received many awards including the John Saltmarsh Award for Emerging Leaders in Civic Engagement by the Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Community Engaged Scholarship Award and the President’s Circle of Engagement Award from Metropolitan State University, a Graduate of the Last Decade Award for his prolific writing from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, the University Research Initiative Award from Illinois State University, and a Distinguished Young Alumni Award from Winona State University.

He serves on the boards of the Kentucky Association of Schools Councils, the Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the Korean American Educational Researchers Association, an Advisory Council Member for the Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, and State Co-Leader for the Kentucky Scholars Strategy Network. 

Hartlep earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Science in K-12 Education from Winona State University, and a Ph.D. in Urban Education from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.