Dr. Noelle Hunter is a lecturer of Political Science. She earned her doctorate in political science from West Virginia University in 2005. She holds an MPA and a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Ohio University.
Dr. Hunter formerly served as dean of students at Ohio Valley University, and taught graduate and undergraduate courses at Morehead State University, West Virginia University, West Virginia Wesleyan University, and Maysville Community & Technical College.
In 2016, Dr. Hunter was appointed by Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Under her tenure, Kentucky's traffic fatality rate declined and seat belt use rose to the national average.
Dr. Hunter previously served as the Rollins Scholar for the West Virginia Legislature, the James E. Webb Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution Office of Policy and Analysis, and a doctoral fellow for the Southern Region Education Board (SREB). As a former journalist for a Kentucky community newspaper, Hunter won statewide awards for news reporting.
Dr. Hunter is the president and co-founder of iStand Parent Network Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to empowering parents to return their children from International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA). She successfully returned her daughter from international abduction and co-founded iStand to help other families reunite. iStand works cooperatively with local, state and federal agencies and international representatives to press for policy reform to strengthen prevention and response to IPCA.
