Gov.-elect Names Stacy Hurst To Heritage Department, Keeps Health Director

Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson will appoint Stacy Hurst to be the new Director at the Department of Arkansas Heritage and Dr. Nate Smith will remain the Director and State Health Officer at the Arkansas Department of Health.

Hurst – a former GOP State Representative candidate, Little Rock city director, and member of Hutchinson’s transition team – replaces Martha Miller at the Department of Heritage.

“Stacy is extremely bright and hardworking, and she understands the importance of protecting and preserving our state’s incredibly rich history and culture. I have no doubt she will do a remarkable job in her new position as the director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage,” Hutchinson said.

She is a former Vice Mayor of Little Rock and a past Chair of the Board of Trustees for The Nature Conservancy for Arkansas. She and her husband, Howard Hurst, own and operate Tipton & Hurst, a family-owned business started in Little Rock in 1886. They have five retail locations in central Arkansas. Hurst is a graduate of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She lives in Little Rock.

On Dr. Smith staying at the Department of Health, Hutchinson said, “Dr. Smith has done an exceptional job in his current role as director of the Arkansas Department of Health. He has worked effectively with both state and national resources to protect the lives of Arkansans while further improving our health and well-being as a whole, and I am pleased to announce that he will continue to serve the people of our state in my administration.”

Smith has been the Director and State Health Officer at the Arkansas Department of Health since 2013. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Director for Public Health Programs at ADH from 2010 to 2013 and the State Epidemiologist at ADH from 2009 to 2012.

Smith is a graduate of Rice University and earned his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine. He lives in Alexander.