Dr. Deirdra Robinson named new director of MSU at Prestonsburg
A long-time educator who has prepared many social workers to make a positive impact in Kentucky is the new director of Morehead State University at Prestonsburg.
Dr. Deirdra Robinson, who has worked as an assistant professor of social work and social work facilitator at MSU at Prestonsburg, took on this new role this summer.
Growing up in Paintsville, Robinson was inspired by an unlikely source to pursue social work: Prince's 1984 rock drama "Purple Rain" and its themes of healing, advocacy and community.
"That is when I decided to be the somebody everybody says should do something," she said. "Every single lane of our profession...is helping people and making our community and world a little better than we found it."
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Kentucky in 1993 and 1994, respectively, Robinson began teaching at UK in 1999. She was working as the director of the MSW program at UK in Hazard when a colleague, Dr. Latonya Hesterberg (Class of 1984), reached out and asked if she was interested in coming to serve as instructor and field director for the Bachelor of Social Work program at MSU in 2010.
"I was so excited about it because I knew MSU was about students and that's what I wanted," Robinson said.
She has been working to grow the social work program in Prestonsburg while working on a Ph.D. in Social Work from UK, which she completed in 2024.
Robinson said her primary goal is to expand MSU at Prestonsburg's presence in multiple ways in the Kentucky counties it serves, along with aspirations to build a Collegiate Recovery Resource Center for students in recovery and a tighter student community.
"There are so many barriers to higher education - stigma, money, access, support - that many people who would be amazing professionals just choose not to even try," Robinson said. "I want to make sure MSU at Prestonsburg is a campus where everyone is given a chance and provides the support they need to achieve. When we work to help others succeed, we help ourselves."
Dr. Deirdra Robinson can be reached at d.robinson@moreheadstate.edu or 606-783-9226.
To learn more about MSU at Prestonsburg, contact prestonsburg@moreheadstate.edu, 606-886-2405 or 606-783-5421.
