Amie Hufton was an instructor in the diving program at Texas A&M University at Galveston when Hurricane Ike made landfall in September 2008. She was also a lifeguard supervisor at Galveston Island Beach Patrol at the time, and she was temporarily called back to the devastated island to conduct welfare checks and deliver emergency food and water to stranded residents while the rest of the campus relocated to College Station.
Dr. Hufton witnessed firsthand how the storm flooded the island from the bay inward, catching residents by surprise even as the seawall protected the beachfront. That initial week of post-Hurricane emergency response work sparked a fundamental shift in her professional focus.
Research Born from Disaster Recovery Work
After the initial crisis passed, Dr. Hufton connected with researchers studying community resilience and household recovery in Galveston. The collaboration introduced her to questions that would eventually define her academic trajectory. How do displaced populations maintain their health? What happens to communities in the long aftermath of natural disasters?
These questions led her to the Population Health Sciences PhD program at UTMB, where she worked closely with Dr. John Prochaska. Her dissertation examined the long-term influence of natural disasters on depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, and limitations in daily living among older Mexican Americans.
The research drew on UTMB's well-known H-EPESE study, and Amie credits a course with Dr. Kyriakos Markides on minorities and aging as a turning point in crystallizing her focus.
Dr. Hufton graduated in 2023 as part of the first cohort that could choose to receive their degree from the newly accredited School of Public and Population Health. She completed her dissertation while working full-time at The Ohio State University, where she had started as ABD in fall 2022.
Dr. Peek presents Amie Hufton with a certificate recognizing her receipt of the Laura Ray Scholarship, awarded by UTMB’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2019.
Path to PhD
Dr. Hufton earned her bachelor's degree in marine biology from Texas A&M Galveston in 2002, followed by a master's in marine resource management in 2010. Between degrees, she built expertise in underwater research, risk management, and water safety through her work with the TAMUG diving program and Galveston Island Beach Patrol.
She joined the A&M Galveston faculty before earning her doctorate, a circumstance made possible by the specialized expertise and credentials required to teach in the diving program. This background gave her familiarity with working in higher education while she pursued her pivot toward population health and social epidemiology.
Teaching at Ohio State
Today Dr. Hufton serves as a Clinical Associate Professor of epidemiology at the College of Public Health at The Ohio State University.
She teaches over 800 students each year, in courses including Epidemiology in Public Health, Public Health Field Investigation, and Methods in Social Epidemiology. Amie has become known among students for implementing opportunities for application of practical skills, like data management in Excel and professional communication with the public, across her courses. She understands from experience that applied competencies serve graduates whether they continue to advanced study or to public health practice.
In May 2025, OSU’s College of Public Health recognized Dr. Hufton with its Excellence in Teaching Award. Colleagues who nominated her praised her ability to build genuine connections with students and create learning environments that encourage them to move beyond their comfort zones. They described her as someone with a true gift for teaching others how to teach.
Encouraging the Next Generation
Dr. Hufton frequently shares her nontraditional career path with anxious students who feel pressure to have their futures mapped out. She tells them that unexpected pivots can lead to meaningful work, and that pursuing their passions is worthwhile, even if it’s difficult or uncertain.
She views her students as junior colleagues and brings an encourager's approach to mentoring graduate teaching assistants. Her philosophy reflects her years in rescue work—to help others effectively, you must first take care of yourself. She carries this perspective into advising students navigating uncertainty in the public health field, reminding them that working with incomplete information and uncertainty has frequently been part of the discipline.
With a career spanning twenty years in higher education, Dr. Hufton remains energized by her work at land-grant universities, seeing herself primarily as a public servant in the multiple roles she has held throughout her career.