His interest in technology led him to seek support of a multi-million dollar project designed to promote technology and the dissemination of resources in adult education. He was the recipient of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant to disseminate adult education information worldwide (1987-1993). The project established a national computer network for adult educators (AEDNET), one of the first online journals New Horizons in Adult Education, an extensive adult education archive, and innovative approaches to teaching and professional development including several international conferences and the development of online graduate courses.

His international contributions include serving as a visiting professor at Twente University, Enschede, the Netherlands, and as a visiting professor in adult education at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He also served as Consulting Editor for the International Journal of Lifelong Education (1986-1988) and the International Journal of Continuing Education (1994 to present).

Many publications in the field of adult education have been written, co-written, or co-edited by Dr. Hiemstra. Some of these are Creating Environments of Effective Adult Learning; Self-Direction in Adult Learning: Perspectives on Theory, Research, and Practice; Changing Approaches to Studying Adult Education; Lifelong Learning; and The Educative Community.

He has held leadership roles in organizations devoted to adult and continuing education, such as the Adult Education Association and the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education and was President of the Commission of Professors of Adult Education. He has served as editor of the journal Adult Education Quarterly, the major U.S. research journal in the field.