With more than 30 years of experience as a public relations practitioner, communications manager and journalist, Dr. Smith has worked in the nonprofit, government and media sectors.  She began teaching full-time at Morgan in 2017.  Previously, she taught as an adjunct professor at The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, Montgomery College, Prince George's Community College, the Laurel College Center and Morgan.  Currently, Dr. Smith serves as faculty advisor to The Strategy Shop, the Strategic Communication Department's student-run public relations agency lab.  Her dissertation was entitled “Fatherhood Public Service Messages Targeted to African-American Men: Content and Perception.”

Dr. Smith is the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Communications Director for the Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL), an 80 plus-year-old nonprofit social services and civil rights organization.  Formerly, she was the  Associate Director – Information Services for the District Government's Department of Human Rights, an enforcement agency that handled civil rights investigations in the city.  Some noted cases included those on women's rights and dress codes for the District's public safety employees, which received national media attention.  She also worked as a consultant in creative services for a major public relations firm in Washington, DC and as a daily newspaper reporter and editor in Charlotte, NC.  She has been the recipient of various awards including the Smart COO Award from Smart CEO Magazine DC in 2011.

Dr. Smith likes zigzag lines, the color purple and North Carolina barbecue.  She is the mother of a grown daughter, Nairobi.

Research Interests:

Public Relations Career Opportunities and Retention for African Americans; Strategic Communications and Public Policy; and Health Communications for Multicultural Publics