Michael R. Smith, Ph.D. Named Georgia Southern University Vice Provost

March 29, 2012

Michael R. Smith, Ph.D. has been named Georgia Southern University’s vice provost. Smith is currently dean of the University’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS), and will begin his new role on July 1.

As vice provost, Smith will play an instrumental role in guiding the strategic academic vision of the University. The College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, of which Dean Smith has served for nearly three years, is the largest college at Georgia Southern and includes more than 250 faculty members in 10 academic departments.

Before coming to Georgia Southern University, Smith was a tenured professor and the chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.

During his distinguished career, Smith has also held faculty positions at Washington State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Sam Houston State University and the University of Colorado at Denver.

Smith is the author of more than 25 articles published in social science and law review journals and is a nationally recognized speaker and presenter on police integrity matters, including racial profiling and the use of force.    He has served as a consultant to the United States Department of Justice and as an investigator on numerous federal, state and local research grants and contracts.

He received a B.S. in Administration of Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University, a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law and a Ph.D. from the School of Justice Studies at Arizona State University.