Dr. Lillian Smith 

Dean, College of Health and Human Services, Northern Arizona University

Dr. Lillian Upton Smith is Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Northern Arizona University. Previously, she was Department Head and a Professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Health in the College of Health Sciences School of Allied Health at Boise State University. Prior to that, she served as the Assistant Dean for Practice and Community Engagement at the University of South Carolina and the Associate Dean for Community Engagement at the West Virginia University School of Public Health. Dr. Smith’s work involves developing systems and infrastructure to improve reciprocal relationships between the academy and communities. She builds partnerships through engagement, authentic assessment, improvement planning, and workforce development. Dr. Smith has been the Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on contracts and grants totaling nearly $10,000,000.

Dr. Smith earned her BA in English with an emphasis in Business Communications and a Certificate in Business and Technical Communication from East Carolina University. She began her post-baccalaureate career by earning both her Master of Public Health at Emory and her Certificate in Adult and Distance Education at Penn State University through distance education. She concluded her graduate training with a Doctorate of Public Health at USC.