Kettering University has named Dr. Michael Smith as the Dean of the School of Management. As the Dean, Smith also holds an appointment as F. James McDonald Chair of Supply Chain Management.

In this new role at Kettering, Smith will oversee the School of Management. The School of Management offers an undergraduate degree in business administration and a variety of Master’s programs including Master of Science in Operations Management, Master of Science in Engineering Management, Master of Science in Supply Chain Management and Master of Business Administration (MBA).

“I am thrilled to appoint Dr. Smith as Dean of the School of Management,” said Dr. James Zhang, Kettering University Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. “Dr. Smith brings with him a tremendous track record as an administrator, researcher and faculty member at respected institutions in the United States and abroad. His experience offers tremendous opportunities to develop programs and research within the School of Management as well as collaborations with disciplines across the University and with industry partners.”

Most recently, Smith was the director of the Kimmel School of Construction Management and Kimmel Distinguished Professor at Western Carolina University, where he has also served as a Department Head and MBA Program Director. He has also held appointments as Assistant and Associate Professor of Management and International Business, and Professor of Global Management and Strategy at Western Carolina. He has been a visiting professor at Michigan State University, Portland State University and the University of Innsbruck, in Innsbruck, Austria.

“I am delighted to join the faculty, staff and students at Kettering to craft and implement a vision of management education that is distinctive and leverages the particular strengths that exist at Kettering University,” Smith said. “I believe that Kettering is uniquely positioned to foster future business leaders that are technologically savvy, and engineers and other disciplinary leaders who are management savvy. I am pleased to join the members of the Kettering community in shaping leaders who are well-prepared to participate in solving the problems that our society will face in the future.”

Smith is an internationally recognized authority in research, practice and policy associated with Supply Chain Risk Management and the wider domain of Supply Chain Management. His research includes supply chain risk management, sources of innovation in the evolving field of supply chain management, the role of supply chain management in economic development, and the need for construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure to support economic vitality. He is a member of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), and has served as the Chair of ISM’s Indirect Sourcing Group. He is also a member of the International Supply Chain Risk Management Network, and the Academy of Management. He has worked extensively with the Purchasing Management Association of Canada, and its successor, the Supply Chain Management Association.

Smith earned a Ph.D. in Systems Science: Business Administration with a major in Strategic Management at Portland State University. He also completed a leadership development program offered by the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education. Prior to completion of the doctorate, Smith spent more than 15 years in executive roles, with leadership in the manufacturing and service sectors, in both small and relatively large organizations, and in both private and government organizations.

Smith and his wife Brigid have four grown children.