There is no questioning it: Dr. William Smith is a rock-star researcher, educator, administrator, social justice academic and mentor. This year alone, two separate committees awarded him mentorship awards: the Graduate School presented him the Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Distinguished Mentor Award, while the American Educational Research Association named him as a recipient of the Spencer Foundation’s Spencer Mentor Award.

In addition to his numerous accolades, Dr. Smith is also recognized for his research on racial battle fatigue and role as a co-founder of the African American Doctoral Scholars Initiative Program, which seeks to nurture, mentor, and graduate more Black scholars from every graduate program at the university.

Dr. Smith professor and chair in the department of Education, Culture & Society and holds a joint appointment in the division of Ethnic Studies. Read more about Dr. Smith’s recent mentorship awards here.