When a group of people, led by Director of Undergraduate Research Marisa Moazen, filed into Anne Smith’s Management 435 during the last week of class, she was under the impression they were going to present one of her students with an award. After handing her lecture over to Moazen, Smith was surprised to find that she had been selected as one of four recipients of the Undergraduate Faculty Research Mentor of the Year awards for the 2015-16 academic year.
Smith serves as the King and Judy Rogers Professor in Business, professor of management, and head of the Department of Management for the Haslam College of Business.
“Professor Smith is the consummate scholar,” said Stephen L. Mangum, dean of the Haslam College of Business and Stokely Foundation Leadership Chair. “She is intellectually curious, gifted in her ability to ask interesting questions, and well versed in a wide variety of alternative research methodologies and protocols she seamlessly blends her research and teaching activities. Given this, a student with research interests cannot help but come away positively influenced by their association with her.”
Students Sara Aronson and Piper Davis nominated their professor for this award. “Dr. Smith was an excellent thesis mentor for my project,” said Davis. “Sometimes I would feel as if I had hit a roadblock or my topic was too obscure. However, during our meetings, her suggestions would resonate with me in a way that reignited my passion for my project. Dr. Smith truly cares about each one of her students and their individual projects.”
Charles Noble, associate dean for research of the college, called Smith a “wonderful faculty exemplar of the ability to blend the scholarship of research and teaching,” and praised her ability to connect with her students.
Smith received her doctorate and MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia. She is a researcher and educator with a number of prestigious publications and previous awards to her name.