Emilie Smith

Professor - Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Dr. Emilie Smith is a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, and the College of Social Science Distinguished Scholar.  She is the Director of the MSU Youth Equity Project, an interdisciplinary group focused upon reducing disparities and increasing opportunities for marginalized youth. Smith identifies as a developmentally oriented prevention scientist whose research focuses upon the family, community and socio-cultural factors that influence child development.  She has directed and been involved in research funded for over 50 million dollars evaluating evidence-based practices for supporting families, schools, and communities in the prevention of problem behavior and promotion of positive youth development. Her work draws upon rigorous cluster-randomized trials to explore the ways in which families and communities foster racial-ethnic identity and socialization and, their roles in children’s socio-emotional, academic, and positive youth development.  She has won awards for her cutting-edge work at the college and university levels, and most recently received the Advances in Culture and Diversity from the Society for Prevention Research (SPR).  She serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Community Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology (CDEMP), and the Journal of Family Psychology (JFP).    Dr. Smith is newly elected to the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development, is a former Chair of the Ethnic-Racial Issues Committee and she is a Fellow of Division 27 (SCRA) of the American Psychological Association.

Emilie Smith is Ampson Hagan's mentor.