Dr. Ami Smith Named Interim Vice President for Research and Public Service at WVSU

9/2/2021

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Contact: Jack Bailey
(304) 766-4109
jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
           
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Dr. Ami M. Smith has been named interim vice president for research and public service and dean and director of land-grant programs at West Virginia State University (WVSU), effective immediately.
                       
Smith has served as the university’s associate vice president for public service and director of WVSU Extension Service since 2015 and previously served as interim associate vice president for research from 2015 to 2018.
                       
“Dr. Smith has a strong history of leadership and service to West Virginia State University in a variety of management roles, and I trust in her vision to continue to grow our research and public service initiatives for the benefit of the citizens of West Virginia,” said Vice President and Chief of Staff Ericke S. Cage. “She will be a valuable member of the university’s senior leadership team.”

In the interim vice president role, Smith will provide administrative oversight for the WVSU Agricultural and Environmental Research Station (AERS); WVSU Extension Service; the WVSU Center for the Advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (CASTEM); and will work to strengthen the land-grant research and outreach programs throughout the university. 

“I am excited for the opportunity to help further WVSU's research and public service mission as an 1890 land-grant institution, and look forward to continuing to work with the passionate and talented scientists, students and extension educators whose work impacts people all over West Virginia,” Smith said.

Prior to her role as associate vice president, Smith served as associate dean and associate director of WVSU Extension Service, director and program leader of WVSU CASTEM, and assistant research professor and postdoctoral scientist for WVSU AERS. She obtained a doctorate degree in biosciences from the University of Exeter and a bachelor’s degree in biology from WVSU.

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West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi‐generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.
 
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