Smith-Jackson Named Interim Provost for North Carolina A&T

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Dec. 1, 2021) – A research engineer with extensive academic leadership experience, including a stint as a program director at the National Science Foundation, will be the new interim provost and executive vice chancellor of Academic Affairs at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. announced today.

Tonya Smith-Jackson, Ph.D., has worked for North Carolina A&T since 2013, most recently as senior vice provost for Academic Affairs. She originally joined A&T as a professor and chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and founder/director of the Human Factors Analytics Laboratory.

In the eight years since, she has held a variety of positions with increasing levels of responsibility, including founder and co-director of the Cyber-Human Analytics Research for the Internet-of-Things Laboratory, director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Identity Sciences and Graduate Program director for Industrial and Systems Engineering. In 2018-19, she took leave for a year to serve as program director of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate, Information and Intelligent Systems Division in the Cyber-Human Systems Program of the NSF. The foundation funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by U.S. colleges and universities.

“Dr. Smith-Jackson’s deep regard for this university, her extensive leadership experience in academia, her keen understanding of strategic focus and priorities for the university and her boundless energy make her the ideal candidate to lead the Division of Academic Affairs through this period,” said Martin. “I look forward to working with her to continue our excellent progress in realizing our many university priorities, particularly those around student success.”

Smith-Jackson earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before completing her master’s degree in psychology and industrial engineering and a Ph.D. in psychology/ergonomics at North Carolina State University.

She served in a variety of teaching, research and consulting capacities for such organizations as IBM and Ericsson, as well multiple colleges and governmental agencies before joining Virginia Tech in 1999. She served Virginia Tech in multiple roles, including founder and director of the Assessment and Cognitive Ergonomics Laboratory, co-director of the Safety Engineering Laboratory and the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory and director of the Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics Center.

She was also a scholar-in-residence for a year at the Human Factors Division of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Engineering Sciences Directorate in Bethesda, Maryland, and completed her time at Virginia Tech as a professor of industrial and systems engineering.

Smith-Jackson begins service in the new role Jan. 1, 2022.