Sonya G. Smith, J.D., Ed.D., M.Ed., M.A.
Dr. Sonya G. Smith is ADEA Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief of Staff (COS) and has overall strategic and operational responsibility for the ADEA’s functional areas and programs to ensure that clear strategies, procedures and policies are established that can be measured and achieved. Additionally, Dr. Smith is the second-in-command at the Association and acts on behalf of the ADEA President and CEO in their absence. As the ADEA COO/COS, Dr. Smith also leads the day-to-day operations and manages several of ADEA’s senior division Chiefs, the Office of the President and CEO staff, the Governance team, Board Relations and Human Resources. She works collaboratively with the ADEA senior leadership to monitor and ensure practices, policies, procedures, resources and initiatives are in place to support a highly effective and focused management strategy. This includes monitoring and implementing activities and innovations to promote continuous fiscal and organizational accountability and build a culture that fosters a high performance, results-oriented team positioned to maximize ADEA’s mission and serve its 65K stakeholders. Having served previously as the ADEA Chief Diversity Office, Dr. Smith also has led efforts to further promote diversity, access, equity, justice, belongingness and inclusion in oral health education and the academic health professions. These efforts include the development of ADEA’s first access, diversity and inclusion strategic framework; the inaugural faculty diversity toolkit; the inaugural dental education-wide climate assessment; and the health equity resources to support historically underserved communities and marginalized populations.
Dr. Smith also served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs & Enrollment Services at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Additionally, she worked at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), previously serving as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs/Chief Student Affairs Officer and the Associate Professor of Health Services Research Administration in the College of Public Health. Prior to her appointment at UNMC, she served as the Associate to the President and the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs for Diversity at the University of Nebraska System. Dr. Smith’s other professional experiences include serving as a Public Policy Consultant for the Office of the General Counsel for the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, Tennessee Department of Health - General Counsel’s Office and the TennCare Bureau in the areas of health care policy, compliance, health inequities, legislation, and access issues related to underrepresented and underserved populations.
Dr. Smith has published articles on women in global health leadership, academic freedom and free speech, diversifying the health professions, legal challenges to campus equal opportunity programs and reducing health disparities. Her service over the years includes numerous committees such as the National Hispanic Medical Association’s Health Scholars Advisory Committee, George Mason University’s Social Mission National Advisory Committee and the National Medical Fellowships’ National Advisory Council Primary Care Leadership Program. Additionally, Dr. Smith served two terms as the Vice Chair of the Health Law Section of the Diversity Committee for the American Bar Association. Her work also includes serving as a Co-principal Investigator for the national Summer Health Professions Education Program.
Dr. Smith has been named one of the 2024 100 Top Diversity Officer and a 2022 Influencer by the National Diversity Council. She also received the 2023 ADEA Chief Coaching Champion Award, the 2021 ADEA Change Agent Award and a 2022 ADEA Chair of the Board Citation for her leadership efforts in diversity and inclusion. Dr. Smith is also the recipient of the Vanderbilt Law School’s Bennett Douglas Bell Memorial Prize and Philip G. Davidson III Memorial Award.
Dr. Smith holds a B.S. in History, M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction and an Ed.S. in Administration & Supervision from Middle Tennessee State University. She received her doctorate in Higher Education Administration and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Vanderbilt University and completed a certificate in international law at the Tulane University Institute of European Legal Studies in Paris, France. Dr. Smith completed her M.A. in Global Affairs and Management at the Arizona State University Thunderbird School of Global Management. Her other certifications include Title IX Hearing Officer from the Cornell University Diversity and Inclusion and Civil Rights Investigator.