Heather Smith, Ph.D.

Heather Smith, Ph.D. is the Faculty Director of the Levine Scholars Program. Since its inception. Dr. Smith has supported LSP across several roles most recently as its Faculty Fellow providing oversight to civic engagement, undergraduate research, and study abroad. She is also a Professor of Geography and her department’s former Interim Chair and Ph.D. Program Director. Her research on immigration and urban settlement contributed to her receipt of the 2019 Distinguished Scholars Award from the American Association of Geographers’ Ethnic Geography Specialty Group and the 2014 Provost’s Faculty Award for Community Engagement. Her student mentoring has earned her both campus and national-level recognition. She is the recipient of UNC Charlotte’s 2017 Harshini V. De Silva Graduate Mentor Award and the 2023 Susan W. Hardwick Award for Excellence in Mentoring from the American Association of Geographers. A Morehead Scholar, she earned her undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduate degrees in her native Canada.