Mark Smith promoted to associate vice chancellor for students

Will oversee Office for International Students and Scholars and continue to head Career Center

Associate Vice Chancellor for Students Mark W. Smith, JD. (Credit: Jerry Naunheim Jr. )

Mark W. Smith, JD, assistant vice chancellor and director of the Career Center, has been promoted to associate vice chancellor for students and will continue as director of the Career Center, announced Sharon Stahl, PhD, vice chancellor for students. In his new role, he will also oversee the Office for International Students and Scholars.

“As the leader of the Career Center, Mark Smith has increased both the visibility and impact of our efforts to help undergraduate students with their transition from Washington University,” says Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. “He encourages his team to use a student-centered approach designed to match student interests with job opportunities. I am grateful for his important contributions to helping our students find success after graduation.”

Prior to joining the Career Center in 2004, Smith spent 14 years as associate dean of student affairs at the School of Law. He has taught courses at the School of Law and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and currently teaches a legal strategy course in the Olin Business School’s Executive MBA program. He also teaches a freshmen FOCUS course, “Law and Society.” Before joining the law school, Smith practiced law in the St. Louis office of Bryan Cave.

Stahl says that Smith has done a wonderful job guiding the Career Center during the past eight years, including bringing it greater visibility in the Danforth University Center and making it a vibrant resource for all students, regardless of their major or school affiliation.

“Our students are getting placed more than ever before in great jobs and internships, and that is due to the hard work of Mark and his team in working individually with students and bringing an increasing number of employers to campus,” Stahl says. “Mark is wonderful with students and is a highly effective manager of people.

“His collaborative leadership style allows all those around him to exercise their own initiatives and ideas, so he will be a great addition to the already strong team in the Office for International Students and Scholars. He is always a positive thinker and has a great sense of humor and collegiality. He brings out the best in everyone.”

Smith says he looks forward to his expanded role working with the university’s international students and faculty members.

“I have really enjoyed working with [assistant vice chancellor] Kathy Steiner-Lang over the last 20 years, and I look forward to becoming more involved with the Office of International Students and Scholars,” he says. “The office plays such a critical role at the university, and it is great to become part of such a successful operation.”

Last June, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Smith to serve on the Midwestern Higher Education Commission, a regional body that serves 12 states and advances higher education through interstate cooperation and resource sharing.

Smith graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1982 and earned a JD from Washington University School of Law in 1986. In 2004, Smith ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in the Third Congressional District of Missouri. He also is active in community and civic organizations and served as president of the Board of Police Commissioners for the City of St. Louis. He is a regular commentator on St. Louis Public Radio’s “Legal Roundtable.”

He is married to Lisa Braun, assistant vice chancellor and associate general counsel at WUSTL. They have four children, Will (16), Michael (15), Laura (11), and Caroline (5). Smith volunteers as a scout leader, coaches a girls’ soccer team, and hosts marathon Risk games for his children and their friends.