Dr. Tonya Smith-Jackson North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Provost Dr. Tonya Smith-Jackson has been appointed chance...
Dr. Tonya Smith-Jackson
Smith-Jackson, a human factors engineer who has served as provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at NC A&T since 2013, will assume her new role on August 1. Her appointment was approved unanimously by the Rutgers Board of Governors and announced jointly by current President Dr. Jonathan Holloway and President-designate Dr. William F. Tate IV.
“Tonya Smith-Jackson is a person of principles and values who has dedicated her professional life to making transformative changes in higher education,” Holloway said in announcing the appointment.
At NC A&T, the nation's largest historically Black college and university, Smith-Jackson has overseen remarkable growth and innovation. Under her leadership, the university has launched three new doctoral programs and created the state's first bachelor's degree program in artificial intelligence. She has also presided over dramatic increases in both research staff and graduate assistants.
Her tenure at NC A&T has been marked by the establishment of three new Centers of Excellence focused on cybersecurity, product design and manufacturing, and entrepreneurship and innovation. Smith-Jackson also led the university's successful recognition as an anchor institution by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
Prior to her current role, Smith-Jackson chaired NC A&T's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and directed multiple research initiatives, including a cybersecurity center, the Human Factors Analytics Lab, and the laboratory for Cyber-Human Analytics Research for the Internet of Things.
Smith-Jackson brings a unique blend of academic, corporate, and government experience to her new role. She holds a doctorate in psychology/ergonomics and an interdisciplinary Master of Science degree in psychology and industrial engineering.
Before joining NC A&T, she spent 14 years at Virginia Tech, advancing from assistant professor to full professor of industrial and systems engineering. Her professional experience also includes engineering roles at IBM and Ericsson Mobile Communications, as well as a year-long appointment as program director in the National Science Foundation's Cyber-Human Systems Program from 2018-2019.
Smith-Jackson said that her approach to higher education leadership is deeply rooted in personal experience and family values.
“Inspired by my parents’ belief in education as a pathway to liberation, meaning and purpose, I've dedicated my life to helping others obtain college degrees and upward mobility,” she said.
President-designate Tate said that Smith-Jackson's background positions her well for the role.
“As an engineer with contributions to human factors research, she brings a systems-oriented, people-centered approach well suited to leading an urban university,” Tate said. “I look forward to partnering with her to expand opportunity pathways, advance impactful research and promote economic development for the region and the state.”
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