Brian K. Smith
Brian K. Smith is Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor in the College of Computing and Informatics at Drexel University. He also has an appointment in its School of Education's learning technologies program. In 2017-18, he was on rotation as a program officer at the National Science Foundation in the Division of Research on Learning. Educational Background. Smith was awarded an Ph.D in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University, and his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering at UCLA. Academic career. He was an assistant & associate professor of Media Arts and  Sciences in the MIT Media Laboratory from 1997-2002, where he conducted research on software for use in education, particularly software incorporating multimedia with an emphasis on visual features and design. His research during this time covered different aspects of education, including music, biology, and history. His research during this time also included the potential benefits of a multimedia approach to patient counseling and education. Smith was an associate professor of Information Sciences and Technology and Education at Pennsylvania State University., where he was the principal investigator for its Medical Informatics Research Initiative and Director of its Solutions Institute. At  Pennsylvania State, he continued educational multimedia software research, branching out into studies of physically active computer gaming and Fantasy basketball. He was also a member of the panel that produced the National Research Council report, "Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and Pursuits". He was the Dean of Rhode Island School of Design's Continuing Education division (RISD|CE) from 2010-13. At RISD, he was involved in "STEM to STEAM", an initiative to strengthen ties between art/design and science/engineering disciplines. He is also a founding member of SEAD, the Network for Science, Engineering, Art, and Design, a  group funded by the National Science Foundation Awards. He had an appearance on the cover of "Black Issues In Higher Education" in February 2002, and has received the Jan Hawkins Award for early career contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies from the American Education Research Association.