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.
