RICHARD JOHN SMITH

School of Social Work — Wayne State University

5447 Woodward Avenue — Detroit, MI 48202

Phone: (313) 577-2262 — Email: smithrichardj@wayne.edu

Last Updated June 15th, 2020

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Understanding how to achieve sustainable community development in face of poverty, inequality, and

migration.

EDUCATION

PhD University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare December 2010

MSW University of Michigan, Ann Arbor School of Social Work December 2000

MFA Creative Writing, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo May 1995

BA English Language and Literature, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor May 1993

AWARDS

2020 Society for Social Work and Research Honorable Mention Excellence in Research Award

2019 Friends of Mongolia Meritorious Service Award

2018 Council on Social Work Education/SAGE Award for Teaching Innovation (Shared)

2016, 2014 Wayne State University School of Social Work Teacher of the Year

2016 Urban Affairs Association Best Conference Paper

2015 Society for Social Work and Research Fellow

2014 Best Article in Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare

2014 Rose Dobrof Award for outstanding article in the Journal for Gerontological Social Work

2013 Association of Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA) Emerging

Scholar Award

GRANTS, AND FELLOWSHIPS

2020-2022 Urban Learning Leadership Collaborative (ULLC), Wilson, C. (PI), Larsosa, J. (co-PI),

Smith, R. (co-PI). Spencer Foundation. Amount Awarded $24,722 of $399,912.

2018-2022 Water and Health Infrastructure Resilience and Learning (WHIRL), McElmurry, S. (PI),

Seeger, M. (co-PI), Sobeck, J, O’Donovan, K, Love, N., McDonald-Gibson, J., Kerkez, B.,

& Smith, R. 2018-2022. National Science Foundation. Amount Awarded $46,518

of $1,570,000.

2019-2020 A data science approach for integrating social media, population, and administrative data to

reduce health disparities. Wang, C., Smith, R.J., McEllmurry, S.P., & Kilgore, P.. WSU Ofﬁce

of the Provost. Amount Awarded $200 of $10,000.

2017-2018 Community-aware charging station network design for electriﬁed vehicles in urban areas.

Venkatachalam, S.(PI), Babu, R., & Murat, A. The Transportation Research Center for

Livable Communities. Amount Awarded: $5,000 of $79,481.

2012-2013 Ofﬁce of the Vice President for Research Graduate Student Assistant Award

Amount Awarded: $35,000.

2012 School of Social Work Research Enhancement Award. Amount Awarded: $7,500.

2009-2010 U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant.

Amount Awarded: $25,000.

2007-2009 U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Early Doctoral Student Research Grant.

Amount Awarded: $15,000.

Richard Smith p. 1

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2016 - Present Associate Professor

Course Title: SW 6585 International Social Work

Course Title: SW 7065 Foundations of Macro Theory and Practice

Course Title: SW 8025 Community Assessment and Evaluation

Course Title: SW 8035 Techniques of Quantitative Data Analysis

Course Title: SW 8045 Techniques of Data Interpretation and Presentation

Course Title: SW 8075 Advanced Community Building and Development

MASTER’S IN SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

Course Title: SW 9260 Current & Historical Trends in Social Welfare Policy

DOCTORATE IN SOCIAL WORK WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

2010 - 2016 Assistant Professor

Course Title: SW 7720 Social Welfare Policy History

Course Title: SW 8770 Advanced Social Welfare Policy Analysis and Reform

MASTER’S IN SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

Fall 2009 Graduate Student Instructor

Course Title: SW 112 Social Welfare Policy

BACHELOR’S IN SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAM, UC BERKELEY

Instructor: Steven Stritt, PhD, LCSW

Spring 2009 Lecturer

Course Title: SW204 Social Policy Analysis and Advocacy

MASTER’S IN SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM, SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY

1997-1998 Program Director and Instructor

SPRING ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTER AT ULAANBAATAR UNIVERSITY

1995-1996 Educational Development Specialist

UNITED STATES PEACE CORPS MONGOLIA

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS IN REFEREED JOURNALS

Abramovitz, M, & Smith, R.J. (in press). The persistence of residential segregation by race, 1940

–2010: The role of federal housing policy. Families in Society.

Day, A., Quist, L., Smith, R. J., & Tajima, E.A. (in press). Stopping out and its impact on college

graduation among a sample of foster care youth: A joint scale-change accelerated failure time

analysis. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.

Smith, R.J. & Schmitt-Sands, C. (in press). How Many Immigrant-Friendly Communities are in the

United States? Classifying the Policy Stream. Social Work Research.

Smith, R.J. (2020). Did immigrant incorporation overcome structural discrimination in Federal place-

based anti-poverty implementation? Journal of Poverty. Advance online publication. https://doi.

org/10.1080/10875549.2020.1731047

Santiago, A. M., & Smith, R. J. (2019). What can “big data” methods offer human services research

on organizations and communities? Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership &

Governance, 43(4), 344–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/23303131.2019.1674756

Ellis, J. D., Resko, S. M., Szechy, K., Smith, R. J., & Early, T. J. (2019). Characteristics associated with

attitudes toward marijuana legalization in Michigan. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Advance

online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2019.1610199

Foster, K., Bell, B., Smith, R. J., & Shaw, T. (2019). Testing the importance of geographic distance on

social network resources. Urban Affairs Review, 55(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087417714895.

Also presented as a paper in January 2016 at the Society for Social Work and Research 20th An-

nual Conference, Washington, DC.

Richard Smith p. 2

Galster, G. C., Santiago, A. M., Smith, R. J., & Leroux, J. (2019). Beneﬁt–cost analysis of an innovative

program for self-sufﬁciency and homeownership. Evaluation Review, Advance online publication.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X19846697

Lehning, A. J., Kim, K. M., Choi, M. & Smith, R. J. (2018). Do socioeconomic differences moderate

the inﬂuence of transportation on social participation in later life? Ageing & Society, (38)10,

2041-2060. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X17000411

Smith, R. J. & Rey, S. J. (2018). Spatial approaches to measure subnational inequality: Implications

for Sustainable Development Goals. Development Policy Review, (32)S2,O657-O675. https://doi.

org/10.1111/dpr.12363

Smith, R. J., Lehning, A. J., & Kim, K. M. (2018). Aging in place in gentrifying neighborhoods: Impli-

cations for health and well-being. The Gerontologist, 58(1), 26-35. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/

gnx105 Presented as a paper in July 2017 at the International Association of Gerontological So-

cieties in San Francisco, CA. Also invited to present in July, 2017 at the Ecocity World Summit

in Melbourne AUSTRALIA.

Lee, K. O., Smith, R. J., & Galster, G. C. (2017a). Neighborhood trajectories of low-income U.S. house-

holds: An application of sequence analysis. Journal of Urban Affairs, 39(3), 335-357. https:

//doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2016.1251154. Also presented as a paper at the May 2015 American

Real Estate and Urban Economics Association 43rd National Conference, Washington, DC.

Lee, K. O., Smith, R. J., & Galster, G. C. (2017b). Subsidized housing and residential trajectories:

An application of sequence analysis. Housing Policy Debate, 27(6), 843-874. http://dx.doi.org/10.

1080/10511482.2017.1316757. Also presented as a paper in January 2017 at the Society for Social

Work and Research 21st Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA. Also presented as a paper in

June 2016 at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Conference in London,

England.

Lehning, A. J., Smith, R. J., & Kim, K.M. (2017). ”Friendly” initiatives: A policy analysis of efforts

to improve communities for marginalized groups. Journal of Policy Practice, 16(1), 46-58. http:

//doi.org/10.1080/15588742.2015.1125331. Also presented as a paper in March 2015 at the Center

for Citizenship Annual Conference at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.

Santiago, A.M., Galster, G. C., & Smith, R. J. (2017). Evaluating the impacts of an enhanced family

self-sufﬁciency program. Housing Policy Debate, 27(5), 772-778. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.

2017.1295093. Also presented as a paper at the November 2015 Association for Public Policy

Analysis and Management Conference, Miami, FL.

Smith, R. J., Pride, T. & Schmitt-Sands, C. (2017). Does spatial assimilation lead to reproduction of

gentriﬁcation in the global city? Journal of Urban Affairs, 39(6), 745-763. https://doi.org/10.1080/

07352166.2016.1262693. Also presented as a poster at the Society for Social Work and Research

20th Annual Conference, Washington, DC. Also presented in April 2015 at the Urban Affairs

Association, Miami, FL.

Smith, R. J. (2016). Did the community renewal tax incentives pirate businesses from other places?

Economic Development Quarterly, 30(1), 46-61. http://doi.org/10.1177/0891242415620008. Also

presented as a paper at the 2011 Fall Research Conference of the American Association of Public

Policy Analysis and Management, Washington, DC.

Lehning, A., Smith, R. J., & Dunkle, R. (2015). Do age-friendly characteristics inﬂuence the expecta-

tion to age in place? A comparison of low-income and higher income Detroit elders. Journal of

Applied Gerontology, 34, 158-180. http://doi.org/10.1177/0733464813483210. Also presented as a

paper at the January 2013 Society for Social Work Research 17th Annual Conference, San Diego,

CA.

Smith, R. J. (2015). Ending poverty in Mongolia: From socialism to social development? International

Journal of Social Welfare, 24, 159-169. http://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12113. Also presented as a

paper at the 2009 Asian Social Protection International Conference of the Association for Public

Policy Analysis and Management, National University of Singapore.

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Smith, R. J. (2015). Empowerment for whom? The impact of community renewal tax incentives on

jobs and businesses. Urban Studies, 52, 702-720. http://doi.org/10.1177/0042098014528398. Also

presented as a paper at the May 2011 Atlantic Causal Inference Conference in Ann Arbor, MI;

and the January 2011 Society for Social Work Research in Tampa, FL.

Lehning, A., Smith, R. J., & Dunkle, R. (2014). Age-friendly communities and self-rated health: An ex-

ploration of Detroit elders. Research on Aging, 36, 72-94. http://doi.org/10.1177/0164027512469214.

Also presented as a poster in November 2012 at the American Public Health Association, San

Francisco, CA.

Smith, R. J., & Eaton, T. (2014). Information and communication technology in child welfare: The

need for culture-centered computing. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 41, 137-160. http:

//wmich.edu/socialwork/journal/index.htm

Clark, S. J., Smith, R. J., & Uota, K. (2013). Professional development opportunities as retention

incentives in child welfare. Children and Youth Services Review, 35, 1687-1697. http://doi.org/

10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.07.006. Also presented as a paper at the October 2010 Meeting of the

Council on Social Work Education, Portland, OR.

Smith, R. J. (2013). A social worker’s report from the United Nations Conference on Sustainable De-

velopment (Rio+20). Social Work, 58, 369-372. http://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swt032 [Commentary]

Smith, R. J., Dunkle, R., & Lehning, A. (2013). Conceptualizing age-friendly community characteris-

tics in a sample of urban elders: An exploratory factor analysis. Journal of Gerontological Social

Work, 56, 90-111. http://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2012.739267. Also presented as a poster at the

November 2012 Gerontological Society of America 65th Annual Scientiﬁc Meeting, San Diego,

CA.

Smith, R. J., & Miller, K. (2013). Ecocity mapping using GIS: Introducing a planning method for

assessing and improving neighborhood vitality. Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 7,

95-106. http://doi.org/10.1353/cpr.2013.0000. Also presented as a poster at the June 2012 Sen-

tinels of Sustainability, Fort Leme, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Rey, S., & Smith, R. J. (2013). A spatial decomposition of the Gini coefﬁcient. Letters in Spatial

and Resource Sciences, 6, 55-70. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12076-012-0086-z. Also presented as a

poster at the June 2012 Sentinels of Sustainability, Fort Leme, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Federal

University of Rio de Janeiro.

Smith, R. J., & Clark, S. J. (2011). Does job resource loss reduce burnout and job exit for profession-

ally trained social workers in child welfare? Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 1950-1959.

http://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.05.026. Also presented as a poster at the January 2009

Society for Social Work Research 14th Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA. Also presented as

a paper at the 2008 Annual Program Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education, Philadel-

phia, PA.

Fulcher, G., & Smith, R. J. (2011). Economic and environmental correlates of public child welfare

worker turnover. Administration in Social Work, 35, 442-457. http://doi.org/10.1080/03643107.

2010.518530. Also presented at the 2008 Meeting of the Society for Social Work Research. Wash-

ington D.C. and the 2007 Annual Program Meeting of Council on Social Work Education. San

Francisco, CA.

Jung, S. Y., & Smith, R. J. (2007). The economics of poverty: Explanatory theories to inform prac-

tice. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 16, 21-39. http://doi.org/10.1300/

J137v16n01 03.

MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION

Kim, K., Smith, R. J., Mattocks, N., & Lehning, A. (2020). Neighborhood environments, food insecurity,

and psychological distress in older adults. Manuscript in preparation.

Lehning, A., Kim, K., Mattocks, N., & Smith, R. J. (2020). Neighborhood age composition and self-

rated health. Manuscript in preparation.

Richard Smith p. 4

Smith, R. J., Kim, K., Mattocks, N., & Lehning, A. (2020). Residential segregation, self-rated health

and well-being in older adults. Manuscript in preparation.

Smith, R. J., Vanderwill, L., & Foell, A. (2020). Are school of choice policies a form of racialized com-

munity violence? Comparing rates of out of district enrollment by school ranking, distance, and

racial segregation. Manuscript in preparation. Also presented as a paper at the April 2019 Ur-

ban Affairs Association Conference in Los Angeles, CA. Also presented as a paper at the Society

for Social Work and Research 23rd Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA. Also presented at

the February 2019 School of Social Work Brown Bag Speaker Series.

Vanderwill, L., Foell, A. & Smith, R. J. (2020). A market for education? Equality of opportunity in

an environment of school closures and tax foreclosures. Manuscript in preparation. Accepted as

a poster at the 2020 Urban Affairs Association Conference in Washington, DC. [CANCELLED

DUE TO COVID-19]

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Smith, R. J. (2013). The inﬂuence of western philosophy on deﬁnitions of social justice. In M. J. Austin

(Ed.), Social Justice and Social Work: Rediscovering a Core Value of the Profession (pp. 21–30).

Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2009 - Present International Ecocity Standards Framework Core Advisor

2006 - 2009 Geographic Information System Mapping Intern

ECOCITY BUILDERS, INC.

• Providing research support for sustainable community indicators presented at the 2012 United

Nations Conference of Sustainable Development.

• Prepared portions of a winning $70,000 grant to the Bay Area Air Quality Management Board to

fund a community mapping process in West Oakland.

2003-2005 Community Planning and Development Specialist

2001-2003 Presidential Management Intern

U.S. DEPT. OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

• Program ofﬁcer for Empowerment Zones and Renewal Communities who held a combined port-

folio of $180 million in grants and tax incentives.

PROFESSIONAL TRAININGS AND CERTIFICATIONS

2017 Big Data & Mediation and Moderation. CARMA. Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

2015 Intro to R & Multivariate Data in R. CARMA. Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

2014 Latent growth curves & Meta-analysis. CARMA. Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

2020-Present MSW Curriculum Design Committee, WSU School of Social Work

2017-Present Editor, Journal of Community Practice

2016-Present Social Entrepreneurship Committee, WSU School of Social Work

2015-Present Specialization Chair & Lead Teacher, Innovation in Community, Leadership & Policy

WSU School of Social Work

2014-Present Editorial Board for Journal of Community Practice

2014-Present Consulting Editor for Social Work Research

2012-Present Consulting Editor for Social Work

2012-Present Hope Village Initiative Steering Committee, Focus:Hope, Inc.

2013-Present Urban Learning & Leadership Collaborative, Detroit, MI.

2017-2020 Chair, Budget Advisory Committee, WSU School of Social Work

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2012-2019 Academic Senate, Wayne State University

2012-2019 Budget Advisory Committee of the Academic Senate, Wayne State University

2018-2019 Chair, Academic Senate Budget Advisory Committee

2016-2018 Co-Chair, Social Entrepreneurship Committee, WSU School of Social Work

MEMBERSHIPS

• American Sociological Association (Community, Immigration)

• Association for Community Organization and Social Administration

• Association for Public Policy and Management

• Community Development Advocates of Detroit

• Friends of Mongolia

• International Consortium for Social Development

• National Association of Social Workers

• National Peace Corps Association

• Society for Community Research and Action

• Society for Social Work Research

• Urban Affairs Association

Richard Smith p. 6