Sandi Smith, Professor of Communication at Michigan State University, was selected to receive the prestigious 2008 B. Aubrey Fisher Mentorship Award. The Award recognizes outstanding scholars, teachers, and advisors who serve as role models in those capacities and who have had a major impact on the field of communication, by virtue both of their own accomplishments and those of their former students.
"Sandi's enthusiastic mentorship has impacted the field of communication through her students' achievements," said Franklin Boster, Chair of the Fisher Mentorship Award Committee. "Her advisees have gone on to academic positions and continue to produce and publish high quality research. In turn, her advisees have taken Sandi's model of mentorship and applied it to their own advising relationships.
"Sandi's influence as a mentor has impacted both the academy and the nation's public health through her students," Boster added. "Two of her students worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lead national health campaigns. She reaches out far beyond the call of duty and sees the health, happiness, and the scholarship of all students in her department as her cause. She is truly selfless."
Smith is Director of the Health and Risk Communication Center and Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University where she teaches courses in persuasion, communication theory, and interpersonal communication. Her research interests parallel these course topics and have been funded by private foundations and governmental agencies.
Dr. Smith was presented with the Award on May 24, 2008 during ICA's 58th Annual International Conference in Montreal, Canada.
