W&L’s Smith Elected to National Economic Association’s Board of Directors

By Taylor Meeker
February 18, 2022

Chantal Smith, assistant professor of economics at Washington and Lee University, was recently elected to the Executive Board of Directors for the National Economic Association (NEA).

According to the NEA website, the organization “was founded in 1969 as the Caucus of Black Economists to promote the professional lives of minorities within the profession. In addition to continuing its founding mission, the organization is particularly interested in producing and distributing knowledge of economic issues that are of exceptional interest to promoting economic growth among native and immigrant African Americans, Latinos, and other people of color.”

“It’s an honor to be elected to the national board of a major economics association,” said Linda Hooks, head of the Economics Department at Washington and Lee University. “It’s exciting that a W&L faculty member will have an important role to play in the organization.”

Smith is a labor economist with a research focus on education with additional interests in stratification economics, urban economics, and economic history.

Smith received her Ph.D. in economics from Howard University. She also has an M.A. in applied economics from American University, an M.A.Ed. in secondary education from the University of Phoenix, and a B.S. in business economics from Florida A&M University. Recently, Smith has been working on projects with Third Way and the Brookings Institution, as well as participating in the AEA Summer Training Program.