Dayle M. Smith, Ph.D.

As dean of LMU College of Business Administration (CBA), Smith leads strategy, operations, and fundraising for one of Los Angeles’s most mission-driven business schools. A nationally recognized leader in business education, Smith is guiding CBA through its Centennial in 2026—celebrating 100 years of business education at LMU—while advancing a bold vision of business as a force for good.

Under her leadership, the college has expanded its graduate portfolio, growing from three to eight graduate programs, including degrees in business analytics, entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation, entertainment leadership, and a Doctor of Business Administration. She also led LMU to become a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), reinforcing the college’s global commitment to ethical leadership and societal impact.

Smith serves in a number of leadership roles, including on the North America Advisory Council for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), the Advisory Board for the World Trade Center Los Angeles (WTCLA), and the Board of Trustees for the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI). She is chair-elect for the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society and is a board member and immediate past president of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS). In addition, Smith is a founding member of Women in Business Education (WiBE) and former chair of the AACSB’s Women in Management Education (WAME) affinity group. She is the recipient of the 2025 Patricia M. Flynn Distinguished Woman Leader in Business Education award. Smith has been named to the LA500 “Most Influential People in Los Angeles” list by the Los Angeles Business Journal six times.

Prior to joining LMU in 2018, Smith served as dean of the David D. Reh School of Business at Clarkson University, where she held the Elmer D. Gates Endowed Professor of Innovative Business Culture. She also served on the faculty at Georgetown University and the University of San Francisco.

Smith is a Fulbright Scholar, prolific author, and former founder, bringing deep expertise at the intersection of leadership, innovation, and global business education. She earned a Ph.D. in organizational communication from USC and a B.A. in communication studies from the University of Texas, Arlington.