Wendy Smith

Wendy K. Smith

Dana J. Johnson Professor of Management

University of Delaware

Newark, DE

Wendy K. Smith is the Dana J. Johnson professor of management at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and co-director Women’s Initiative at the University of Delaware. She earned her doctorate in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, where she began her research on strategic paradoxes — how leaders and senior teams effectively respond to contradictory, yet interdependent demands. Working with executives and scholars globally, she received the Web of Science Highly Cited Research Award for four consecutive years and received the Decade Award from the Academy of Management Review. Her work has been published in such journals as Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Harvard Business Review, Organization Science and Management Science. She has taught at the University of Delaware, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania – Wharton while leading classes for executive and senior leadership teams around the globe.

Online Courses

Past Webinars

  • Culture and Compensation: How to Empower Your Faculty This item is protected

    October 9, 2026
    Discover how a school transformed faculty compensation from a traditional salary scale to an innovative banded system. Learn how they secured buy-in, sustained momentum over 9 years, and created a model that supports faculty growth, agency, and feedback.
  • 2026’s Back-to-School Legal & Regulatory Update This item is protected

    September 30, 2026
    Join independent school legal experts as they review recent changes to the law and answer your questions about how they may impact your school.
  • Grants Management for Independent Schools This item is protected

    May 26, 2026
    Designed for business officers who manage or oversee grants, this webinar provides actionable tools and templates to strengthen financial stewardship and enhance mission impact through effective grants administration.
  • Enrollment Forecasting as a Strategic Financial Tool This item is protected

    May 8, 2026
    This webinar presents a strategic approach to enrollment forecasting that blends the enrollment team’s relational insights with financial analysis and data modeling. Learn how to strengthen projections using internal data alongside external signals.
  • There's More Room for Change Than You Think This item is protected

    April 24, 2026
    To stay competitive in today’s educational landscape, independent schools should modernize spaces by aligning with evolving pedagogical trends and technology advancements. Learn how existing spaces can be transformed to better serve a campus community.

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