Deborah Smith, Associate Professor of Sociology (Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University; M.A., Family Social Sciences, University of Minnesota; B.S., Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University).  Dr. Smith has published scholarly articles in Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Family Issues, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services and, as co-author with Rachel Magennis, in Missouri Electronic Journal of Sociology.


Dr. Smith teachs both undergraduate and graduate classes and also serves as director of the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences Family Studies Program.  This program offers an 18-credit hour undergraduate course of study resulting in a Family Studies Minor.   Her research interests include retirement and couples, work and family issues, women's labor force participation, and evaluation of training frontline agency workers in family support principles.