{"id":1899,"date":"2026-05-18T15:08:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/?p=1899"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:08:10","slug":"angela-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/angela-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"Angela Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Construction Science and Management<\/a> senior lecturer prepares students for success through hands-on teaching and real-world industry insight<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Where are you from, and how did your education and career lead you to the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grew up in Pigeon Forge. I ran go-carts in the summers and sold fudge in the winters. No, I am not related to Dolly Parton. At one time, I worked in new home sales and residential development and then later in the mortgage and finance industries. During undergrad at UT Knoxville (civil engineering, \u201905), I was the weekend telephone information specialist for the City of Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism. Yes, I still remember the phone number to Dollywood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In graduate school at UT Knoxville (water quality, \u201908), I was a research assistant with funding from the National Park Service to monitor water quality in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After college, I worked for a decade as a consulting environmental engineer, providing private development and municipal infrastructure design engineering. While volunteering at a food drive, I met Charlie Parker, the former director of the Herbert College of Agriculture’s Construction Science and Management program in the UT Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science. We were like-minded on the importance of construction education outside of engineering and architecture, and he encouraged me to come work with him. Before then, I had not considered teaching but guessed that if I could teach 4-year-old children how to operate gas-powered motor vehicles at a go-cart track, I could teach construction management to adults.<\/p>\n\n\n

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What inspired you to pursue a career in construction science?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in my consulting engineering career, it was clear that many contractors were older, and some had very little experience with computers. As the construction industry adopted more electronic technologies, the growing disparity of progressive construction professionals was deeply concerning. Often, a necessary part of my job effort was educating contractors on how to navigate the complex requirements of our publicly funded projects. By the time I left consulting engineering and came to UTIA, I had a decade of experience educating construction professionals and a passion for the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Can you describe what your role as a senior lecturer in the Construction Science and Management program involves and what a typical day looks like for you?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n