Dean, College of Business Administration
Office: Hilton 337
Phone: 310.338.7504
Email: Dayle.Smith@lmu.edu
Areas of Expertise
- Leadership and Team Development
- Organizational Behavior
- Design Thinking and Innovation Cultures
- Executive Coaching
- Organizational Communication
Biography
As dean of the College of Business Administration (CBA) at Loyola Marymount University, Dayle leads strategy, operations and fundraising while meeting the needs of students, faculty, staff and a growing portfolio of degree programs. Her vision and strategic plan for the college prioritizes three key goals: embracing business as a force for good; ensuring an entrepreneurial and agile perspective; and building a global, transdisciplinary and inclusive mindset – all of which align with the CBA mission: to advance knowledge and develop business leaders with moral courage and creative confidence to be a force for good in the global community. Dayle led CBA’s efforts to become a signatory to the United Nations PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) initiative as well as the implementation of the university strategic spotlight initiative related to interdisciplinary collaboration.
Dayle is president of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS), and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), the Board of Governors for Beta Gamma Sigma; the Board of Advisors for World Trade Center Los Angeles (WTCLA) and the advisory board for Foolproof Foundation’s Walter Cronkite Project (financial literacy programming). She has also served on the Innovation Task Force for the Association to Advance Colleges and Schools of Business (AACSB), participating in strategic dialogue around DEI, technology and the impact of business education on society. Dayle 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 was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal's LA 500 “Most Influential People in Los Angeles” in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Prior to joining LMU in 2018, Dayle 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. At Clarkson, Dayle was instrumental in growing a diverse faculty; developing new programs; merging two business schools; naming the business school; and funding student start-ups, two endowed faculty chairs, and co-leading the design and development of a boundary-spanning Innovation Initiative with the dean of engineering.
Before Clarkson and LMU, Dayle served on the faculty at Georgetown University and University of San Francisco (USF). In her 20-year career at USF as professor of leadership and organizational behavior, Dayle took on administrative roles as department chair, associate dean and director of the Business Honors Program. In 2010-11, Dayle was selected as a Fulbright Scholar, joining an interdisciplinary team of scholars on a multi-year initiative with seven Hong Kong public universities to reform Hong Kong’s General Education Curriculum.
Dayle has taught internationally throughout Southeast Asia and Europe, working with executives, MBAs and undergraduates across a variety of programs. She has been active in the role of service learning in an academic environment and received numerous awards including the nationally prestigious Top 10 finalist Ehrlich Award. At LMU, Dayle has grown the portfolio of graduate business programs from three to nine including the M.S. in Business Analytics, M.S. in Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Innovation, and joint, interdisciplinary degrees with other colleges on campus.
As author of over 25 books and numerous articles, Dayle’s research has focused primarily on leadership, communication and organizational behavior. She is passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship and the emerging role of B-Corps on a global scale. Dayle has given dozens of presentations around the world on topics related to higher education, entrepreneurship and women in leadership. As an active consultant on design thinking, developing innovation cultures and leadership development, she has served as a principal for a consulting firm working with organizations in the areas of strategy, innovation culture, leadership, team development, and executive coaching. Dayle also co-founded an entrepreneurial start-up, Lexingford Publishing, and led the company as CEO before stepping down to an advisory role.
Dayle earned a Ph.D. in organizational communication from USC and a B.A. in communication studies from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her personal interests include traveling, kayaking, golfing, playing tennis, and spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren.