R. (Thea) Miller Smith, Ed.D.
- Adjunct Assistant Professor
Education
Doctor of Education, Organizational Change and Leadership, University of Southern California. Dissertation: Examining The Underrepresentation Of African Americans in the Senior Executive Service Within the United States Federal Government’s Civilian Workforce. Nominated for Dissertation of Distinction Award
Master of Arts, Management and Leadership, Webster University
Bachelor of Arts, Business Management, Charleston Southern University
Expertise
- Dr. Thea Miller-Smith collectively has 24 years of experience in contract administration and currently serves as a Contracting Officer for the federal government, where she is responsible for the total contract administration, leading teams of Contract Specialist to provide a full range of contract administration functions and actions for pivotal contracts, with the goal of ensuring mission continuity for America’s Warfighters. Dr. Miller-Smith also serves as Chairperson for her agency’s (Defense Logistics Agency [DLA]) Committee to Advance Equity & Inclusion, formerly the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Committee. She is passionate about being an influencer and change agent to ensure workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion are achieved. In addition to pushing DE&I efforts in the workplace, her passions include providing supports and guidance to current adult learners who are looking to achieve success in their educational pursuits. As a former adult learner, she thoroughly enjoys sharing her own journey as encouragement to others. She also serves as a Personal Care Attendant to assist and advance the lives of high functioning Autistic young adults with learning basic life skills with an emphasis in budgeting.
Bio
R. (Thea) Miller-Smith, Ed.D., CRA
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Southern California
Contracting Officer, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) - Energy
Chairperson, Committee to Advance Equity & Inclusion, DLA
Dr. Thea Miller-Smith collectively has 24 years of experience in contract administration and currently serves as a Contracting Officer for the Utilities Services Division within DLA Energy. She is responsible for the total contract administration, providing a full range of contract administration functions and actions for pivotal contracts, with the goal of ensuring mission continuity for the Warfighters. Dr. Miller-Smith also serves on DLA’s Committee to Advance Equity & Inclusion, formerly the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is passionate about being an influencer to ensure workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion are achieved.
Before transitioning to civilian service, Dr. Miller-Smith was the Associate Director of Operations with the Office of Grants & Contract Accounting Services at George Washington University (GWU). Prior to her appointment at GWU, she served as a Senior Accounting Manager (3 years) and Sponsored Research Financial Analyst (5 years) at Emory University.
In service, Dr. Miller-Smith holds the position of Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, where she teaches doctoral-level students a myriad of subjects. She is a proud graduate of the University of Southern California where she earned a Doctor of Education, with a focus in Organizational Change and Leadership. Her dissertation, entitled “Examining the Underrepresentation of African Americans in the Senior Executive Service Within the United States Federal Government’s Civilian Workforce,” was nominated for the Dissertation of Distinction Award. Lastly, Dr. Miller-Smith has been working as a Personal Care Attendant to assist young adults who are on the Autism spectrum with learning basic life skills.
Awards and Grants
Nominated for Dissertation of Distinction Award
Publications
Certifications
Department of Defense (DoD) Certified Acquisition Professional, Contracting: Level III. Issued By: Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA), No Expiration
Certified Research Administrator (CRA). Issued By: Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC), Expires December 31, 2024