Diana Smith is serving as the Interim Executive Director at the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago, where she leads strategy, operations, and programmatic direction for one of the world’s leading centers for economic research. In this role, she works closely with faculty leadership and staff to advance the Institute’s mission, strengthen research impact, and support a dynamic community of scholars.
In her most recent role as Director of Strategy for Academic Initiatives at the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics, Diana led the expansion of the Master’s in Economics Program in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and continues to oversee its strategic direction and ongoing growth. She also supports the development of certificate programs serving learners from high school through mid-career professionals.
She has spent over 12 years at the University of Chicago, previously serving as Research Program Director of the Griffin Applied Economics Incubator. In this capacity, she oversaw interdisciplinary projects spanning field experiments, education, public health, environmental policy, and pricing, while managing multi-million-dollar budgets across the Economics Incubator and Chicago Experiments Initiative. Her responsibilities included strategic planning, fundraising, grant development, and financial oversight, as well as fostering cross-institutional collaboration and expanding the public reach of academic research.
Diana is also deeply committed to mentorship and student development, with over 11 years of experience supporting graduate and predoctoral students as they pursue academic and research careers.
Diana holds an M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago and a B.S. in Business from Indiana University.