Lisa Cairns currently serves as the Director of Learning & Development at Smith, where she developed Smith University by architecting, designing, and overseeing unique content creation, and enhancing talent development for all of Smith’s global offices, operations, and distribution hubs. In 2019, Smith University earned a bronze award in Chief Learning Officer magazine’s LearningElite awards, just nine months after its inaugural launch. Prior to this position, Lisa served in many roles for Smith and Smith-affiliated entities including Chief Strategy Officer for ZettaWorks and VP of EcoStrategy for ONTILITY. Before her long tenure at Smith, Lisa was a professor of linguistic anthropology and taught at several higher ed institutions including Texas A&M University, The University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and her alma mater, The University of Chicago. Lisa earned her Ph.D. and A.M. in Linguistics from The University of Chicago, during which time she was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. She holds a B.A. from Hofstra University, where she was Hofstra's first woman undergraduate to be awarded a Fulbright-Hayes Grant for independent research prior to attending graduate school.