Mr. Smith goes to Raleigh … and everywhere else in the state

In its 83 years, the School of Government has had only four leaders. The current one, Michael Smith, has been dean since 1992 and a faculty member since 1978.

But just a few years before joining its faculty, Smith didn’t know the School of Government (then called the Institute of Government) existed, even though he was a law student in the neighboring building on Ridge Road.

Smith was in the midst of a research project on a confusing aspect of criminal law when he discovered a pocket manual called “The Laws of Arrest, Search and Investigation.” He hurried to the office of one of his professors, the little book in hand.

“This is amazing! All these legal treatises have not been nearly as helpful to me as this little publication,” he told his law professor. “And it’s published by this place called the Institute of Government here at this university. Do you have any idea where that is?”

The professor rolled his desk chair to the window and pointed next door. “It’s right there,” he said.

Smith tells that story today with the same sense of awe and respect he had upon discovering the school, even as he has become its public face. This smart, funny, honest and direct man is the embodiment of the qualities that have inspired the trust of countless public officials across the state for decades.

“The School of Government is the distinguished and well-regarded school it is today thanks to Mike’s leadership over the last quarter of a century,” said Jean Elia, associate provost for strategy and special projects, who has worked with Smith on campus-wide initiatives.

“He has been the guiding light behind an institution that in its nonpartisanship is able to serve all peoples and communities throughout North Carolina.”

Smith, a native of Michigan, was the first in his working-class family to go to college – the University of Michigan. His roommate there was from Durham, and Smith went to visit a few times and liked the area. He applied to Carolina’s School of Law, but assumed he would return to Michigan to practice law after graduating. Instead, he went straight from law school to the Institute of Government.

His primary interest was criminal law, and one of his early assignments was to work with the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association on issues around prisons and jails. Smith jokes that he’s been in every jail in North Carolina – on a professional basis, that is.

He also worked with officials in the areas of civic liability and police misconduct and – at the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s – helped corrections officials understand HIV and how to manage it in the prison population.

Smith was made a full professor in 1992, the same year John Sanders stepped down as the institute’s director. Despite his junior status, colleagues approached him about the leadership position. Smith said he decided to put his name in consideration, mostly because he wanted to make sure some key issues would be addressed by the next director.

“I still remember the day,” Smith recalled. “I was sitting in my office in my blue jeans and polo shirt, and my phone rang and it was Paul Hardin, the chancellor at the time. And he said, ‘I asked a search committee to give me three names to be the next director, and they’ve only given me one name and that’s your name. And so I need to meet you.’”

The two talked over lunch and Smith got the job.

In addition to leading the School of Government, Smith serves on a wide range of boards, commissions and committees on and off campus. He has also been tasked to take charge of campus-wide projects, most notably the University’s response to then-President Erskine Bowles’ UNC Tomorrow initiative in 2008.

The 18-month initiative was designed to find out from the state’s citizens what challenges they wanted the UNC system to address.

While other institutions focused their response on a few specific areas that were their specialties, Smith wanted Carolina’s response to be broader. As the system’s flagship university, Carolina should respond to all the UNC Tomorrow Commission’s recommendations, Smith decided, pulling together a team to collect existing public service projects and brainstorm new ways to address the remaining recommendations.

“He is the consummate leader, respectful of everyone without regard to organizational position,” said Elia, who worked with Smith closely on the UNC Tomorrow response. “He’s a clear, thorough thinker who can quickly and succinctly get to the heart of a matter.”

Smith is also a leader who puts a great emphasis on relationships. With his easy-going manner, he can work with just about anyone – and has needed to. His demeanor sets the tone for the school’s faculty and staff. The relationships he has developed and nurtured over the years are inextricably linked to the school’s success and popularity statewide.

“Mike is a thoughtful, engaged and effective leader. Having been a member our faculty, he has a keen appreciation for and is an ardent supporter of the work we do and the mission of the school,” said Norma Houston, lecturer in public law and government. “His collegial approach and sense of humor creates a culture of friendly collaboration in which everyone’s contribution and perspective is valued.”

Some people mistakenly assume that, because of Carolina’s reputation, the school supports a liberal agenda. Smith spends a lot of time debunking that myth, stressing the school’s goal to work with people across the state, no matter their politics or political standing.

“Our role is old-fashioned in a way,” he said. “We think democracy works best when all the ideas are in play and working out, and everybody has to put their best foot forward.”

He points to Harold Brubaker, a former Republican state legislator, as an example. “While he was sitting on the back row, we helped him,” Smith said “And when he became Speaker of the House in 1994 as part of the Republican revolution, Harold Brubaker was one of our biggest supporters.”

It’s those kind of personal and professional relationships, built by working with people over time and getting to know them, that lead to trust.

Smith can never stop building those relationships, not as long as new people are elected to public office, as he was reminded during the most recent School of Government orientation for new state legislators.

After his talk, Smith was approached by a new state senator who happens to be a big supporter of the N.C. State Wolfpack.

“When you first started talking,” the senator began, “I thought to myself, ‘Now I’ve got to sit here and listen to another jerk [he actually used another word] from Carolina.’ But I was wrong.”

In response, the good-natured Smith said, “You know, that may be the nicest teaching evaluation I’ve ever had, so I really appreciate that.”