Faculty Profile: R. Drew Smith

The Rev. Dr. R. Drew Smith is the Henry L. Hillman Professor of Urban Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He has initiated and directed a number of projects related to religion and public life which have collected research data on political involvements, community development activities, and outreach ministries of churches, especially African American churches. He has also conducted similar research in South Africa and East Africa, including while serving in 2005 as a Fulbright professor at the University of Pretoria. His research over the years has been funded by sources such as Pew Charitable Trusts, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Luce Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Templeton Foundation, and has totaled almost $2.5 million in grant monies. His overseas involvements additionally include serving in 2009 as a Fulbright senior specialist at Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Cameroon and lecturing in many international venues including as part of the U.S. State Department’s Speakers Bureau. He has served since 2010 as co-convener of the Transatlantic Roundtable on Religion and Race, an initiative that convenes scholars, religious leaders, and community activists from across the transatlantic region for purposes of advancing progressive approaches to persistent racial problems in various contexts. In addition, as a Baptist clergyman, he has ministered in a number of parish, prison, and campus ministry contexts. He has published widely on religion and public life, having edited or co-edited 10 books, the most recent of which is "Racialized Health, COVID-19, and Religious Responses: Black Atlantic Contexts and Perspectives" (2022). He has also published more than 80 articles, chapters, essays, and reports. Honors and awards for his academic leadership include selection in 2002 as an Emerging Leaders Fellow by a Duke University/University of Cape Town program on Leadership and Public Values, selection in 2008 for an Indiana Governor’s Black Expo Leadership Award, and participation in 2022 in the invite-only Renaissance Weekend retreat for leaders. Learn more about Dr. Smith: https://www.pts.edu/smithr.