From childhood through college graduation, Scott Smith, Ph.D., played baseball and dreamed of being drafted as a professional athlete. When that did not pan out, he looked for ways to channel his sports interest into a career that would allow him to draw on some of the same skills and knowledge he learned in the game. He soon discovered a field that offered rewards beyond the ball field.

“Teaching physiology has allowed me to combine my love of sports with my love of science,” said Dr. Smith, Associate Dean for Research in the UT Southwestern School of Health Professions.

This is especially true at UTSW, where his research focuses on autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system during exercise in humans and animals and how that affects both health and disease. When he moved into more administrative roles, Dr. Smith continued to find unique ways to support student education and research while also maintaining his own laboratory research program. His dedication in both areas led to his receipt of a Piper Professor Award from the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.

This elite honor recognizes outstanding college professors from public and private universities in Texas. Dr. Smith, also Chair and Professor of Applied Clinical Research in the School of Health Professions, is the 19th current or former UTSW faculty member to receive the award since its establishment in 1958.

Among his accomplishments, Dr. Smith was instrumental in securing approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for the state’s first Ph.D. program in Applied Clinical Research. The program, primarily designed to provide clinical research training to allied health professionals, welcomed its first cohort of students in 2019. It provides training for those aspiring to pursue careers as independent investigators in academic institutions, government agencies, and the private sector.

“Dr. Smith has truly become one of the most effective and well-respected educators at UT Southwestern,” said Jon Williamson, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Health Professions. “His teaching has positively impacted a wide variety of learners, from middle school students to faculty.

“Dr. Smith serves in many roles for the School of Health Professions, including classroom instruction for students from multiple disciplines, facilitation of research productivity for all programs, and running a department and doctoral program,” Dr. Williamson added. “He exceeds expectations in all areas.”

In 2016, Dr. Smith was awarded a Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award from the UT System’s Board of Regents. He was also selected to the UT Southwestern Academy of Teachers and holds the title of Distinguished Teaching Professor.

“Despite being in an administrative role, I refuse to take time off from teaching,” Dr. Smith said. “My goal is to push science forward by teaching human physiology.”

That wasn’t the case earlier in his own education. At first, Dr. Smith thought he would solely focus on being a scientist, but his ambitions changed when he was a graduate student at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (HSC) at Fort Worth and took a part-time job teaching physiology at Texas Wesleyan University.

“Seeing young students who had no previous interest in science really get excited about it was just so rewarding,” he said.

After earning his master’s and doctoral degrees in biomedical science from HSC, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in internal medicine/cardiology at UT Southwestern in 2002 and joined the faculty shortly thereafter.

Dr. Smith said that teaching has been tremendously rewarding and has provided him with an opportunity to prepare the next generation of health care professionals.

“When I see that light go off, I like to think that I am a contributor in some small way to their success,” he said. “I hope I am, through education, helping create future clinicians to proudly serve our community.”