Abbie Smith

Abbie J. Smith's research on corporate governance and transparency was stimulated by service on corporate and mutual fund boards and the heightened interest in these issues resulting from the wave of accounting scandals that began with Enron. Her recent corporate governance research examines the “CEO factor” in explaining corporate behavior as manifested in the relation between CEO lifestyle and corporate reporting, insider trading, risk management, bankruptcy, financial performance, and social responsibility.

Smith is a member of the board of directors of HNI Corporation, Ryder System, Inc., Dimensional Funds, and Chicago-based UBS Funds, and has served on audit, compensation, finance, and governance committees. She feels her board experience has given her an inside perspective on the generation and evaluation of business models and strategies, the determinants of corporate investment, financing, reporting behavior, and the interplay between academic research and its business applications. This perspective heavily influences her approach to research and teaching.

She earned a bachelor's degree in 1975 from the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, an MBA in 1979, and a PhD in accounting in 1981 from Cornell University. She joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 1980. She received a Marvin Bower Fellowship from the Harvard Business School, a McKinsey Award for Excellence in Teaching, and grants from the Accounting Research Center, James S. Ely, III Corporate Governance Research Fund, Fama Miller Center, and IGM at Booth.

Smith enjoys yoga, theater, music, gardening, and travel.