About the Featured Speaker
Pamela Gunter-Smith, Ph.D.
President of York College of Pennsylvania
Pamela Gunter-Smith began serving as president of York College on July 1, 2013. She previously served as Drew University's provost and academic vice president, as well as the Porter Professor of Physiology at Spelman College. She has also held academic appointments at The George Washington University and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. For 12 years before joining Spelman, she was a research scientist and science administrator at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Bethesda, Md.
Gunter-Smith holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Spelman College and a doctoral degree in physiology from Emory University. She has published in the areas of gastrointestinal physiology and membrane ion transport and is the recipient of grants to support science education and her research. Gunter-Smith has also served on numerous committees that address science education and the underrepresentation of minorities in science.
Currently, she is president of the William Townsend Porter Foundation, serves on the Boards of Directors of the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS), Council of Independent Colleges, and York Hospital, and is a member of the Better York Executive Committee. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has appointed her to the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.
Gunter-Smith is married to J. Lawrence (J.L.) Smith, who retired in 2015 as a systems administrator for I.B.M. The Smiths are parents of two sons, Lealand of Nashville, Tenn., and Philip of Auburn, Ala.
