Smita Trivedi, Ph.D.

Smita K. Trivedi, Ph.D., Ed.M. is Associate Professor of Business and Society/Sustainable Business in the management department at the Lam Family College of Business. She is also the Director for the Student Engagement Initiative at the LFCoB, where she runs the student ambassador program as well as the Leadership Edge program.  She teaches BUS 682 (Seminar in Business and Society), BUS 440 (Ethics at Work,) BUS 884 (Business Ethics, Society, and Sustainability), and has taught undergraduate strategy as well. She taught high school social studies for several years before working as the senior program officer for education and youth programs at global humanitarian aid agency Mercy Corps and starting her own social justice education non-profit project. During her doctoral studies, Dr. Trivedi worked on urban policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council, and she was the graduate teaching assistant for a special class taught at the George Washington School of Business by Dr. Ben Bernanke, the then-Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Education: 

Professor Trivedi received her undergraduate degree from Duke University in public policy, master's degree in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University, and in 2014 completed her Ph.D. in strategic management and public policy at the George Washington University School of Business.

Research Interests: 

Doctor Trivedi's research has been focused on mixed-method social network analyses and on women entrepreneurs in the context of extreme and moderate poverty. She has conducted research in the areas of social and ethical bases of trust networks, education policy as well as business and peace. Her current research interests include entrepreneur social networks, business and poverty alleviation, and moral voice/silence.

Honors and Awards: 

Doctor Trivedi was a Founder's Award recipient as an Emerging Scholar at the Society for Business Ethics in 2010, and was selected to the 2012 Oikos UNDP Development Academy.  In August 2018, Dr. Trivedi's article was nominated for Best Business Ethics paper in the Social Issues in Management division of the Academy of Management, and therefore also in the Best paper proceedings for the conference. In Fall 2020, Dr. Trivedi won a research award for the LFCoB. In 2023, Dr. Trivedi and her colleague Antoaneta Petkova, won the CESB Research Award. Professor Trivedi currently holds the Lam-Larsen Distinguished Teaching Professorship award (since May, 2023). 

Professional Associations: 

For many years, Dr. Trivedi was an Associate Editor for the Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Management, and is an ad-hoc reviewer for Business Ethics Quarterly. She is an active member and presenter at the International Association for Business and Society, the Academy of Management, as well as the Western Academy of Management.