John D. Smith

John D. Smith

Education

  • D.B.A. Cleveland State University
  • M.S.I.A. Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business 
  • B.S. Grove City College

Professional Experience 
After teaching part-time for several years, I started a full-time teaching position at Grove City College in 2019. Prior to beginning my teaching career, I served in multiple executive and engineering positions at several organizations. Most recently, I was the Vice President of IT, Quality and Continuous Improvement for a healthcare technology and services company. As the title indicates, my purview covered a broad range of skills and competencies that helped to nurture a small regional firm into a rapidly growing national presence in the healthcare arena. I was leading dynamic teams in several areas of the business, including software development, data security, and network infrastructure, as well as technical data analysts involved in projects such as building predictive models, automating problem identification algorithms and integrating lean six sigma methods. In addition, I was frequently called on to lead organizational change initiatives. 

This company had a mission and passion for helping the elderly, disabled, and low-income populations of this great nation. It inspired me to go to work each day knowing that my team’s efforts would translate into tangible support for some of God’s most neglected people. These experiences changed my outlook on what a career should include. After 17 years in that environment, I felt the Lord calling me to apply my education and experience in new ways. The result was the opportunity to teach at Grove City College. I am blessed to be on this campus with students who will lead our world of tomorrow at a time when we most need capable, ethical, God-fearing leaders.

My primary area of focus is the business analysis degree. I have a passion for the effective use of data to pinpoint opportunities and steer organizational effort.

Courses

  • Business Statistics I & II
  • Global Business Issues
  • Operations Management
  • Project Teams and Leadership

What advice do you give students to help them succeed?
“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” - Proverbs 14:23
I incorporate this theme throughout my courses.

Selected Publications & Presentations 

  • “One Check to Rule Them,” Quality Progress, 2019. 
  • “Towards a Theory of Services Supply Chain Management,” presented to the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI) Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, 2013. 

Is there any personal experience you would like to share?
I am an outdoorsman by nature, which is particularly beneficial in Western Pennsylvania. I bike, kayak, hunt, and otherwise enjoy many outdoor activities. I have had the opportunity to travel for work and family trips. As I have travelled across the United States and abroad, I am always reminded of what an amazing God we serve. We marveled at God’s natural revelation and are reminded of Psalm 19:1-6.

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