Chris Smith builds up Virginia Tech's postdoctoral community

Chris Smith wasn’t quite sure of his future as he finished his postdoctoral position at Vanderbilt University. But some colleagues in the university’s Biomedical Research Education and Training Office changed that. 

“I realized I liked helping people and I liked academia and research, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure I wanted to pursue an academic faculty position and run a research group at a university,” Smith said. “And then these amazing professionals focused on graduate and postdoctoral career and professional development at Vanderbilt asked if I ever thought about working in their field.”

Just a few years later, Smith already has successfully led the establishment of Virginia Tech’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, helped launch numerous support programs, and is the current chair of the National Postdoc Association board of directors. In March, he gave opening remarks on behalf of the board at the association’s annual conference in Boston.

“The selection of Chris to the board chair position simply makes sense,” said Tom Kimbis, executive director and chief executive officer of the association. “He’s a longtime advocate for postdocs, highly knowledgeable about issues faced by postdocs, and a postdoc office leader at Virginia Tech — a key NPA member organization.”

Smith joined Virginia Tech in January 2022 as the university’s first postdoctoral affairs administrator. Within the first year, he helped launch the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship program, the  Research and Innovation Postdoctoral Scholar program, and the Postdoctoral Associate Travel Award program. He currently supports more than 260 postdocs across the campus in Blacksburg, Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke, and operations in Northern Virginia at the Virginia Tech Research Center—Arlington and the Innovation Campus Acacemic Building One in Alexandria. 

“The postdoctoral community is a critical component of the Virginia Tech research enterprise and its mission to address our world’s most pressing issues,” said Dan Sui, senior vice president and chief research and innovation officer. “Chris’ work to develop a rich, supportive postdoc experience is vital to this work. Through the combination of community building, mentoring, and professional development, he’s helping bolster the research advancements of both today and tomorrow.” 

At Virginia Tech, postdocs are a vital part of the work every college and institute are doing to advance the health, security, and livelihood of communities and individuals across the state and around the globe. They serve as a crucial bridge between graduate training and independent research to help propel innovations in areas ranging from cancer research and cybersecurity to economic stability and shoring up food supply chains.

Partnering with colleges, institutes, and administrative offices across Virginia Tech, Smith has led the development and promotion of a variety of postdoctoral associate resources. This includes career advising, professional development workshops and seminars, trainings on how to responsibly conduct research, and best practices and support for the postdocs’ faculty mentors. 

He also serves as an advisor to the Virginia Tech Postdoctoral Association, which allows him to better tailor these resources to the population’s specific needs and help the organization promote them. 

“What he’s done in a really short amount of time at Virginia Tech is really great,” said Lindsay Miles, a postdoctoral researcher and president of the association. “He is an underutilized resource for postdocs.”

Miles said Smith is constantly providing them with a variety of helpful information and learning opportunities. This includes resources both on and off campus and ranges from opportunities to attend or present at national conferences to workshops to fine tune professional skills that might otherwise go overlooked.

“One of the things he was able to get together was a really good tutorial on PowerPoints,” Miles said. “I’ve been doing PowerPoints for ages and mine are pretty good, but I still learned a lot of tips and tricks. And I actually ended up winning best PowerPoint presentation at a conference after I took the class.”

Smith said that since 2023, Virginia Tech has also supported its postdoc leaders through their attending the National Postdoc Association (NPA) conference. This year, Smith was joined there by Miles and Jorge Reyes, vice president of the Virginia Tech Postdoctoral Association.

“Engagement with the larger postdoctoral community through the NPA is critical to bringing best practices back to Virginia Tech, and I always leave with new ideas on how to better support our postdocs here,” Smith said. “I am sure Lindsay and Jorge also gained useful insights from the postdoctoral association perspective, especially since they were able to attend a special pre-conference Postdoctoral Association Leadership Bootcamp in Boston. I can’t wait to see what they and the Virginia Tech Postdoctoral Association do next and how I can support them in their efforts.”    

Along with the professional side of the postdoc experience, Smith also works with the association to provide social and networking opportunities to enhance their holistic experience and wellbeing. Miles said this aspect is particularly needed given this unique position postdocs have within a university community. 

“You’re kind of in this weird spot between being faculty and a student, and not every lab or research group has multiple postdocs,” Miles said. “That can be a really isolating experience.”

Collaborating with the association, Smith has helped plan and execute social gatherings throughout the year, including onboarding programs for new postdocs and special events during National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week. As a part of that week, in 2024 the university awarded its first ever Postdoctoral Scholarly and Service Excellence Awards, as well as a Faculty Mentor Award. 

“We’re really trying to create a community that really supports postdocs in all facets of their experience at Virginia Tech,” Miles said. “Chris has been invaluable to that.”

Smith said his passion for helping build up this community is at least partly motivated by the guidance that led him to the field in the first place. 

“My experience shows the importance of other people being there to point you toward an opportunity,” Smith said. “It’s about support that goes beyond your research group, which is really at the core of what I’m trying to do here.”