Matt Smith

Matt Smith, PCC, is a lecturer in management (communication) and teaches business communication for Rice MBA students. Smith is a professionally-trained and certified leadership coach, and works full time as the vice president of learning and development at Curana Health, a value-based healthcare company focused on improving the health, happiness and dignity of senior living residents across the country. He recently held various local, regional and global learning and development roles at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Smith’s professional interests focus on how we think and learn: combining tools and techniques from his coaching practice with psychological and neuroscience principles to support learning and behavior change.

Prior to Rice and his learning and development roles, Smith was a project leader at BCG with industry experience in healthcare and functional expertise in strategic planning and large-scale change management. He also worked in the fixed income group at Fidelity Investments, covering the telecom, media, automotive and financial sectors. He received his MBA and MPP from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Harris School of Public Policy and his B.S. in mathematics and economics at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Smith lives in Houston, with his wife Christy, daughter Stella, and their pets. In his free time, he is an avid cook and eater, continuously learning to perfect the art of chopping vegetables, not fingers.
 

Teaching Interests:

• Business communication: structuring ideas, tailoring messages and landing points of view 
• How thinking styles inform communications 
• Relationship-based business development 
• Growth mindset and fostering belonging on teams 
• Effective working habits