Dr. Kathleen (Kate) Smits is a professor at Southern Methodist University’s Lyles School of Engineering and the Solomon Professor for global development. Prior to SMU, she was a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington and associate professor at the Colorado School of Mines and the US Air Force Academy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from the US Air Force Academy, master’s in Civil Engineering from the University at Texas Austin, and a doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. She served as a civil and environmental engineering project manager and officer in the US Air Force.