Emily Smith-Greenaway

Emily Smith-Greenaway, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California.

Her research areas include demography, health, mortality, bereavement, inequality, family and international sociology. Broadly, Smith-Greenaway’s research examines how social conditions impact individual and family wellbeing and experiences. Her recent work analyzes the influence of mortality conditions on family systems, the impact of child loss on family dynamics, and the consequences of community mortality conditions for women’s fertility. She also studies how social inequality influences young adults’ educational, childbearing, and marital experiences.

Her research has appeared in top academic journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Demography, Social Forces, Journal of Marriage and Family, Social Science and Medicine, Population and Development Review, and Journal of Health and Social Behavior. Her research has been featured in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, The Atlantic, CNN and The Boston Globe.

Dr. Smith-Greenaway has received multiple awards for her research contributions. She was named a Max Planck Society Sabbatical Laureate in 2019. In 2018, she received USC’s Raubenheimer Outstanding Junior Faculty Member Award and an ASA Distinguished Early Career Award through the Children and Youth Section. Smith-Greenaway’s work has been funded by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Max Planck Society, and the American Association of University Women.

Dr. Smith-Greenaway enjoys mentoring and teaching students. She advises PhD students in USC’s Sociology, Population Health and Place, and Political Science and International Relations programs. She regularly teaches Demographic Techniques (SOCI 655), Social Demography (SOCI 656), Society and Population (SOCI 335), and Population and Social Change (GESM 160).

Ph.D., Sociology and Demography, Penn State University
M.A., Sociology and Demography, Penn State University
B.S., Sociology and Political Science, Virginia Tech