NYU Names Lindsey Claire Smith as the Inaugural Director of NYU Tulsa

NYU has announced the appointment of Lindsey Claire Smith-a professor of English at Oklahoma State University-as the inaugural program director of NYU Tulsa. She will be responsible for establishing NYU Tulsa's physical presence and academic community, overseeing day-to-day operations, and cultivating relationships throughout the city and state. She will also work closely with George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), a key supporter of the NYU Tulsa initiative, as well as with NYU schools and departments to enable a range of academic programs in Tulsa.

NYU Tulsa will formally open its doors this spring in an 11,500 sq. ft. facility at 36 East Cameron Street in the city's Arts District, when the first cohort of approximately 20 NYU students from a wide range of majors will arrive to spend a semester in the city. With its classrooms and seminar spaces, group project rooms, faculty offices, and event space, the NYU Tulsa academic center will serve both as a physical space to support a wide range of university and community-facing activities and as a visible, public representation of NYU's presence and engagement in Tulsa.

In addition to their coursework, students will have opportunities to participate in internships, volunteer with local community organizations, and explore possibilities for returning to Tulsa in future terms or after they graduate. Twelve students participated in a service-learning "alternative spring break" at Tulsa's award-winning Gathering Place park in March 2024, and eight NYU graduate and undergraduate students were in Tulsa this summer participating in internships.

Linda G. Mills, the president of NYU, said, "A life-long Tulsan and a leading interdisciplinary scholar with broad and deep relationships across the region, Lindsey Smith is an ideal choice to serve as NYU Tulsa's inaugural program director. Congratulations, Lindsey, on this appointment-we're looking forward to all you're going to accomplish in this post."

Under Professor Smith's leadership, NYU Tulsa will support a range of academic programs, including opportunities for NYU students to spend a term studying in Tulsa, short-term intensive courses, experiential learning, research, entrepreneurial initiatives, community programs, and collaborative programs with other local and regional institutions.

Brian Kurtz, CEO and president of the Downtown Tulsa Partnership, said, "We are thrilled to welcome NYU to Downtown Tulsa this spring and appreciate their investment in our neighborhood and city. NYU's presence enhances Downtown's growing academic landscape and provides more opportunities for natural collisions between students and faculty, and our residents, workers, and visitors. We look forward to the exciting new collaborations, partnerships, and growth this will bring to Downtown Tulsa."

NYU Tulsa will be the University's 16th global location and its fourth in the United States (along with New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles).

A sixth-generation Oklahoman and a graduate of Tulsa's Booker T. Washington High School, Professor Smith earned her BA in English from Hendrix College and her MA and PhD in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the author of three books, including the 2023 monograph Urban Homelands: Writing the Native City from Oklahoma, and currently serves as editor of American Indian Quarterly. Until summer 2024, Lindsey served as director of the Center for Poets and Writers at OSU's Tulsa campus. She was an inaugural recipient of the George Kaiser Family Foundation's Artists Creative Fund award and has been a leader of numerous outreach programs, including the Tulsa LitFest, the Indian Territory Film Festival, K-12 residencies, and non-credit community workshops, developing new ways to engage and serve Tulsans across a wide range of backgrounds and needs.

In addition to her position as a professor of English, Professor Smith holds affiliated appointments in the American Indian Studies and American Studies programs at Oklahoma State University. She will be on leave from OSU to serve as program director for NYU Tulsa, but will maintain her faculty appointment at OSU and direct the OSU-Tulsa Honors Program. During her time at OSU, Professor Smith has received a number of awards, including the University Award for Excellence in Advancement of the Land Grant Mission (2019), the Community Engagement Award in the College of Arts and Sciences (2015), and the Junior Faculty Award for Scholarly Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences (2012).

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About NYU

Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the world's foremost research universities (with more than $1 billion per year in research expenditures, it is ranked seventh among private research universities) and is a member of the selective Association of American Universities. NYU has degree-granting university campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai; has 13 other global academic sites, including London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra, and US sites in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Tulsa, OK; and both sends more students to study abroad and educates more international students than any other U.S. college or university. Through its numerous schools and colleges, NYU is a leader in conducting research and providing education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, engineering, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public service, social work, public health, and professional studies, among other areas.

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