Biography

Cade Smith serves as the Director of CCEL and the Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement. Cade grew up in Grenada, MS, and earned a B.S. in Biology from Rhodes College, an M.S. in Agronomy from the University of Arkansas, and a Ph.D. in Weed Science from Mississippi State University. Through the arch of his continued education, community-based learning, research, and service have been consistent cornerstones. As Director of CCEL, Cade hopes to advance the practice of community-based learning, including service-learning, by supporting faculty, students, staff, extension agents, and community partners who hope to bring learning to life by connecting classroom to the lived community. Cade is married to Dr. Becky Smith, who is an Assistant Professor of Extension and the Director of the MSU Extension Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy. They have five kids aged 11 to 23 years-old. Becky and Cade try to live their lives in a way that captures the spirit of a quote by Herbert Spenser, “The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.”