MSU alumna appointed to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services leadership role
Contact: Mary Pollitz
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State alumna Laurie Todd-Smith has been appointed U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development.
In her new role, Todd-Smith will lead the nation’s Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care, guiding programs that support early learning and care for millions of children and families across the country.
Prior to this appointment, she served in Washington, D.C., as the director at the America First Policy Institute’s Center for Education Opportunity. This marks her second presidential appointment under President Donald Trump, previously serving as U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau director.
A Phoenix, Arizona, native, Todd-Smith has lived in the Magnolia State for more than 25 years. She earned her MSU doctorate in education, where she also taught undergraduate courses with the College of Education and served as the director of State Programs at the university’s Early Childhood Institute.
She boasts educational experience spanning three decades from classroom teaching to heading former Gov. Phil Bryant’s educational policy team.
MSU’s College of Education is home to five academic departments, a division of education, one research unit and numerous service units. Learn more at www.educ.msstate.edu.
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