Deirdre Longacher Smeltzer

Deirdre Longacher Smeltzer began as Senior Director for Programs at the MAA in August 2020. In this role, Deirdre manages the operations of MAA’s portfolio of externally-funded programs, Project NExT, the array of American Mathematical Competitions, and the Putnam Competition. As part of the executive leadership team, Deirdre works with the Executive Director and MAA’s Board to refine and implement a strategic plan and an operating model to forward MAA’s mission.

Deirdre came to the Senior Director for Programs position with a background as an academic administrator and faculty member. Deirdre served for six years as Vice President & Undergraduate Dean at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, VA, overseeing all undergraduate academic and several community-facing programs. Prior to moving into full-time administrative work, Deirdre was a mathematics faculty member (and later, department chair) at EMU and at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. Deirdre enjoyed teaching a broad range of mathematics and general education courses, mentoring students and new faculty, serving as a faculty leader in shared governance, and co-leading a cross-cultural semester in China. Deirdre has co-authored two textbooks, Journey into Discrete Mathematics and Methods for Euclidean Geometry. Deirdre is a member of the inaugural Project NExT cohort and a long-time active MAA member.