Four U of A Faculty Named SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Fellows

Four U of A faculty members have been named fellows of the 2026 Southeastern Conference Academic Leadership Development Program (SEC ALDP). The fellows are:

• Matthew Clay, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of mathematical sciences in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences;
• Carrie M. McDermott, executive director and George M. and Boyce W. Billingsley Endowed Chair in Nursing in the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing;
• Carl A. Smith, associate dean for faculty development and professor of landscape architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design; and
• Daniel Villanova, associate professor, Tyson Chair in Food and Consumer Products Retailing, and doctoral program director in the Department of Marketing in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.

"The SEC Academic Leadership Development Program gives outstanding faculty members the opportunity to strengthen their leadership skills, learn from colleagues across the conference and bring new ideas back to our campus," said Provost Indrajeet Chaubey. "Matt, Carrie, Carl and Daniel are accomplished scholars and leaders, and I'm excited to see how their participation in the program shapes their continued contributions to the U of A."

The SEC ALDP identifies academic leaders and provides opportunities to advance their leadership skills and roles within their universities and the SEC. The program includes a university-level development program housed within the Office for Faculty Affairs and designed by each institution for its fellows; two SEC-wide workshops for all program participants; and a competitive alumni fellowship that provides former fellows with additional development opportunities.

Each SEC university selects up to four fellows to participate in the program each year. Read more about the U of A's 2026 SEC ALDP fellows below.

About Matthew Clay 

Clay is associate dean for academic affairs in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. In this role, he leads key areas of the college's academic mission, including assessment, accreditation and curricular innovation. He works to ensure academic programs meet accreditation and reputational benchmarks while supporting a high-quality, inclusive student learning experience. His responsibilities include supporting the development of new academic programs, certificates, minors and majors; overseeing program assessment and viability reviews; and managing areas such as enrollment. He also serves as liaison to the college's Honors Program and represents Fulbright College on the Undergraduate Council and Strategic Enrollment Committee.

Clay is a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Before becoming associate dean, he served in several leadership roles, including department chair and undergraduate programs coordinator. He also served as co-chair of the Student Success Strategic Planning Subcommittee and contributed to institutional governance through roles on the Fulbright College Personnel Committee, including service as vice chair, as well as the College Cabinet, Strategic Planning Committee and Fulbright Honors Council. Clay's research interests are in geometric group theory and low-dimensional topology.

About Carrie M. McDermott  

McDermott joined the U of A in July 2025 as executive director and George M. and Boyce W. Billingsley Endowed Chair in Nursing in the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. Previously, she served as corporate director of academic-practice integration and partnerships for Emory Healthcare and Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, leading innovative programs to advance nursing education and practice. Her research focuses on competency-based education, transition to practice and academic-practice partnerships.

McDermott has received multiple honors and awards, including the 2020 Georgia Nurse of the Year Award for Excellence in Nursing Education, the 2022 Heart of the Students Award and the 2022 Nurse Leader DAISY Award. In 2024, she was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in recognition of her contributions to nursing and health care.

McDermott holds a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Colorado, a master's degree in nursing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a bachelor's degree in nursing from Rockhurst University/Research College of Nursing.

About Carl A. Smith 

Smith is associate dean for faculty development and professor of landscape architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Since joining the university in 2008, he has held several campuswide leadership roles and has served as co-director of the U of A Teaching Academy. He is also a certified peer-teaching observer and campus-wide faculty mentorship circle facilitator.

Smith has been recognized for his mentorship of students and faculty, including receiving the university's Faculty Gold Medal and being named a 2025 Outstanding Faculty Mentor. His institutional service includes a three-year term on the Faculty Senate, membership on Campus Council and an appointment to the 2024-25 Provost Search Committee. Within the Fay Jones School, he chaired the Governance Committee for six years, leading the development of its first comprehensive faculty handbook.

A recognized leader in his discipline, Smith is an elected fellow of the Landscape Institute, Royal Geographical Society and Royal Society of Arts in the United Kingdom. His scholarship on sense of place, housing and community development, and design studio culture has been widely published and presented internationally and has involved collaborations across the arts and sciences. His work across teaching, research and leadership is consistently collaborative, with an emphasis on both rigorous procedures, policies and methods and the human dimensions of knowledge creation and sharing.

About Daniel Villanova 

Villanova is an associate professor and the Tyson Chair in Food and Consumer Products Retailing in the Department of Marketing in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. He serves as doctoral program director for the department and, in that role, serves on the college's Doctoral Programs Committee. He also led planning for the university's hosting of the 2026 Southeast Marketing Symposium. Villanova chairs the department's promotion and tenure committee and serves on the College Promotion and Tenure Committee.

Villanova recently joined the editorial review boards of the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing and Journal of Retailing. He previously contributed to curriculum planning at the undergraduate and master's levels and served on the College Awards and Elections Standing Committee. He has also supervised students through multiple doctoral dissertations and undergraduate honors theses.

His research focuses primarily on consumer responses to numerical information, with applications to financial decision-making, including debt origination and repayment, and the framing of product attribute information, including pricing. He also studies how individuals' identities shape their interactions with products and their behavior on social media. His research has been published in outlets including the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Before joining the U of A, Villanova earned his Ph.D. in marketing from Virginia Tech and his B.S.B.A. in marketing and management from Appalachian State University.

For more information on this program, visit the SEC ALDP site.