Jacqui Smith

Jacqui Smith is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, with appointments as a Research Professor at the Survey Research Center and Center for Research on Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research. She holds an Honorary Professorship at the Free University Berlin (since 2003) and was previously a C4 (Full) Professor at the Technical University Dresden (2003-2004). Her academic career spans institutions including the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (1990-2006) and Macquarie University (1979-1983).

Smith's research focuses on cognitive aging, experienced wellbeing after age 50, and the dynamics of development and aging at both individual and couple levels. She explores psychological functioning, health determinants in midlife and old age, and the interplay between intelligence, skills, and wisdom in adulthood.

Her publications highlight aging trajectories, conscientiousness effects on well-being, and self-perceptions of aging. Themes include cognitive decline, health psychology, longitudinal aging studies, and behavioral science, with subfields like wisdom ontogeny, social dynamics in aging, and compensatory behaviors in older couples.

• 2003: Elected Member of the Academia Europaea (Social and Behavioral Sciences Section)
• 2004: Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 20: Adult Development and Aging)
• 2005: New South Wales Government Return Award for Expatriate Researcher
• 2006: Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America
• 2009: Fellow of the Association of Psychological Science

Smith's affiliations with interdisciplinary research centers and her longitudinal studies on aging underscore her contributions to understanding the complexities of cognitive and behavioral changes in later life.