In this episode TOI connects with Dr. William A Smith who is best known for developing and
evolving the concept of Racial Battle Fatigue. He is the Chief Executive Administrator in the
Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI) in the School of Medicine and the Department of
Psychiatry, where he leads HMHI in its Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts both
locally and nationally.

He is also a full professor and former department chair of Education, Culture & Society at the
University of Utah. Dr. Smith has served as the Associate Dean for Diversity, Access, &
Equity in the College of Education (2007-2014) and a Special Assistant to the President as
the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative (2007-2013) at the University of Utah.
In part one of the TOI interview, we learn about the personal side of “Smitty” and his early
aspirations and inspirations. William was raised in the south suburbs of Chicago and was
quite the high school and collegiate athlete. His father’s legacy reaches back to the civil rights
movement; while his mother was an accomplished educator. He shares about pursuit of his
college degrees and the path that led him from Illinois to him venturing west and raising his
family in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In part two, Dr. Smith offers insight into his scholarship, which includes his relationship with
Dr. Chester Pierce who developed the concept of microaggression, his collegial connection
with UCLA Education Professor and renowned critical race theory scholar Danny Solórzano,
along with his journey in generating the notion racial battle fatigue (RBF) into a fully
diagnosable disorder.