Lauren Reichart Smith (Ph.D. 2010) is an associate professor of sports media, and the head of research and social impact initatives for the Center. She also serves as the Executive Director for the International Association of Communication and Sport.

Lauren is an award-winning reseacher, garnering top paper honors at conferences such as ICA, BEA, AEJMC, and SSCA. Her extensive record of publishing includes articles in Media Psychology, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Communication Research Reports, Communication & Sport, the International Journal of Sport Communication, and Electronic News. She is also the co-editor of the book  Communication and contradiction in the NCAA: Assessing the unlevel playing field of intercollegiate athletics (Peter Lang Publishing). 

Her research focuses on the effects of sports media on our emotions. This focus has enabled her to complete research that focuses on issues of gender, race, and national identity. She has examined attitudes and perceptions with respect to participation in sport, primarily surrounding transgender athletes, as well as attitudes and perceptions of athlete activism.

A former television producer, she worked in both the Atlanta and Birmingham television markets, and received an Emmy nomination in 2005 for her work. 

Areas of Expertise: Gender and sport, race and sport, the Olympics, transgender participation in sport, athlete activism, the NCAA, and name, image & likeness. 

Kenny Smith is an assistant teaching professor in the communication studies department and is a part of the SportsCAM program. He does research and writes for Rowan’s Center for Sports Communication and Impact.

Prior to entering academia, he worked for about a decade as a multimedia journalist, news anchor and producer, covering sports and breaking news across the southeastern United States. He has contributed to the Associated Press, ESPN, and Smithsonian Magazine. He’s also filed live reports in most of the major broadcast markets across the country and in print in a variety of newspaper and magazine formats.

Kenny reviews scholarship for a variety of journals and conferences and has served as a judge for several state and national media awards.

Off campus, he works with South Jersey Cycling Safety Committee, an organization which aims to raise awareness of road safety for motorists and cyclists.