Dr. Michael M Smith SFHEA, FRGS

Michael has a wealth of knowledge to share with our students.  

With a background in economic and regional development and years of experience, Michael is heavily involved in developing rural communities.  Michael has been a long-standing member of a rural community council and neighbourhood association and is currently Chair of a local Community Development Trust.  Michael’s experience within the rural sector means he brings significant real-life experience and knowledge to the subject area of the Master's course in Sustainable Rural Development.

Michael graduated from Strathclyde University in 1991-2, where he studied Economics and Geography at the Undergraduate level and Urban and Regional Development and Planning at the Postgraduate level.  After graduation and spending a year out travelling North America, Michael left Glasgow and went to work with the Highlands & Islands Enterprise Network in Stornoway in regional development-based projects and management roles.

Since coming to work with us, Michael has led the development and delivery of the fully online BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees in Sustainable Rural Development.  After working for UHI in Inverness between 2013-17 designing and developing the university’s new degree in Geography, Michael returned to the college and became the Head of Department for the Humanities subject area, along with course manager for the postgraduate MSc in Sustainable Rural Development. Within the wider university over the last 22 years, Michael has been one of the leaders in piloting distance education methods and transitioning classroom-based teaching to fully developed e-learning.  It was in this field that Michael earned his PhD.