Bio/Vita
Bio/Vita
Professional Biography:
Michael D. Smith is the J. Erik Jonsson Professor of Information Technology and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College where he co-directs the Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics and the Initiative for Teaching & Education Analytics. His research focuses on the economic impact of new technologies, specifically the impact of digital piracy and anti-piracy measures on the entertainment industry, and the impact of new digital technologies on the education industry.
He has published and discussed his piracy research in a variety of outlets including book chapters and articles for the World Trade Organization, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, and testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
He has published his analysis of the market for education in the book The Abundant University: Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World, which received the 2024 Frandson Award for Literature, was named by Forbes as one of the “Best Higher Education Books” of 2023, and received the 2025 MIT Press Alumni Author Award.
Professor Smith received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (summa cum laude) and a Master of Science in Telecommunications Science from the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. in Management Science from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Prior to receiving his Ph.D., Professor Smith worked extensively in the telecommunications and information systems industries, first with GTE in their laboratories, telecommunications, and satellite business units and subsequently with Booz Allen and Hamilton as a member of their telecommunications client service team. While with GTE, Professor Smith was awarded a patent for research applying fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence techniques to the design and operation of telecommunications networks.
A full curriculum vita is available here.
Research Grants and Awards:
Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics at Carnegie Mellon University (IDEA@cmu), unrestricted gift from the Motion Picture Association of America to analyze the impact of digitization on the motion picture industry, October 2012-Present.
Charles Koch Foundation Postsecondary Education Research Award, “Higher Education In the Digital Age: A Program of Data-Driven Research and Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations,” November 2020.
Block Center for Technology and Society, “Better Videos for Better Education: Improving the Quality of Video Resources for Learning Purposes,” May 2019-Present.
Google Research Award for “Promoting Movies in Digital Channels: Impact of Targeted Movie Promotion on Sales and Piracy in Digital Movie Markets” (with Rahul Telang), February 2014.
Google Research Award for “Broken Windows? The Future of International Distribution Windows in a Global Media Market” (with Rahul Telang), June 2011.
Google Research Award for “Estimating The Welfare Gain From Digitization of ‘Out-Of-Print’ Books” (with Rahul Telang), May 2011.
International Intellectual Property Institute and United States Patent and Trademark Office for “Statistical Analysis of the Impact of Camcording Piracy” (with Rahul Telang), April 2011.
Marketing Science Institute and Wharton Interactive Media Initiative Research Award for “Modeling Multichannel Customer Behavior,” (with Anuj Kumar and Rahul Telang), June 2010.
Google WPP Marketing Research Award for “Channels and Conflict: Efficient Marketing Strategies for Digital Distribution Channels,” (with Rahul Telang), February 2010.
Yahoo! Faculty Research and Engagement Gift for “Advertising Strategies for Social Networks,” (with Nachi Sahoo), November 2009.
Center for the Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation (CAPRI) Research Grant for “The Impact of Digital Music Distribution on Physical Sales and Internet Piracy,” (with Brett Danaher and Rahul Telang), March 2009.
Research Grant, Motion Pictures Laboratories Incorporated, “Analysis of Piracy in Online Secondary Markets,” (with Rahul Telang), August 2007.
Summer Research Grant, Networks, Electronic Commerce, and Telecommunications (NET) Institute, “Standards Competition in the Presence of Conversion Technology: An Empirical Analysis of the Flash Memory Card Market” (with Charles Liu and Chris Kemerer), June 2007.
Center for the Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation (CAPRI) Research Grant for “Competing with Free: The Impact of Movie Broadcasts on DVD Sales and Internet Piracy,” (with Rahul Telang), October 2006.
NSF CAREER Award, “Designing Efficient Information Exchanges: A Program for Research and Teaching.” NSF Award Number IIS-0448516, $493,748, 2005-2010.
Summer Research Grant, Networks, Electronic Commerce, and Telecommunications (NET) Institute, “Incentives and Protocols for Self-Organizing Interest-Based Peer-to-Peer Networks,” (with Rahul Telang), June 2004.
Amazon.com Research Grant, March 2003.
Marketing Science Institute, Research Award #4-1191, "The Profitability of Shopbot Design" (with Alan Montgomery), October 2002.
Carnegie Bosch Institute Faculty Development Grant, October 2001.
Berkman Faculty Development Award, November 2000.
Academic Honors and Awards
2025 MIT Press Alumni Book Award for “The Abundant University: Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World.”
INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow Award (“to recognize individuals who have made outstanding intellectual contributions to the information systems discipline”), October, 2024.
INFORMS ISS Practical Impacts Award (“honors distinguished information systems academics who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and sustained impact on the industry”), October 2024.
2024 Phillip E. Frandson Award for Literature for “The Abundant University: Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World.”
Best Paper Award, Psychology of Technology, The AAAI-21 Workshop on AI For Behavior Change held at the Thirty-Fifth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-21) for “Influence via Ethos: On the Persuasive Power of Reputation in Deliberation Online” (with Emaad Manzoor, George Chen, and Dokyun Lee).
2018 Dick Wittink Award for the best paper published in Quantitative Marketing and Economics for “Super Returns to Super Bowl Ads?” (with Hal Varian and Seth Stephens-Davidowitz).
2017 Carol and Bruce Mallen Award for Lifetime Published Scholarly Contributions in the Economics of the Motion Pictures Industry.
Best Paper Nominee, 2015 International Conference on Information Systems, A Tangled Web: The Impact of Displaying Fraudulent Reviews on Product Search Engines,” with Uttara Ananthakrishnan and Beibei Li.
National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. One of 100 “emerging engineering leaders” selected by the National Academy of Engineering, 2009.
Best Teacher Award. Student-nominated award given at commencement to an instructor in the Master of Information Systems Management and Master of Science in Information Technology programs. Award winner: 2009, 2004.
Interfraternity and Panhellenic Role Model Award, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008.
Best Published Paper Award Runner-Up, Information Systems Research, “Internet Exchanges for Used Books: An Empirical Analysis of Product Cannibalization and Welfare Impact,” with Anindya Ghose, and Rahul Telang, 2007.
Heinz Career Development Chair, Carnegie Mellon University, 2006-2009.
Best Paper Award Nominee, 2004 International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), “Price Elasticities and Social Welfare in Secondary Electronic Markets,” with Anindya Ghose and Rahul Telang.
Best Paper Award Runner-Up, The 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-37), “The Virtual Commons: Why Free-Riding Can Be Tolerated in File Sharing Networks” (with Ramayya Krishnan, Zhulei Tang, and Rahul Telang), January 2004.
Best Paper Award Runner-Up, International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Barcelona, Spain, "An Empirical Analysis of Network Externalities in Peer-To-Peer Music Sharing Networks" (with Atip Asvanund, Karen Clay, and Ramayya Krishnan), December 2002.
National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Outstanding Faculty Award, April 2002.
Best Dissertation Award Finalist, International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), December 2001.
Best Student Presentation, Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE), December 1998.
DuWayne Peterson Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School, 1997-1999.