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Staff Snapshot
Meet
CTPID Communications Director Nancy DuVergne Smith
"I'm
an intellectual omnivore," writes Nancy DuVergne Smith, CTPID's Communications
Director. "I love to learn nearly anything and untangle the relationships
between ideas. Working at universities suits me perfectly since, as a
generalist, I enjoy translating the work of specialists for a broad audience."
Smith
began working at CTPID in 1999 as a consultant, then was named communications
director in 2000, a part-time appointment shared with the International
Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP). She founded and writes the newsletter
Impact: Emerging Work from the Center for Technology, Policy, and
Industrial Development. She also manages the CTPID website, center
events, and communication products from president's reports to the recent
poster series. For IMVP, she manages the website and writes articles,
brochures, and identity materials.
Beyond
CTPID, Smith is a web and editorial
consultant and trainer. She wrote the content for the MIT Department
of Facilities' new website Making
MIT Work and created and wrote the award-winning web magazine, OpenDOOR,
during 2000-03 for the MIT Alumni Association. She also teaches web writing
workshops through nSight,
a Burlington-based communication services company. Other recent projects
include a magazine article on battered mothers' legal battles for the
Wellesley Centers for Women and a web project for the Children's Hospital
Trust.
Born
in Mississippi, Smith escaped to New Orleans to earn a Bachelor of Fine
Arts in painting at Tulane University. After moving to the Boston area,
she earned a masters' in English and American literature through Harvard
University's Extension School. Smith's writing career evolved through
jobs including New Orleans States-Item newspaper reporter, managing editor
of New Age magazine, and, at Wellesley College, editorial director in
Public Affairs and lecturer in the Writing program.
"In
the eighth grade, I learned the power of writing when I literally backed
an assistant principal into a locker by the interview questions I asked.
Since then I try to persistent but more gentle."
Her
current art work includes water colors, portraits, and family art projects
with her husband Mark Sirdevan, an art conservator, and daughter Mei,
10. The family also loves to travel and, historically, long trips are
preferred. Smith spent nearly two years after college graduation traveling
in the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa including a cross-Sahara expedition.
Smith and Sirdevan taught English as a Second Language in Egypt amidst
a 10-month meander around the Mediterranean after their marriage. Next
trip: China in '05.
Staff
Snapshot profiles CTPID's administrative team members.
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