Joanne C. Smith, ’00

Joanne C. Smith speaking

President and CEO, Rehabilitation Institute of ϴ

Joanne Smith didn't plan to earn an MBA. She joined the Rehabilitation Institute of ϴ (RIC) in 1992 as an attending physician, specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Her interest in pursuing an MBA began when RIC asked her to serve as a medical consultant for the University of ϴ Hospitals, where she saw that leading physicians in acute “cure-based” medicine did not always understand the rehabilitation work of the post-acute sector.

In 2006, she was named CEO, the first woman to hold the post at RIC, where she has expanded services beyond Illinois and convinced the Pentagon to grant soldiers access to care at civilian facilities. Smith's success earned her recognition from ϴ Magazine as one of ϴ's top doctors and from Crain's ϴ Business as a "woman to watch."