Michael P. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Ball State University in 1973 and an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.  He is currently the Executive Director of the Media Management Center at Northwestern, an executive education and research center affiliated with Kellogg and the Medill School of Journalism.  He is also the chair of the media management department MBA program in the Kellogg School and a fellow in the honors Communications Residential College.

Before joining Northwestern, Michael was assigned to the corporate staff of Knight Ridder Inc. In his journalism career, he was deputy director of the Knight-Ridder's 25/43 Project and managing editor of The News in Boca Raton, Florida. He also worked at Knight Ridder's Detroit Free Press as executive news editor, The Way We Live editor and assistant sports editor. In 1982, as assistant managing editor, he was part of the team at the News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.

His professional work includes advisory positions with manor media companies, including Tribune Co., Hearst Inc. and Gannett Corp.; and industry organizations such as the World Association of Newspapers, the Inter-American Press Association and national press associations in Colombia and Chile.  Smith is a trustee of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors.  He has chaired the World Editor and Marketeer Congress twice.

At Ball State Michael was editor of the Daily News in 1972.  He remains connected with the university and returns to campus often as a Professional-in-Residence for the journalism department.  He received the Department of Journalism's Outstanding Alumnus Award in 1981 and was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame in 1996 at Ball State.  Smith has been instrumental in setting up two funds in the Department of Journalism at Ball State: a scholarship for incoming freshmen and a fund for faculty and student development.  In addition, he has been a proponent and supporter of the David Knott Scholarship in the department.  He previously served on the department's Editorial Advisory Board and will serve on the advisory board of the College of Communication, Information, and Media.

His service to the university includes work with various campaigns, including the Drive to Distinction to renovate Scheumann Stadium.  He was a member of the Alumni Council in the 1980s.  He currently serves on the National Philanthropy Council, is a member of the Fellows Society and Cardinal Varsity Club.