Faculty and Staff

The Office of the Provost administers the President's Scholars Program.

Dr. David Doyle, Director of the University Honors Program, is the interim Director for President's Scholar Program.

Dr. Susan Harris, Dr. Joseph Kobylka and Dr. Scott Norris are faculty advisors to the President's Scholars Program.

Primary contact information

President's Scholars Program
PO Box 750283
Dallas, TX 75275-0283
214-768-2508
ps@smu.edu

Faculty and Staff Biographies

  • Dr. David Doyle

    Raised in northern New England David D. Doyle, Jr. is the Dean of Honors & Scholars Programs, Director of the University Honors Program, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Clements Department of History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Dr. Doyle completed the Ph.D. in American History from the City University of New York. His fields of interest within American History are the study of gender and sexuality and he is completing a book examining male sexuality in late nineteenth century New York and New England. His next project will be a sexual history of Dallas. He has published reviews and articles in Reviews in American History, and The Journal of the History of Sexuality. 

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  • Joe Kobylka's headshot

    Dr. Joseph Kobylka

    Joe Kobylka became the President’s Scholars faculty sponsor coordinator in 2008. He is an inaugural member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, and an associate professor of Political Science. His teaching and research interests include the areas of constitutional law, judicial politics, and American political thought. The Teaching Company published his lecture series “Cycles of American Political Thought” in 2007, and had a featured interview on PBS’s “The Supreme Court” (2007). He has received a number of honors and awards including: the “M” Award, the Willis M. Tate Award, the Rotunda Outstanding Professor Award, Distinguished University Citizen Award, H.O.P.E. Distinguished Professor Award, SMU Student Senate Faculty Member of the Year Award, Bridge Committee Award, and the Deshner Award.

    He also owns and manages a competitive fantasy baseball team, Publius.

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  • scott noris profile

    Dr. Scott Norris

    Dr. Scott Norris is a former President's Scholar and graduated with a degree in mathematics from SMU in 2001 before earning a Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 2006. After a three-year postdoctoral position at Harvard University, Dr. Norris returned to join the faculty of the mathematics department in 2011, and became a PS faculty sponsor in 2016.

    "I owe so much of my personal and professional development to my time at SMU in the mathematics department and President's Scholars community. It is an honor and a privilege to serve those communities as a faculty member so many years later."

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  • Susan is a white woman with shoulder-length dark blonde hair. She is wearing a beige blazer with a white blouse underneath. The background is the blurred path to Dallas Hall.

    Dr. Susan Harris

    Dr. Susan Harris graduated with her BA in Psychology from The University of Kansas in 1987 and then received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Texas in 1994. She was an Assistant professor at Trinity University and Northern Arizona University prior to joining the SMU Psychology Department as an adjunct faculty member in 2003 which continues to this day. In 2013, she also joined the staff of the University Advising Center as the pre-major advisor for the University Honors Program. It was her distinct pleasure to become a faculty sponsor for the President’s Scholars Program in 2019. In the Spring of 2021, Dr. Harris became the Director of PreLaw advising at SMU.

    Susan and her husband, Dr. Ian Harris, an Associate Professor of Statistics at SMU, have 3 children. Their oldest became a proud graduate of SMU in May 2021. They enjoy spending time with family, watching soccer, and traveling when they can. They regularly host outdoor movie nights for friends, neighbors, and family when the weather permits.

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