Emmy-Nominated Alum Returns as Burgess Institute Executive in Residence
Lauren Ashley Smith '06, back on campus as a Burgess Institute executive in residence, met with students in several groups, giving them the inside track on a career in TV and the arts. Photo by Joe O'Neill.
Emmy-nominated writer, producer and podcaster brings Hollywood to Carlisle
video by Joe O'Neill
Lauren Ashley Smith ’06 (American studies) is a TV and film writer, radio host and podcaster, and she recently came back to campus as the Burgess Institute for the Global Economy’s latest executive in residence.
“It has been so great,” she says. “The students are so engaged, they ask such wonderful questions, they're so curious, they're already so creative.”
As the head writer and co-executive producer of A Black Lady Sketch Show, she has received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Her success in the arts may have had her approaching the Burgess Institute from a different angle than other executives in residence, but she says she quickly saw how the Burgess Institute enhances the experience for students in any major.
“I assumed that it was people who work in finance, people who work in C-suites, people who wear suits to work, and that's not me,” she says. “I now know that it's not just finance, it's not just business. There are executives in every field, and [Burgess is] something that can really span the entire spectrum of a liberal-arts education and what you can do with that education.”
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Published February 6, 2026