Denise Young-Smith, vice president of worldwide human resources at Apple, will deliver Grambling State University’s 2015 Fall Commencement speech. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18 in the Frederick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
“Ms. Denise Young-Smith is a superb example of excellence,” Grambling President Willie Larkin said. “Since graduating from Grambling State University, she has made her mark as a stellar corporate executive. Her work at Apple has set the standard for graduates from Grambling and our sister HBCUs. She is a terrific role model for all of our students graduating on December 18, and we are extremely proud of her many outstanding accomplishments.”
Young-Smith is a graduate of Grambling State University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1978 and later a master’s degree in organizational management, when she returned to her home state of Colorado.
While at Grambling, she was a member of the Orchesis Dance Company and a photography student with Grambling’s photographer, Glenn Lewis, who remembers her as a hard-working, dedicated and talented student.
“She was a very good student and an even better person,” Lewis said. “She was great in English and photography. Denise was a very well-rounded student who was big in extracurricular activities and very dedicated to her academic studies.”
Her connection to Grambling is a family affair, as several aunts, cousins and relatives have worked at and graduated from Grambling State University. Her father’s family and siblings were reared in West Monroe, Louisiana.
As vice president of worldwide human resources, Young-Smith is responsible for attracting and retaining top talent at Apple. She reports to CEO Tim Cook. Since joining Apple in 1997, Denise has served in several key human resources roles. For more than 10 years, she sat on the leadership team that built Apple’s retail organization, which now welcomes more than one million people every day.
Before retail, Young-Smith ran human resources for Apple’s Worldwide Operations and Corporate Employee Relations teams. Prior to Apple, she offered talent, human resources and management consulting expertise to early-stage businesses, including Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers portfolio companies.
Young-Smith is also an accomplished performer and soprano singer, having performed twice at Carnegie Hall and various European venues. She is currently completing work on a recording of classics songs, featuring jazz standards, arias and spirituals.
Most recently, Young-Smith has been instrumental in orchestrating Apple’s $40-million, multi-year commitment to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the largest and most comprehensive corporate investment ever given exclusively for students and faculty of four-year HBCUs.
