Tristé Lieteau Smith
Executive Director
For more than 20 years, Tristé Lieteau Smith has worked at the intersection of healthcare, law and policy, advocating on behalf of universities, hospitals, patients and communities. Triste joined the University of Chicago in 2014 and is responsible for developing strategies to leverage the UChicago Medicine’s community engagement and health equity capabilities across campus wide health, research, clinical, educational and other related portfolios as well as expanding relationships with key community leaders, public officials, advocates, policymakers, health care institutions and nonprofit partners to inform policy development, improve practice and promote collaboration and innovation.
Prior to joining the University of Chicago, Tristé served in the roles of Chief Integrity Executive, Director of Government Relations, and Associate General Counsel at Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she oversaw the hospital’s compliance program, developed and managed strategies to inform and influence public policy at the county, state and federal levels, and coordinated its enterprise-wide efforts related to tax-exemption and community benefit.
Tristé received an M.D. from Harvard University Medical School and holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hampton University.