DR. MICHAEL SMITH

Dr. Michael Smith

President

Dr. C. Michael Smith is a respected leader in international education. His biography includes executive positions in higher education, accreditation organizations, and public trusts committed to K-12 education.

Prior to coming to the American University of Nigeria in July 2005, Dr. Smith was the Commissioner and Director of the Commission for Academic Accreditation in the United Arab Emirates for three years. In that role, he advised the UAE Minister of Higher Education on matters related to quality assurance and program development, licensed thirty universities and colleges, and accredited 150 academic programs, including a number of highly respected programs in business, architecture and design, and engineering at the American University of Sharjah.

In the United States, Dr. Smith oversaw public education agencies that supported the development of standards, assessment, and reform in public education. He was the President of the Hillsborough Education Foundation in Tampa, Florida, home to the 11 th largest school district in the United States, and the CEO of the Philadelphia Education Fund, the nation’s second largest education fund. In these positions, he raised over $40 million to support improvement in public education.

At Winthrop University, a state supported institution of 6,000 students, Dr. Smith was the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs. In collaboration with the university president, he developed a campus plan and long range strategic plan, doubled the number of nationally accredited programs, led the university through critical budgeting cycles, and established partnerships with major foundations and federal agencies. In 1988-1989, he became Acting President, steering the university through a campus tragedy while continuing to increase enrollment and strengthen institutional policies and procedures.

Dr. Smith has been a consultant on the expansion and improvement of higher education in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states and in the United States. He is a graduate of the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. in British and American Literature from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He has served on a number of boards and committees, including the Education Committee of the Public Education Network in Washington, D.C. Dr. Smith has taught at Winthrop University, University of California, Los Angeles, and Elon University.

He is married to Dr. J. Elspeth S. Smith and has five children.