Biography

Dr. Peter P. Smith is the Orkand Chair and Professor of Innovative Practices in Higher Education at the University of Maryland University College. Prior to that, he served as president of the Open College at Kaplan University and Senior Vice President of Academic Strategies and Development for Kaplan Higher Education. In this role, he is responsible for the development of mid-term strategies and program development. Dr. Smith is the former Assistant Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and served as the founding president of California State University at Monterey Bay (CSUMB), where he oversaw all aspects of leadership and development of the institution. Dr. Smith served as the first president of the statewide Community College of Vermont from 1970 to 1978, and was named President Emeritus upon resigning. He served as Vermont's Lieutenant Governor from 1982 to 1986. In 1989, he was elected as a representative from Vermont to the U.S. House of Representatives. From 1991 to 1994 he served as Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development for George Washington University. Dr. Smith holds a Doctor of Education from Harvard University. He is the author of The Quiet Crisis: How Higher Education Is Failing America (Anker Publications, Bolton MA, 2004) and Harnessing America's Wasted Talent: A New Ecology of Learning (Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, San Francisco, CA, 2010), and Free-Range Learning in the Digital Age: the Emerging Revolution in College, Career, and Education. (SelectBooks, NYC, June,2018) .