Peter Smith

Founding President

Peter Smith was selected to be CSUMB's founding president by the CSU Board of Trustees in 1994. A native of Vermont, Smith served that state as a state senator, lieutenant governor, and a member of the U. S. Congress.

Dr. Smith began his career in higher education in l970 when he founded and served as president of the Community College of Vermont. He became vice president of Norwich University and served as executive director of the National Commission on Responsibilities for Financing Postsecondary Education. He was also dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University.

Dr. Smith received a B.A. (magna cum laude) degree from Princeton University in 1968. He earned an M.A. degree in teaching in 1970 and an Ed.D. degree in administration planning and social policy in 1984, both from Harvard University. He is an American Council on Education senior fellow, and the author of Your Hidden Credentials: The Value of Learning Outside of College.

As the founding president of CSU Monterey Bay, Dr. Smith has managed CSUMB from its start-up phase where "all learn and teach one another in an atmosphere of mutual respect." The campus under Dr. Smith's leadership has gained a national reputation for its program innovation and community building. Dr. Smith lives on campus with his wife Sally.