Molly Easo Smith, Ph.D.
December 16, 2008
Dear Members of the Manhattanville Community,
On behalf of the Board of Trustees of Manhattanville College, I am pleased to announce that the Presidential Search Committee has unanimously recommended and the Board of Trustees has unanimously approved the appointment of Molly Easo Smith, Ph.D., as the eleventh president of Manhattanville College. Her tenure will begin July 1, 2009.
Led by Co-Chairs Mark Davis and Sally Rogers, the Presidential Search Committee conducted an extensive national search to find the best person to lead Manhattanville into the future. The Committee considered almost 100 applicants with impressive credentials. It determined that Dr. Smith's extensive academic background as a scholar, teacher, dean, provost, and college trustee in both non-denominational and Catholic institutions, combined with her strong identification with Manhattanville's mission, her international experience and outlook, and her record of visionary leadership make her a perfect match for Manhattanville's needs.
Dr. Smith most recently served as Provost at Wheaton College in Norton, MA, and is currently on research sabbatical, while also serving as Special Adviser to Wheaton's president. For the previous five years, she served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, and prior to that, held faculty appointments in the English departments of several outstanding colleges and universities in the U.S. as well as at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Dr. Smith earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Madras in her native India and a Ph.D. in English at Auburn University. She also studied at the University of Delaware.
Many members of the college community have had the opportunity to meet personally with Dr. Smith in recent days and have some sense of her energy, passion, and eloquence. The Board of Trustees believes she has an uncommon ability to communicate and inspire, which will help challenge and guide us to build on Richard Berman's exceptional leadership and legacy that have returned the college to great strength and promise.
Later today we will issue a press release on this momentous news for Manhattanville and will post additional information on Dr. Smith's background on the Manhattanville website. We are planning to invite Dr. Smith to campus after the college's winter break so that she can be personally introduced to the entire community and can get to know us and the college better.
I want to acknowledge with deep thanks the entire college community for their support throughout the Search process and extend my deep appreciation to the Presidential Search Committee for their extraordinarily thoughtful and dedicated work. They have done themselves, and Manhattanville, proud!
Sincerely,
Robert C. Hall
Chairman
Board of Trustees
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