Peter Smith, Ph.D.

2016-present - Orkand Chair, Professor of Innovative Practices in Higher Education, University of Maryland University College.

2015-2016 Senior Scholar and Advisor to the President of Kaplan University

2013-2015, President of the Open College at Kaplan University

2007-2013. Senior Vice President of Kaplan Higher Education. In this role, he was responsible for strategic and academic development for the global education business.

2005-2007. Peter served as Assistant Director General for Education at UNESCO in Paris, France, leading all the education efforts for the United Nations.

1995-2005. Peter served as founding president of California State University, Monterey Bay, beginning shortly after the campus’ opening on the site of the former Fort Ord military base in 1994.

1991-1995. Peter served as Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the George Washington University.

1980-1990. Peter served Vermont as a state senator, lieutenant governor and congressman.

In the early 1970s, he started the Community College of Vermont, taking it from a collection of instructors in the back rooms of nearly deserted buildings to an extensive network of campuses and programs used by thousands of students.

He also served as a senior fellow at the American Council on Education.

Peter holds a Doctor of Education in Administration Planning and Social Policy; and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and an undergraduate degree from Princeton.